Would you use HTML 5 on your mobile?

We all have seen some really amazing things happening on the internet. A collection of beautifully animated sites showing off a wide range of features. If you have seen all this you are no stranger to the marvel that is HTML 5. Why are we talking about HTML 5? Head on over to some HTML 5 demos and plugins and you will understand its power for offloading work from a server based deployment and perform better on client devices.

When you see it action you will understand what I am talking about. Currently mobile app development is front-ended popularly by XML. Windows Phones are doing the same with XAML, which is again XML based but more declarative.  We should remember that the reason XML is there in the first place is that the original html could not represent data structures. That is why it is even used in the communication protocol XMPP.

But with the advent of HTML 5 we now are not faced with the same problem. You cannot say that it will phase out XML but HTML 5 does have some handy tools in its belt. For example many of its features have been optimized to run properly on low powered devices. But what makes it such a great candidate for mobile application development is its AppCache and database features. HTML 5 apps can work offline after storing necessary data locally with AppCache and database.

The only hiccup there is right now is that HTML 5 is not a ratified standard right now. This means that the technology is a work in progress. Of course this only means that newer stuff is going to come later. It does not necessarily mean that whatever is already there might be removed.

So back to our main discussion: is HTML 5 ready for Cross-Platform Application Development?

The industry leaders seem to think so. Everybody from Steve Jobs to Steve Ballmer are ready to embrace HTML 5 as a means to develop applications. A majority of HTML 5 standardization efforts is focused on application development.

Which leaves you asking the question: Why haven’t you heard about it much already? The thing is people are still split when it comes to HTML 5. Every day more and more people are joining in but the adoption rate is low. Now if developers are going to develop on a platform the first thing they see is the adoption rate. Will more people be using the app? If the answer is no then there is no particular point in developing on it. However a number of cross platform mobile app development frameworks have emerged and almost all of them utilize HTML 5, CSS 3, and Javascript. We are in fact discussing a few of those in our upcoming posts if you are keen on it.

HTML 5 is still a work in progress,but the features it currently supports are enough to create amazing mobile phone apps. Recently Intel also backed it saying that it is going to be an amazing platform that is going to support what they call “transparent computing”.

Now I realize that I have given a lot to you to be curious about. So let me put in this juicy link to a site that will allow you to make an HTML 5 mobile app for Android and iPhone. Sated? I did not think so. Se you till next time.

Sources:

Wikipedia

http://www.slideshare.net/WorkLightInc/is-html5-ready-for-mobile-crossplatform-app-development#btnNext

http://sixrevisions.com/mobile/cross-platform-mobile-apps/