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I'd like to attempt to make an iPhone app using HTML, CSS, JavaScript and an appropriate iPhone Simulator or converter for Windows, like Appcelerator.

I have a friend with XCode and an iPhone if I get something working.

  • Should this work?

  • What kind of problems should I expect?

  • What tools should I use?

Jonathan Leffler
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expiredninja
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    If it is possible, your app will suck like hell. You need to know how Apple products work, look and how they are designed. You need to love your Apple product, know it very well, if you want to make a good app. You don't really need one to make an app, but you need one to make a **good** app. –  Dec 26 '10 at 08:29
  • i appreciate your honesty TimeMachine. Which parts of the app would suffer most? – expiredninja Dec 26 '10 at 08:57
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    The user interface and overall experience, for one. There's no way you can develop an application for a mobile platform and have it turn out well if you don't actively test it on that platform. A mouse and a large screen are very different from a finger and a mobile touchscreen. Also, mobile applications are used in a very different context than things on a desktop. On the iPhone, certain conventions have evolved from the launch of the platform, and if you don't use an iPhone you won't be aware of how things are done in general. – Brad Larson Dec 28 '10 at 16:59

4 Answers4

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Titanium Mobile is what you want, friend.

Hayes Williams
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The O'Reilly folks say it can be done:

Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript: Making App Store Apps Without Objective-C or Cocoa

parisminton
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Although I haven't used it, PhoneGap seems like a decent option.

You can program in HTML and javascript, and it will wrap your code in a native android or iphone app, so you can make app-store ready apps. Plus, you get access to lots of the phones features, and your app will work online (obviously).

http://www.phonegap.com/

Varun Singh
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  • it's not native: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1482586/comparison-between-corona-phonegap-titanium – mkind Dec 26 '10 at 17:50
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you need to run the iphone sdk to use appcelerator titanium & iphone simulator. but the iphone sdk isn't available for windows since apple want you to buy a mac.

mkind
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