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iOS 5 supports speedy Nitro JavaScript for full-screen Web apps

With the release of iOS 5 for the iPhone and iPad this fall, Apple will bring the Nitro JavaScript engine to full-screen Web applications saved to a user's home screen.  —  Currently, full-screen Web applications fail to use …

AppleInsider Slash Lane

Context & Ripple Effects

This closes a gap in Apple's web-runtime strategy that has been visible since late 2010: Safari itself got faster JavaScript plus new APIs like WebSockets and accelerometer access in iOS 4.2, and Apple approved Skyfire's Flash-to-HTML5 converter rather than admit Flash natively — part of a broader build-out that included work on its own Gianduia Flash-alternative technology. Yet home-screen web apps saved by users were still running on an older JavaScript engine than Safari.

First-order effects

  • Developers who distribute full-screen web apps via home-screen bookmarks get Safari-class JavaScript speed in iOS 5 without going through App Store review or paying Apple's cut.
  • Existing home-screen web apps see a free performance uplift on iPhone and iPad when users upgrade this fall, no code changes required.

Second-order effects

  • One of the strongest arguments for wrapping simple services in native App Store apps — that home-screen web apps were visibly slower — weakens, raising the bar for developers deciding whether native distribution is worth the review process and revenue share.
  • Third-party browser makers lose whatever relative appeal came from iOS's restrictions on rival engines, since Apple's own web stack keeps widening its capability lead.

Third-order effects

  • If Apple keeps closing the runtime gap between Safari and installed web apps, HTML5 becomes a more credible parallel distribution channel to the App Store — with the tension that Apple controls both the storefront economics and the web engine those apps run on.

The trend: Apple is steadily upgrading iOS's web platform — standards support, then JavaScript speed — positioning HTML5 home-screen apps as a viable alternative to native App Store distribution during its standoff with Flash.

Related: Apple · iOS 5 · Nitro · Skyfire iOS browser approved by Apple · Safari on iPhone & iPad 4.2: Accelerometer, WebSockets & better HTML5