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Subject: Re: Cordova strategy for Hosted Apps
From: Marcel Kinard <cmarcelk@gmail.com>
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Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2014 16:05:09 -0400
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To: dev@cordova.apache.org

To elaborate a bit more on #1, I=92ve seen issues where the cordova.js =
in the hosted content gets out-of-sync with the native Cordova runtime =
installed on the device. Weird behavior can ensue when there are changes =
across Cordova versions in the js-native interactions. One brute-force =
way to deal with this would be to locally inspect the version of the =
native Cordova runtime, and ask the remote server to serve up the =
matching version of cordova.js.  The folks writing hosted apps like this =
don=92t see this design wrinkle until they are debugging weird behavior.

On Jun 6, 2014, at 4:24 PM, Jesse <purplecabbage@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Jeff,
>=20
> 1. Currently (out of the box) you can load the start page from the =
network
> or the device file system.  However, you need to be aware of both CORS
> issues as well as App store policies which may make this approach
> un-submittable [1] . You can achieve this either by setting the =
<content
> src=3D''/> in your config.xml file, or by redirecting from the =
index.html
> that is packaged with your app.  The latter approach allows you to =
respond
> to no-network issues, which you must do in mobile anyway.  cordova.js =
will
> need to live with your server pages, and any plugins, and
> cordova_plugins.js and all plugin files must match the versions of the
> native implementation that is compiled in the app.
>=20
> 2. Yes, it is a great way of testing, as you can skip the whole build, =
and
> just reload. If the app should function with/without the feature, then =
yes,
> it should detect it.
>=20
> 3. Similar to what you describe in  #2, for targeting browsers =
generically.
>=20
> [1]
> 2.12 Apps that are not very useful, unique, are simply web sites =
bundled as
> Apps, or do not provide any lasting entertainment value may be =
rejected.
> =
https://developer.apple.com/appstore/resources/approval/guidelines.html
>=20
> Cheers,
>  Jesse
>=20
>=20
> @purplecabbage
> risingj.com
>=20
>=20
> On Fri, Jun 6, 2014 at 1:02 PM, Jeff Burtoft <jeffburt@microsoft.com> =
wrote:
>=20
>> I have a tool that allows developers to take their web apps and build =
them
>> into hosted store apps on Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone (8 and 8.1) =
called
>> the Web App Template<https://wat.codeplex.com/>.  Some of the =
developers
>> who are using the tool would like to see it go cross platform to =
Android
>> and iOS, so that the same config file could be used to build hosted =
apps
>> for the play store and App store just as it is on Windows.
>> I love the idea of going cross platform, and when I think cross =
platform,
>> I think Cordova, but after looking through some of the documentation, =
I'm
>> not sure if it's a good fit.  I'm looking for some direction on these
>> questions:
>>=20
>> 1.       Does Cordova have "hosted apps" (where the content lives on =
the
>> server as opposed to being packaged with the app) in its roadmap?  I
>> realize you can do this today on most platforms with a redirect, but =
it
>> seems to be more of a work around rather than a strategy.
>>=20
>> 2.       Does it make sense to make Cordova device APIs available to
>> hosted apps?  In general these apps also must function in a browser , =
so
>> the features would have to be implemented in a progressive =
enhancement
>> model.
>>=20
>> 3.       I see a build for Browser<
>> https://github.com/apache/cordova-browser> on the Cordova website.  =
What
>> are the plans for this build?
>>=20
>>=20
>> Can anyone help clarify some of this?
>>=20
>> Thanks,
>> Jeff Burtoft
>> --------
>> HTML5 Evangelist \\ Web Technologies
>> \\ Microsoft
>> --------
>>=20
>>=20