PhoneGap Provides Javascript Access to iPhone API
There is no doubt that developers are coming from far and wide to write iPhone applications. While some are coming from household names Mac users have come to know and love, others are coming from developers who have never laid hands on a Mac before.
However, regardless of background, sometimes, learning a whole new programming language can be a tall order. Enter PhoneGap.
Developed by Brock Whitten, Rob Ellis, Colin Toomey and Eric Oesterle; PhoneGap hopes to be the bridge between Javascript and the iPhone’s Objective-C by acting as a Webkit wrapper for a web app. Having currently implemented the Geo Locating and Accelerometer, the PhoneGap team plans to provide access to the camera, sounds, vibration, local SQLite, and push services. This should come as good news to web app developers looking to write more robust programs and to those who have since avoided writing programs due to the disparities between the iPhone SDK and the web app SDK.
Give PhoneGap a try and let us know what you think.
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In addition to phoneGap you should check out QuickConnectiPhone. It offers the same iPhone capabilities but adds application templates to your Xcode installation. These templates include all of the files you need. You can now use the same framework for your iPhone and Mac apps.
Android and Linux/Nokia apps are also nearing release at this time.
We have just launched a product called MotherApp (http://motherapp.com/) that allows people to create iPhone apps without learning Objective-C or even owning a Mac.
Just create a website based on MotherApp HTML specification. Then, MotherApp is a converter that takes your website as input and generates the native iPhone app as output. Finally, we will then send you the native app through email.
Instead of creating an app by embedding a web browser inside, MotherApp actually builds the app using the iPhone SDK. This means:
- Professional UI: All the UI widgets (such as buttons, tabs) are based on the iPhone SDK instead of emulated by web techniques.
- Camera: Use camera to upload images to server.
- Cache: Use cache to improve the performance and allow people to use the app offline.
Our product is still very new and your comments are most welcome.
phoneGap sounds great, should help with the learning curve.