HTML5 Scorecard: The New iPad and iOS 5.1 — A Mixed Bag http://www.sencha.com/blog/html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1 Our HTML5 scorecard typically focuses on what HTML5 developers need to consider when developing for a platform or mobile operating system. Both iPad 3 and iOS 5.1 are significant updates in the Apple ecosystem, and they impact HTML5 developers. In today’s HTML5 scorecard we’ll look at them independently, explore a few of the issues we found and give developers some guidance on how to work both the new iPad and with iOS 5.1. en-us aditya@sencha.com Copyright 2012 2012-03-30T15:00:02+00:00 Comment by Michael Eber “While we believe that the iPad is still the best tablet in the market, it’s the first time a new Apple product hasn’t categorically outshone its predecessor” Have you looked at the Asus Transformer Prime?  I believe you will find decent competition here.  IMHO, between the expandable memory and docking station the IPad cannot begin to touch this tablet. “While we believe that the iPad is still the best tablet in the market, it’s the first time a new Apple product hasn’t categorically outshone its predecessor”

Have you looked at the Asus Transformer Prime?  I believe you will find decent competition here.  IMHO, between the expandable memory and docking station the IPad cannot begin to touch this tablet.

]]> Wed, 09 May 2012 14:34 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31478#date:14:34 Comment by MSwisher It’s really no surprise the new iPad is slower with the “retina” display, and definitely have to agree with Jonathan Mines’ comment… Once Microsoft became untouchable, they introduced Vista and, unfortunately, the same thing happened when Apple introduced retina display tech on the iPhone - it became slower, and now their untouchable. Bigger gadget equals bigger problem. Can’t wait for the Playbook review, will definitely watch for it. Thanks! It’s really no surprise the new iPad is slower with the “retina” display, and definitely have to agree with Jonathan Mines’ comment… Once Microsoft became untouchable, they introduced Vista and, unfortunately, the same thing happened when Apple introduced retina display tech on the iPhone - it became slower, and now their untouchable. Bigger gadget equals bigger problem. Can’t wait for the Playbook review, will definitely watch for it. Thanks!

]]> Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:11 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31302#date:18:11 Comment by Michael Mullany @eduardo - stay tuned for our playbook OS2 review - it’s coming this week. @eduardo - stay tuned for our playbook OS2 review - it’s coming this week.

]]> Mon, 23 Apr 2012 01:08 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31295#date:01:08 Comment by Eduardo It would be interesting to see a benchmark against Playbook with the latest update. I tested my Playbook on html5test.com got a 373 + 9 bonus points. Then compared against browsers on tablets with iOS 5.1 and Android 4.0, huge difference. RIM OS 2.0 has 49 points more than iOS 5.1 and 100 points more than Android 4.0 tablets. I’m updating to RIM OS 2.1 to run a test, however according to html5test.com I should expect a 381 + 10 bonus points. Wandering why you guys keep comparing a third generation tablet against a tablet which is first generation as BB Playbook without using an up to date OS version? It would be interesting to see a benchmark against Playbook with the latest update. I tested my Playbook on html5test.com got a 373 + 9 bonus points. Then compared against browsers on tablets with iOS 5.1 and Android 4.0, huge difference. RIM OS 2.0 has 49 points more than iOS 5.1 and 100 points more than Android 4.0 tablets. I’m updating to RIM OS 2.1 to run a test, however according to html5test.com I should expect a 381 + 10 bonus points. Wandering why you guys keep comparing a third generation tablet against a tablet which is first generation as BB Playbook without using an up to date OS version?

]]> Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:47 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31293#date:18:47 Comment by Jonathan Mines Apple is slowly but surely starting to go the way of Netscape or rather Microsoft, for those of you born after 1995.  Their products are starting to have that “well our name is so big, people will buy it just because so we dont need to innovate anymore.”  It’s starting to be gloss over performance. Apple is slowly but surely starting to go the way of Netscape or rather Microsoft, for those of you born after 1995.  Their products are starting to have that “well our name is so big, people will buy it just because so we dont need to innovate anymore.”  It’s starting to be gloss over performance.

]]> Sun, 22 Apr 2012 17:44 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31291#date:17:44 Comment by bdvr Thanks, Michael. My findings definitely support that hybrid apps are affected, whereas full screen apps are not. If anyone finds this interesting, I downloaded the “Performance” app discussed at http://www.itwriting.com/blog/5656-apple-breaks-web-storage-in-ios-5-1-does-not-care-about-web-apps.html I ver.ified that in iOS 5, it stores its localStorage data under the WebKit directory in its app directory. I then upgraded to iOS 5.1, and my notes in the app were gone. I saw that the upgrade process had removed the app’s WebKit folder, and that the localStorage db was no longer being stored there when I added additional notes. I couldn’t find the localStorage db, but I was looking at the files through an iTunes backup, so I assume it was going into the caches folder, which wasn’t being backed up. Thanks, Michael. My findings definitely support that hybrid apps are affected, whereas full screen apps are not.

If anyone finds this interesting, I downloaded the “Performance” app discussed at http://www.itwriting.com/blog/5656-apple-breaks-web-storage-in-ios-5-1-does-not-care-about-web-apps.html I ver.ified that in iOS 5, it stores its localStorage data under the WebKit directory in its app directory. I then upgraded to iOS 5.1, and my notes in the app were gone. I saw that the upgrade process had removed the app’s WebKit folder, and that the localStorage db was no longer being stored there when I added additional notes. I couldn’t find the localStorage db, but I was looking at the files through an iTunes backup, so I assume it was going into the caches folder, which wasn’t being backed up.

]]> Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:42 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31134#date:14:42 Comment by Michael Mullany @bvdr - it does not affect web apps running in full screen mode. @bvdr - it does not affect web apps running in full screen mode.

]]> Wed, 04 Apr 2012 23:32 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31124#date:23:32 Comment by bdvr Can anyone confirm if the WebSQL / localStorage issue also affects web apps running in full screen mode (not hybrid apps)? What I am seeing is that my WebSQL database is still being stored in the Library/WebKit folder and not in the Library/Caches folder, which supposedly means it should still be permanent. I also was not able to reproduce the issue of the db getting deleted upon upgrading to iOS 5.1. Can anyone confirm if the WebSQL / localStorage issue also affects web apps running in full screen mode (not hybrid apps)? What I am seeing is that my WebSQL database is still being stored in the Library/WebKit folder and not in the Library/Caches folder, which supposedly means it should still be permanent. I also was not able to reproduce the issue of the db getting deleted upon upgrading to iOS 5.1.

]]> Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:19 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31120#date:17:19 Comment by Basem Emara Regarding Apple breaks web storage in iOS 5.1: “Discussions on the Apple developer forums during the beta period for 1OS 5.1 show that Apple was aware of the issue and that it is by design. The impression given is that Apple was annoyed by the number of apps using web storage to speed up their apps (whether web or native) rather than just storing customer-created content, and felt it was imposing too much burden on the constrained storage space in an iOS device.” http://www.itwriting.com/blog/5656-apple-breaks-web-storage-in-ios-5-1-does-not-care-about-web-apps.html Regarding Apple breaks web storage in iOS 5.1:

“Discussions on the Apple developer forums during the beta period for 1OS 5.1 show that Apple was aware of the issue and that it is by design. The impression given is that Apple was annoyed by the number of apps using web storage to speed up their apps (whether web or native) rather than just storing customer-created content, and felt it was imposing too much burden on the constrained storage space in an iOS device.”

http://www.itwriting.com/blog/5656-apple-breaks-web-storage-in-ios-5-1-does-not-care-about-web-apps.html

]]> Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:16 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31097#date:18:16 Comment by Alex Bench marking against up to date android devices would be very interesting here. The post gives an interesting view of how the new iPad compares to its predecessor, but googling around, the results are very mixed for tegra based divides ( namely the Prime ). Benchmarks seem to indicate the Prime being faster in some respects ( it scores better on browsermark ), whereas the iPad is better in others ( sunspider ). Which works better on Sencha? A benchmark similar to the one you guys have to show performance metrics across releases would be very cool here. Bench marking against up to date android devices would be very interesting here. The post gives an interesting view of how the new iPad compares to its predecessor, but googling around, the results are very mixed for tegra based divides ( namely the Prime ). Benchmarks seem to indicate the Prime being faster in some respects ( it scores better on browsermark ), whereas the iPad is better in others ( sunspider ). Which works better on Sencha? A benchmark similar to the one you guys have to show performance metrics across releases would be very cool here.

]]> Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:54 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31096#date:12:54 Comment by anon If its not too much trouble could you please include the Asus Prime + ICS in your benchmark tests ? If its not too much trouble could you please include the Asus Prime + ICS in your benchmark tests ?

]]> Sun, 01 Apr 2012 21:53 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31091#date:21:53 Comment by Justin The local storage and websql breakage does not seem to be intentional. Bugs filed with Apple remain open and it looks as though they are investigating it seriously. This issue even affects html widgets in iBooks. Meanwhile, there is a workaround that allows persistence to work again - however your app will still be subject to arbitrary cleanup when the system is low on space unless you backup and restore the database (as the phonegap plugin does) or you move the database location on the file system (another webview plist setting - a better option than backup and restore but we don’t know how Apple feels about this yet)... In short - its not as bad as it sounds or a show stopper, although it looked rough for a short while. The local storage and websql breakage does not seem to be intentional. Bugs filed with Apple remain open and it looks as though they are investigating it seriously. This issue even affects html widgets in iBooks. Meanwhile, there is a workaround that allows persistence to work again - however your app will still be subject to arbitrary cleanup when the system is low on space unless you backup and restore the database (as the phonegap plugin does) or you move the database location on the file system (another webview plist setting - a better option than backup and restore but we don’t know how Apple feels about this yet)...

In short - its not as bad as it sounds or a show stopper, although it looked rough for a short while.

]]> Sat, 31 Mar 2012 17:15 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31089#date:17:15 Comment by Martin de Keijzer The new iOS is definitely a big let-down for me. I’m still struggling with people who are not like-minded yet and love native stuff. Apple seemed to do a great job of giving web-developers a way of doing a lot of stuff, up till this release. It hurts that iCloud pushing is more important than local storage persistance and that performance (even on older devices like the iPad 1) for web apps is probably not considered a main priority over having great graphics on the 2012 iPad. Creating hybrid apps always felt to me like the ‘90s all over again, and now Apple starts to feel like the new Microsoft. The new iOS is definitely a big let-down for me. I’m still struggling with people who are not like-minded yet and love native stuff. Apple seemed to do a great job of giving web-developers a way of doing a lot of stuff, up till this release.

It hurts that iCloud pushing is more important than local storage persistance and that performance (even on older devices like the iPad 1) for web apps is probably not considered a main priority over having great graphics on the 2012 iPad.

Creating hybrid apps always felt to me like the ‘90s all over again, and now Apple starts to feel like the new Microsoft.

]]> Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:25 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31088#date:13:25 Comment by Eric Blade The PlayBook OS browser drastically outclasses the iOS browser.  Not only does it support virtually everything that is found in Chrome at this point, but it also has excellent support even for old things—such as being able to upload files from your mobile device using the regular old HTML file submit form.  Which I don’t think any of the others do, or if they do, they do it piss poorly. The PlayBook OS browser drastically outclasses the iOS browser.  Not only does it support virtually everything that is found in Chrome at this point, but it also has excellent support even for old things—such as being able to upload files from your mobile device using the regular old HTML file submit form.  Which I don’t think any of the others do, or if they do, they do it piss poorly.

]]> Sat, 31 Mar 2012 02:08 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31086#date:02:08 Comment by Vlatko Koudela Great article! But I’m very disappointed in iOS 5.1. specially the localStorage. It should be persistent. Great article! But I’m very disappointed in iOS 5.1. specially the localStorage. It should be persistent.

]]> Fri, 30 Mar 2012 21:00 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31085#date:21:00 Comment by AwesomeBobX64 Wow. Disappointing. Wow. Disappointing.

]]> Fri, 30 Mar 2012 19:31 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31084#date:19:31 Comment by Yoh Suzuki Good post.  The iOS 5.1 web storage issue is a huge deal.  Thanks to some quick work by PhoneGap developers, I’m now using a plugin that backs up and restores HTML5 web storage to/from a permanent location (soon to be an official plugin in Cordova 1.6). Good post.  The iOS 5.1 web storage issue is a huge deal.  Thanks to some quick work by PhoneGap developers, I’m now using a plugin that backs up and restores HTML5 web storage to/from a permanent location (soon to be an official plugin in Cordova 1.6).

]]> Fri, 30 Mar 2012 19:26 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31083#date:19:26 Comment by Dave Ackerman Great post, Aditya. It was very interesting to see the difference in performance when Jay loaded up our Rvrsit game on the new iPad. All of what you’re saying makes sense in terms of the graphics performance. I’m *really* hoping CSS regions comes in the next update. That would make doing columnal layouts of text, which is still one of the most difficult things to get right today, trivial. Great post, Aditya. It was very interesting to see the difference in performance when Jay loaded up our Rvrsit game on the new iPad. All of what you’re saying makes sense in terms of the graphics performance.

I’m *really* hoping CSS regions comes in the next update. That would make doing columnal layouts of text, which is still one of the most difficult things to get right today, trivial.

]]> Fri, 30 Mar 2012 19:20 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31082#date:19:20 Comment by Jay Garcia Thanks for the scorecard, Aditya! At Modus, we felt the same lack of enthusiasm for performance. Thanks for the scorecard, Aditya! At Modus, we felt the same lack of enthusiasm for performance.

]]> Fri, 30 Mar 2012 19:17 GMT http://www.sencha.com/blog//html5-scorecard-the-new-ipad-and-ios-5-1#id:31081#date:19:17