CODEWITHSUNDEEP
cordovamobile-application
soupy1976
soupy1976

Reputation: 2845

PhoneGap - how native can apps created with PhoneGap be?

I've done plenty of searching around, looking into PhoneGap, but I'm still none the wiser as to whether I can achieve what I want to achieve with it.

Basically, my requirements for an app I want to create include the following:

I guess the thing that I'm not sure about is the stuff related to running the application in the background and having the desktop icon etc. I keep reading conflicting comments about whether PhoneGap applications are actually native or web applications...

My question is simple ... can I achieve what I have outlined above with PhoneGap, or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Thanks in advance for any help/useful pointers.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 424

Answers (2)

dhaval
dhaval

Reputation: 7659

The basic idea behind PhoneGap is that one can use the existing Web Technologies to write native application which can be installed on user phone. In a way PhoneGap is a combination of Web application and Native application.

Answer to your points:

  • PhoneGap has support for both BlackBerry and iPhone. Although there will be difference in functionality support
  • Running the application in background is more of a platform specific part which you need to look into further. Android supports Background processes, BlackBerry also has some support for background processes, however iOS does not fully support background processes but all three devices support push notifications which can be used for such scenarios
  • Possible
  • Possible (local notifications), but there will be visual/functional differences depending on the device platform
  • Possible, although this is purely an application feature

All major devices has their own standard UI presentation due to which you might not find certain things visually/functionally similar on all.

Also major cross-development frameworks has good support for Android/iOS due to similarities in hardware/software features but lacks support for BlackBerry or WinMo (like local storage) due to various reasons. So if you are targeting for specific devices please also go through the feature supported list for each device/platform.

Upvotes: 1

codemonkey
codemonkey

Reputation: 5267

I know you can do what you want for Android. I have no idea whether Blackberry and iOS have a concept of a background service. This is irrespective of how you develop the app. If the platform has support for background services then you can do it with PhoneGap.

However you have to ask yourself what are your reasons for using PhoneGap? Based on what you have said your app has very little UI element. So you will need to write native code for your main functionality which is the background service. This will obviously be different for each platform.

So you need to decide whether PhoneGap actually gives you any benefit.

Upvotes: 1

Related Questions