Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't quite see the argument here. To quote from your link: > Chrome for Android supports a few features which aren't enabled in the WebView, including: If Google was trying to protect the app-store walled-garden - surely that would mean the reverse? Currently in-browser games that bypass the appstore completely have access to more features than native apps?
Both companies cripple HTML5 support on their mobile OS. Developers are left with almost no choice but to write native apps for their platform (if they care about execution speed). It fits perfectly in the picture that Apple doesn't allow alternative browser engines. Chrome for iOS just embeds UIWebView and there is no Firefox for the same reason. The JavaScript JIT is disabled for UIWebView, and only enabled for Saf…
Right now I'm running WebGL apps on my Android phone, and in Chrome you can put web apps on your homescreen with a single click in the menu. You don't need to go through any store, and you can open it like any Android app from the homescreen.
What's more open than that?