Ask HN: Can an Iphone app just link to a website?

[perucoder]

I've created an HTML5 website which when viewed on the Iphone, is able to mimic the look and feel of a native app. Is there anyway to create an Iphone app that can be submitted to the app store, where the only functionality is that it launches the site?

Basically, I need the end user to not be able to tell that they are working with a website instead of a native app.

[dholowiski]

I am no longer an Apple developer, but I think I remember that it was against the rules to have an app that did nothing but display a web page. You run the risk of having your app rejected, although many seem to be getting away with this.

[byoung2]

Yes. Download any of the ClearChannel apps besides Iheartradio (Coast to Coast AM, AT40, etc). These use an embedded safari view to display some content, and Rss to feed other pages in a native environment. See if you can tell the difference.

EDIT: just to clarify, the pages in the app served using the Safari view are served from our web servers.

[perucoder]

Thats great, I'm going to check them out. Could the same thing be done for android apps as well?

[byoung2]

Yes, this is the method that Bank of America used to create its Android app until a few months ago.

[tbgvi]

Check out PhoneGap and their new service PhoneGap Build, it might be what you're looking for:

http://build.phonegap.com

[perucoder]

Yep, I've seen phonegap, but I'm not looking to port the website, just have an app that could display it.

[retroafroman]

That's exactly what PhoneGap does. It's just an embedded webview, and you put in the html/jss/etc from your site.

[perucoder]

Right, I understand that part, but it still sounds like it converts your site into a native app. If I then made a change to the site, I would have to do the whole process over again. I'm looking for something that points to the site, so I can update the site all I want without having to change the app at all.

[retroafroman]

I believe you can have it load dynamic content. For example, I made an app that had a pretty much static front page, then the other pages loaded RSS feeds. Ajax and jQuery are you friends if you decided to go that route. Otherwise, what would be the point of having an app that just points to a webpage?

[perucoder]

Basically, I'm trying to appease higher ups who insist that we need an app, but dont understand all the complexities about maintaining separate codebases, app store approval process, etc... As long as there is something installable in the app store, they're happy. And I can code the site in such a way as to mimic a native app, so the end user wont know the difference.

[Zev]

You could probably do this with one line of code (and the rest in Interface Builder), if you really wanted.

[profitbaron]

I'd recommend either using PhoneGap or just implementing something like - http://www.luscarpa.com/development/make-your-website-an-iph...