What is PhoneGap used for, exactly?

Question

I have a couple of years of experience developing native Android apps, and was curious about making a HTML5/CSS3/JS version of these so I can publish them for iOS as well.

I started reading some about PhoneGap, but from what I can see, this is only an interface between hardware/OS functionality (camera, GPS, contacts) and my HTML/CSS/JS app. Is this correct?

The first app I want to port doesn't use any of the items listed here: http://docs.phonegap.com/en/1.9.0/index.html I just need buttons and form elements really. Does this mean that PhoneGap is really not what I'm looking for, and should use just plan jQuery mobile?

Thanks!

Answer 1

You are spot on. Phone gap is for bridging the gap between HW and your web app.

If you are not using any of the HW items listed, then there is no need for you to use PhoneGap.

Jquery Mobile would be a good choice.

On a side note - Soon, PhoneGap nay not be needed either! With HTML5, you should be able to directly access most of this HW. However, still browsers have limited to no support for this. (Chrome works, and the latest FF nightly builds, Opera Developer builds can access Camera/microphone)

Answer 2

Phonegap is a tool which provides you environment where you can develop your application. Phonegap is an open-source mobile development framework. It allows you to use standard web technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript for cross-platform development, avoiding each mobile platforms' native development language. Applications execute within wrappers targeted to each platform, and rely on standards-compliant API bindings to access each device's sensors, data, and network status.