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Apple allows hot code push for JS downloaded and run by WebKit

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Re: Apple allows hot code push for JS downloaded and run by WebKit

#11

Post by AznHisoka »

turval wrote: post #2

This is probably the only feature that gives hybrid apps an actual upper-hand vs their native counterparts. So now I could instantly push an update to my apps by hot-swapping the js code, while a native version would be stuck in a a multi-day approval process. I can imaging there are some scenarios where getting a feature to market before a competitor would make this feature really valuable. One question, it specific…

"getting a feature to market before a competitor"

Very rarely is that ever important in the mobile app industry.

Re: Apple allows hot code push for JS downloaded and run by WebKit

#12

Post by seanalltogether »

Sidnicious wrote: post #8
seanalltogether wrote: post #7

Last I read, Apple was limiting javascript performance in UIWebViews compared to what was available in Safari, is this still the case?

No. In iOS 8 apps can use WKWebView, which is accelerated.

Wow, thanks, I can't believe I missed reading about this until now. This framework looks really promising

Re: Apple allows hot code push for JS downloaded and run by WebKit

#13

Post by _random_ »

turval wrote: post #2

This is probably the only feature that gives hybrid apps an actual upper-hand vs their native counterparts. So now I could instantly push an update to my apps by hot-swapping the js code, while a native version would be stuck in a a multi-day approval process. I can imaging there are some scenarios where getting a feature to market before a competitor would make this feature really valuable. One question, it specific…

It will be a matter of choice between delivering a mediocre experience constantly or a quality one intermittently.

Re: Apple allows hot code push for JS downloaded and run by WebKit

#15

Post by hayksaakian »

AznHisoka wrote: post #11
turval wrote: post #2

This is probably the only feature that gives hybrid apps an actual upper-hand vs their native counterparts. So now I could instantly push an update to my apps by hot-swapping the js code, while a native version would be stuck in a a multi-day approval process. I can imaging there are some scenarios where getting a feature to market before a competitor would make this feature really valuable. One question, it specific…

"getting a feature to market before a competitor" Very rarely is that ever important in the mobile app industry.

Is that because it wasn't possible or because it wasn't useful/helpful to do?

Re: Apple allows hot code push for JS downloaded and run by WebKit

#16

Post by mahyarm »

_random_ wrote: post #10

Many games are constantly downloading multi-megabyte "updates". I bet some of that stuff is Lua.

No, they catch that kind of stuff in app review. Lua code updates would be a small part of that. They're asset and IAP content, that is why it's multi-megabyte. It comes from experience.

Re: Apple allows hot code push for JS downloaded and run by WebKit

#18

Post by simonh »

seanalltogether wrote: post #12
Sidnicious wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. In iOS 8 apps can use WKWebView, which is accelerated.

Wow, thanks, I can't believe I missed reading about this until now. This framework looks really promising

The only reason it wasn't allowed until now was security. With iOS 8 cross process communication improvements, the JITed JavaScript engine can be used by third party apps in a segregated fashion without sacrificing security.

Re: Apple allows hot code push for JS downloaded and run by WebKit

#20

Post by potatolicious »

hayksaakian wrote: post #15
AznHisoka wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"getting a feature to market before a competitor" Very rarely is that ever important in the mobile app industry.

Is that because it wasn't possible or because it wasn't useful/helpful to do?

Not very useful. Mobile apps are pretty trivial to clone (clone poorly, usually), and anything remotely successfully is cloned within days of popping up on the radar.

The first-mover advantage is close to zero. The lone exception are things that are intrinsically hard to clone - deep hardware-level integration, native code that stretches the limits of current platform understanding, etc.

Which doesn't apply at all to webview-powered apps. At all.

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