Gmail Sidesteps the App Store

http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/22424/?nlid=1952&a=f

by zen53 • 17 years ago

68 37 17 years ago

tewks• 17 years ago

Isn't this, rich web apps, what Steve Jobs originally said should happen when asked why an SDK/third party native apps weren't going to be made available?

jodrellblank• 17 years ago

I'd say Google have come up with 'a really sweet solution' here.

hlidotbe• 17 years ago

That's what I thought too. When he annouced that everybody was up in arms and now, mobile development is the way to go. I find that a bit ironic.

TetOn2• 17 years ago

Also interesting to note that this sort of rich web app is the way Palm Pre development is (supposedly) going to work...

feverishaaron• 17 years ago

The author seems to have a very poor understanding of the iPhone ecosystem. That, or he is trying to draw in more readers with a sneaky headline.

I think Google is being smart here. Many of the "apps" on the app store would be better served as web services anyways.

boredguy8• 17 years ago

The irony struck me as well. Jobs didn't want to do native apps for many of the reasons we've already seen (management complains, quality control issues). He wanted web apps.

People moaned.

Then a web app is called 'sidestepping' the app store?!

I think the iPhone does need an app store, at the end of the day, but this headline was just to rich.

allenbrunson3• 17 years ago

steve jobs never said that web apps were a replacement for real third-party apps. in 2007 he said that web apps are what we've got now, and then he failed to comment at all on any upcoming sdk, because apple never talks about unreleased products.

jacobolus2• 17 years ago

Yes he did. He said:

> “Developers and users alike are going to be very surprised and pleased at how great these applications look and work on iPhone,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Our innovative approach, using Web 2.0-based standards, lets developers create amazing new applications while keeping the iPhone secure and reliable.”

And the rest of the press release said:

> “Developers can create Web 2.0 applications which look and behave just like the applications built into iPhone, and which can seamlessly access iPhone’s services, [...]”

> “Web 2.0-based applications are being embraced by leading developers because they are far more interactive and responsive than traditional web applications, and can be easily distributed over the Internet and painlessly updated by simply changing the code on the developers’ own servers. The modern web standards also provide secure data access and transactions, like those used with Amazon.com or online banking.”

stephencelis3• 17 years ago

The fact that Google is utilizing HTML5 client-side storage is cool.

The emphasis this article places on a nonexistent battle between the App Store and web apps is misleading.

Google didn't "sidestep" the App Store. Google took advantage of the web platform Apple provides because that platform makes more sense.

Web apps do miss a few things, though:

  * Speed-ups from stepping outside of a UIWebView
  * Instant Springboard real estate
  * Instant monetization via Apple "one-click"
  * All the APIs wep apps don't have access to

I don't mean to imply it makes sense to port every web app over, but the platforms are quite different, and those differences should probably not be understated.

ZeroGravitas• 17 years ago

"Instant Springboard real estate"

You can easily add web apps or pages to the iPhones home screen, it's the button right below "bookmark". You even get a nice icon if it specified correctly using the appropriate HTML5

stephencelis3• 17 years ago

"Easily", but not "instantly".

If you download an app, it goes to your Springboard till you remove it. If you visit a web page, it doesn't go to your Springboard till you take action and bookmark it. But yes, the "apple-touch-icon" is a nice touch.

nirmal3• 17 years ago

While HTML5 storage is good, I think the main advantage of native apps is access to hardware. Projects like Phonegap ( http://phonegap.com/ ) help you write a native app that is a website with special JS-based access to the hardware. However, if Phonegap were to release a free browser like BigFive Apps http://www.big5apps.com/ then I think they could build a more powerful web platform for the iphone and ipod that could be a great place to advertise a "web" version of your app.

ErrantX4• 17 years ago

and the security implications of that would be insane...

nirmal3• 17 years ago

The main browser would be subject to the same security as any native app, so I'm not sure how the security issues would be any different than a native application.

tvon4• 17 years ago

It's not as bad as it sounds (though I gave you an upvote). You'd just have to limit the access to browser apps that have been "installed" to the home screen. I'm sure people would go nuts, but I think it could be done relatively safely.

adamhowell2• 17 years ago

The article didn't seem to say where in the app they were actually using Canvas -- anyone have any idea?

haxorize• 17 years ago

According to the official Gmail blog:

"The HTML5 canvas tag is used to render the progress spinner without the overhead of downloading animated GIFs to the device."

http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/new-mobile-gmail-exper...

adamhowell2• 17 years ago

Oh, jeez, maybe it's just me but that seems like technology for technology's sake. A spinner can be compressed to, what, 1k or so? I guess they should have drawn the Google logo with canvas, too.

spolsky• 17 years ago

I'm totally confused. Doesn't this mean that Gmail only works when you're online? Which means... higher battery usage than a native email client, higher bandwidth usage, slower response time, doesn't work in airplanes, etc.?

tvon4• 17 years ago

With offline storage it can work much like offline gmail using Gears on the desktop. That's more or less the point.

Google around for HTML5 and offline storage.

briansmith• 17 years ago

That is the theory. Does it actually work on the iPhone/iPod touch when there is no connection?

tjogin• 17 years ago

So this newfangled thing called web apps is going to offset the App Store, is that it?

The author of the article assumes that the App Store is a problem to iPhone developers. It is not, it's a solution — one mobile and other developers have been waiting for several years.

bumbledraven• 17 years ago

The startup time is way too slow: the built-in Mail app shows my inbox almost instantly, but -- with 5 bars of 3G! -- almost 20 seconds elapse between the time I click the Gmail bookmark on the Springboard and the time my inbox appears.

Gmail Sidesteps the App Store

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