If I understand this correctly, you're still required to deploy the browser application to gain the extra functionality?

So a person would code a web application, embed the browser into a native application, and point it to the correct domain.

I've been waiting for Apple to implement this themselves- it always seemed odd that they didn't. Especially back in the 'web apps are the iPhone API' days.

It's nice to see this hole closed, although still relying on the app store for distribution is a shortcoming. An even better option would be a third party browser that could support these extensions for any site, but then again, that would be duplicating Apple's built in functionality, and chances are they wouldn't approve the app for inclusion in the store.

Sounds like Android might have an advantage here. Im sure someone will make such a thing possible really quick once Android phones are available.

Now that I think about it, wont Google Gears offer something like this?

When I look at the Android platform a year ago this was already possible. Not sure if this is a feature that has since been removed, like the native xmpp.

This is freaking amazing. I found a tutorial that was this same concept (a UIWebView wrapper on some AJAX), but I wasn't able to get it to work.

Luckily, I don't need to get my app approved by Apple. It's just an personal thing, so I should be able to use ad-hoc. As far as I can tell, it's running properly in the simulator. Now I just need to figure out the dev license.

Thanks!

Currently to use PhoneGap you do have to get the app on app store and the URL for the initial page is hard coded in the app. it is nice though since you get a headless browser with no address bar etc. you could make your own web browser based on it that exposed the apis to all web pages.

Such a browser was tried, and rejected. It violates Apple's "policy" on duplicating built in functionality.

I read on the project's mailing list that an application that embedded the browser was accepted:

http://groups.google.com/group/phonegap/browse_thread/thread...

What would be the differences ? There ought to be some differences though ? Native applications were supposedly more powerful !

Fantastic! Now we can skip the iPhone store all together since we can make webapps just as powerful as downloaded ones.

From what I understand that's not what this is. Unless they are going to have an app of their own that is going to try to replace Safari on all iPhones.

It sounds like a native app where you have a UIWebView with special access to native data via javascript.

In either case I love the idea. I've been thinking of something like this for some time, except in a more general form.

Not quite, the webapp needs to be put inside a native application in order to use these javascript apis.

Awesome. Been planning on doing something like this myself, but now we can share the burden. Yeh-haw!