APACHE CORDOVA: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE

Joe Bowser
bowserj@apache.org



"The goal of Phon
"The goal of PhoneGap is to cease to exist"
- Brian Leroux


                      
 

PROGRESS

  • Apple still recommends Obj-C and XCode for dev
  • Google still Java and Android Studio for dev
  • Mobile Web usage has dropped
  • App usage has skyrocketed
  • Mobile Web App discoverability still sucks!

PROGRESS

  • As an Open Source project, we're successful
  • As an Web Advocacy Project, not so much!
  • Failure is OK


What we offer


  • Cross-Platform Framework using HTML/CSS/JS
  • Standardized APIs based on W3C Drafts and Standards (where they exist)
  • Rapid Prototyping of an application
  • Lowering the barrier to entry for mobile development
  • 100% Open Source Framework - Apache Cordova
  • Currently the most popular web-based framework
  • We make Hybrid Apps, not Mobile Web Sites! 

HOW DID WE GET HERE


  • The Mobile Web did truly exist until 2007
  • iOS and Android SDKs were promoted as the one true way to create applications
  • We didn't really know Objective C, and everyone we knew hated Java
  • PhoneGap was born, assuming that like other things, Apple and Google would kill us by just allowing Web Tech on Mobile
  • Hence the "Goal is to cease to exist"

Milestones AND speed bumps


  • Getting our first real corporate contributors
  • Nitobi getting acquired by Adobe
  • Donating our code to the Apache Software Foundation
  • ALL SORTS OF FUD along the way
  • Android WebView
  • and more!

CONTRIBUTORS



CONTRIBUTORS


  • Really started when we met IBM at OSCON
  • Revamped our CLA at the time
  • IBM contributing allowed us to consult and pay our bills
  • Learned about how to deal with contributors
  • PhoneGap became a real open source project

GETTING ACQUIRED

GETTING ACQUIRED


  • Adobe bought Nitobi in October 2011
  • No longer having to do consulting 
    • (Yay! Just kidding, we <3 our past clients)
  • PhoneGap became Adobe PhoneGap 
    • PhoneGap Build
    • PhoneGap Enterprise
  • Had to have a meeting to figure out how to keep the core PhoneGap framework open source

RE-NAMING


  • First, there was PhoneGap
  • Then we had to rename the project to donate the source
  • After brainstorming, we decided to call it Callback
  • After realizing the hard way that this will kill your discoverability, we renamed it Cordova
  • Because of the renaming, we had to change the entire API
  • This pissed off our community

WHY CORDOVA?

DONATING TO APACHE



APACHE CORDOVA


  • We donated the PhoneGap source to the ASF
  • We renamed the project Apache Cordova
  • We gained even more contributors, including Google
  • Apache Cordova became a top level project
  • Cordova became the base for various hybrid frameworks
  • Cordova now exists in more places than it ever did before
  • Despite being a part of Apache

RECAP


  • We <3 the web
  • We understand the strengths of the web
  • We understand the weaknesses
  • We like mobile

Past Releases for PhoneGap


  • PhoneGap 1.0: Released June 29, 2011
  • PhoneGap 1.2: Released November 7, 2011
  • PhoneGap 1.5: Released March 6, 2012
  • Cordova 2.0: Released July 20, 2012
    • First major official Apache release
    • Contains Cordova WebView
  • Cordova 3.0: Released July 19, 2013
    • InAppBrowser
    • CLI

THIRD PARTY WEBVIEWs

THIRD PARTY WEBVIEWS


  • The Android WebView is better, but STILL sucks
    • (Stuck on Chrome 30 on Android 4.4.2)
  • It's so bad that people are writing third party webviews
  • Android Cordova Developers will have the option to switch from using the default WebView to a third-party view
  • Installable similar to a plugin:
    • Mozilla GeckoView
    • Intel Crosswalk
    • Amazon FireOS View (FireOS only)
    • and more...

DEMO

CONCLUSION


  • PhoneGap still exists, because the web still exists
  • Users are using apps, whether they want to or not
  • Not everyone has the budget for an iOS, Android and Windows Mobile developer
  • Mobile Browsers are getting better, as is network speed
  • Hybrid application frameworks lower the barrier of entry

STATE OF THE WEBVIEW 2014

By bowserj

STATE OF THE WEBVIEW 2014

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