Linked List: April 7, 2009

Tuesday, 7 April 2009

Google’s Use of HTML 5 and WebKit for Mobile Web Apps ★

Alex Nicolaou, mobile web engineering manager at Google:

The benefits are clear: you can develop fantastic new applications, benefit from server-side analytics and iteration to deliver features that your users want, and know that offline functionality keeps things running as the user moves in and out of coverage. Your users can enjoy fast, capable web apps that they can access from any device, without the need to copy their data from place to place or worry about installing software or being online.

What’s interesting to me is that because WebKit is the dominant mobile browser, Google’s mobile web apps are taking far more advantage of these cutting-edge HTML 5 features than their “full” desktop web apps. I.e., you can now access Gmail offline on your iPhone, but not on your Mac or Windows PC.

Update: Ends up you can get offline access to Gmail from the desktop, if you install Gears and turn on a beta feature in Gmail Labs. That’s nowhere near as slick as on the iPhone, though, where it “just works” with no need to install anything.

Improved Mobile Gmail for iPhone and Android ★

Uses WebKit’s client-side database for caching — you don’t have to wait for any sort of network access to archive or star messages, and, even though it’s a web app, you can use it in airplane mode. It’s a very good iPhone-optimized web app.

I use the native iPhone Mail app to read email on my iPhone, but I’m tempted to start using the Gmail web app for one reason: I waste a lot of time switching back and forth between Mail and Safari after tapping a URL in an email. When using the Gmail web app, tapped links simply open in a new Safari tab. The iPhone Mail app needs a built-in web view, like what most popular iPhone Twitter clients offer.

Findings From the 2008 A List Apart Survey ★

I’m not sure what’s more interesting: the survey results or the amazing markup Eric Meyer devised to present the tables and charts using nothing other than HTML and CSS.

Last Day of MacHeist, Make Me Rich With a Kickback ★

I really don’t know what to make of the whole MacHeist thing, but there’s no denying that it’s turned into a genuine phenomenon — as I type this they’ve sold just short of 80,000 software bundles at $40 a pop. (And, surprise surprise, all of the apps in the bundle have once again been “unlocked”. Folks, they always get unlocked.)

And there’s no denying that it’s a hell of a deal: 14 apps for $40, and half the apps normally sell for that much or more on their own. Acorn, The Hit List, Espresso, LittleSnapper, WireTap Studio, and a bunch more. The offer ends tonight, and if you use this link, I get an Amazon-style kickback from each sale.

Lukas Mathis on MacHeist ★

Lukas Mathis:

Rather than arguing about whether MacHeist is good for the participating developers, or whether it’s good for MacHeist’s customers, or whether it’s a nice experience, or whether the participating developers are getting great marketing, I would be interested in knowing how it affects the Mac software market as a whole.

What influence does Espresso being in the bundle have on Coda? Does the fact that a hundred thousand people will effectively get a free copy of Espresso hurt Coda? Does it negatively impact the amount of money people are willing to pay for an app like Coda or Espresso or BBEdit or TextMate? Does MacHeist hurt Panic’s business, or Bare Bones’ business, or MacroMates’ business?

Internet Comments as Heckling ★

Neven Mrgan:

Captchas, user registration (including banning), comment moderation, and community guidelines all help, but not everyone wants to spend time running their blog like a night club. Some people just want to, you know, write.

Comments are, like any design decision, a trade-off.

Apple Updates Xserve ★

Apple:

Xserve’s industry-leading storage capabilities include a 128GB SSD boot-drive option that requires a fraction of the power of a hard disk and delivers up to 48 times faster random access times without occupying a drive bay. Xserve’s three 3.5 inch drive bays support both 7200 rpm SATA and 15,000 rpm SAS drives and can be configured with up to 3TB of internal storage.