How can I tell if an application is written as a WebApp or native application?

Question

There are cross-platform mobile application frameworks like Sencha Touch, which creates web apps with native look-and-feel. And frameworks like PhoneGap can pack them into an mobile application. How can I know if an application on Android or iPhone is written in a such way?

Thanks

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:55

2

You can decompile the bundle/APK. For iPhone, see this question. An APK is just a modified JAR/ZIP file. You should find pretty clear signs, such as the PhoneGap JS wrapper libraries, and/or HTML and JavaScript files in general.

On Android, you should find these JavaScript files, likely minified with yuicompressor.

On iPhone, it's this JavaScript.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:55

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answered Jan 04 '11 at 07:35

Matthew Flaschen

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How can I tell if an application is written as a WebApp or native application?

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