This document discusses the history of mobile development across different platforms using PhoneGap. It describes early implementations on iOS and Android that allowed calling native functions from JavaScript. It also outlines support for BlackBerry, WebOS, and Windows Phone 7. While progress has been made, it notes that PhoneGap is still not fully supported and issues remain around features like storage, XMLHttpRequest, scrolling, and newer web standards.

1. Adventures in Mobile
development.
Mango edition
Monday, 5 December, 11

2. PhoneGap is a hack
iOS - the Early Days
Nitobi created iPhone Gap
stringByEvaluatingJavascriptString()
JS->Native used window.location changes
Monday, 5 December, 11

3. Android
Android SDK introduced the webview.bind
method
Native code called javascript with ‘javascript:’
URLs
( with issues )
Monday, 5 December, 11

4. Android + Callback
Override prompt in javascript
callback server with Polling
It works
Monday, 5 December, 11

5. BlackBerry
Originally it didn’t seem
possible
Until Dave discovered
that JS cookies were
observable from Native
code.
Monday, 5 December, 11

6. BlackBerry WebWorks
WebWorks embraces
Javascript code, it becomes
a first class citizen on the
device.
Monday, 5 December, 11

7. WebOS
WebOS the
whole app is
Javascript, so
another simple
shim
WebOS did a
lot right; just
bad timing/luck
Monday, 5 December, 11

8. Windows Phone 7
So how does WP7 do it? ScriptNotify
Calling to Native
javascript can call window.external.Notify(string)
C# code listens for the ScriptNotify event
Monday, 5 December, 11

9. WP7 Native->JS
C# can call JS
this.webBrowser.InvokeScript(scriptName,string []args);
Monday, 5 December, 11

10. Why Not Sooner?
Mango brings IE9
finally a compliant browser
addEventListener ( no more
conditional event model )
JSON built in
Array.forEach, Object.defineProperty
querySelectorAll, Canvas, SVG, ...
Monday, 5 December, 11

11. Stumbling Points
IsolatedStorage
WebStorage ( supported? )
XMLHttpRequest
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12. Non-Optimal
fixes
Panning + Zooming
The Grey Box
TouchEvents
The AppStore’s
Static Analyzer
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13. Missing in Action
WebSQL
WebGL
WebWorkers
position:fixed
Overflow:scroll
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14. Persons Of Interest
@Purplcabbage
My Blog:
risingj.com
Abu Obeida Bakhach
(Microsoft Interop Team)
Sergei Grebnov
(Microsoft Sponsored)
@ColinEberhardt
(First AppStore WP7 PhoneGap
app!)
Monday, 5 December, 11

15. There be Monsters
PhoneGap is still a hack!
SDK designers are not yet considering this
use-case.
We are still outlaws, operating outside
their imagination, successfully!
It is still a new frontier
Monday, 5 December, 11

16. Demo Time
Images from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carta_Marina.jpeg
Monday, 5 December, 11