Apps on iOS or Android devices, do the built-in browsers (like the Facebook & Twitter app) use the OS's browser or do the apps use their own? For instance, if my iOS's main browser is Safari, is it then also used by the apps?
Thanks!
In iOS I think they use the UIWebView class to display a generic web content.
There are also frameworks that allow an application to navigate the web but I don't think they're correlate in any way with Safari.
For the Android part, I guess it's the same..
No. The apps use their own.....
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I am a web frontend developer and working on buildiing webview pages in hybrid app for the first time.
I was considering Page Visibility API and trying to find out if it is supported by webview browsers, like WKWebView and Android Webview, and couldn't find informations about WKWebView support.
I know there is a safari on iOS tab in caniuse.com, but I am not sure if it means WKWebView supports the same.
so I want to know
if safari on iOS supports something, does it mean WKWebView supports the same?
if not, where can I find informations about WKWebView support?
thank you in advance.
Have you ever used gmail in your Android or iOS using your browser. While browsing it you get a small popup at the top saying that to view/install the native gmail app available at Google Play or AppStore. How do you do that? Is that feature done using html, css, and JS. Or is it built-in to native app?
By the way, this doesn't happen only for gmail but pretty much all the professional apps with both web apps and native apps.
On iOS, you're thinking of Smart App Banners, which are a website configuration detail to display a banner for the user to view your iOS app in the App Store:
Is there a way I could make links to my website open in the web app if the user has it installed on their home screen? Like if there is a link to my website in the Facebook app, how do I tell the iPhone to open the web app and not safari?
I know native apps can do this, and you can open one app from another... but can the same be done with a web app and native app or two web apps (open one web app from another)?
It's probably super far fetched, but it would be a nice feature!
Yeah, it would be a nice feature... but unfortunately you can't yet. iOS 8 may be?
Is it possible to embed the safari browser or a downloadable browser such as Google Chrome into a native mobile application? For example, the app runs entirely independent, but has the option to open the safari browser within the application, rather than opening the Safari that is installed into the phone.
No, this is not possible in iOS. Use a UIWebView instead.
Use webviews instead and here is a list of 3rd party webviews which have more or less the same as safari iphone https://www.cocoacontrols.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=webview
Does UIWebView use the same JavaScript engine as Mobile Safari?
Also, does UIWebView support all HTML5 features like Mobile Safari does? I am specifically concerned about Web SQL and Web Workers
If I have an app which is written purely in HTML and JS, should I wrap it up in a UIWebView or should I have it open in Mobile Safari
Are pure HTML and JS apps accepted on the Apple store?
Does UIWebView use the same JavaScript engine as Mobile Safari?
UIWebView does not have the Nitro Javascript engine, so it executes JS slower than Mobile Safari. So it's not the same.
Also, does UIWebView support all HTML5 features like Mobile Safari does? I am specifically concerned about Web SQL and Web Workers
Not sure about this one. Probably not. At least UIWebView is a bit more strict than Safari on certain features. Example: when setting a width/height style through JS, you need to add 'px' behind the number, while Mobile Safari does not require that.
If I have an app which is written purely in HTML and JS, should I wrap it up in a UIWebView or should I have it open in Mobile Safari
If you want to release the app on the App Store, you will have to wrap it. If not, you don't really have to.
Are pure HTML and JS apps accepted on the Apple store?
If you wrap it, yes. But it has some limitations, as James Webster wrote.
See this question here on SO for more information on the differences between UIWebView and Safari.
I can only really provide insight to part 4 of your question with these snippets:
There are a few guidelines in the App Store Review guidelines (requires login) that mention "web"
2.12 Apps that are not very useful, are simply web sites bundled as apps, or do not provide any lasting entertainment value may be rejected
2.17 Apps that browse the web must use the iOS WebKit framework and WebKit Javascript
12.3 Apps that are simply web clippings, content aggregators, or a collection of links, may be rejected