WidgetPad aims to give web developers a platform on which to build cross platform mobile apps. Read on to see how it stacks up.
Developing mobile applications can be a pain. Each device has its own SDK and APIs, and you might be forced to use a specific language that you are not familiar with. Widgetpad is a new service that aims to give developers the ability to create standalone applications that can be run across multiple mobile environments using HTML5 standards like CSS, JavaScript and HTML.
The IDE in which the applications are written is itself web based. When it comes to creating JavaScript and HTML applications being able to write your code and test the result from within the browser makes sense, and it cuts down on the edit, save, launch browser process that using an external editor usually forces you to do.
The editor itself is quite simple; at this point it is not much more than a colour coded text editor. It does not provide any code completion or error checking functionality, although such features are luxuries even with existing JavaScript IDEs anyway.
Developers can also make use of a number of supplied JavaScript libraries, like jQuery and Prototype.js. In testing WidgetPad I whipped up a small image slideshow application that made use of jQuery to access the Flickr feed service. You can see the application for yourself here.
Being an online application does mean that you do have access to your code from any web browser. Well, any web browser that isn’t IE :). The free version of WidgetPad assumes all your code is open source (under the MIT license), and anyone can view your application, see your code and create a fork for themselves. A commercial version will eventually offer the ability to keep your code away from prying eyes.
The end result of your work is an application that can run on a web browser, the iPhone, and more platforms like Palm. WidgetPad is also in the process of getting a native iPhone application framework approved, which will give developers access to features like the accelerometer.
Once the native iPhone features are implemented and additional mobile platforms are supported, WidgetPad will offer a very attractive solution for those with existing HTML5 development knowledge looking to create cross platform mobile applications. Even if you just want to play with some of the latest HTML5 features, like the canvas element, WidgetPad is a functional online IDE, and it offers an alternative to projects like Bespin. WidgetPad is definitely a service to keep an eye on.
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