Supporting iOS has always been a challenge for an open source project such as WP-AppKit. For several months, we have discussed this issue among the team as difficulties have increased. This article explains why we came to the conclusion that coming versions of WP-AppKit won’t support iOS hybrids apps anymore.
Cost Constraint
First, supporting iOS requires specific hardware and software. Apple’s devices costs are skyrocketing (remember we have to use laptops, ipads and iphones). At the beginning of the project, we acquired needed devices but this year, it became obvious that we had to replace them. It was also obvious that the required budget is out of range.
Time Constraint
Another thing to consider is the time devoted to work on iOS as sometimes just compiling and testing an iOS app is ridiculously complicated. We are not the only ones to feel that building hybrid apps for iOS is a pain in the ass. Freetime to work on WP-AppKit is precious and we’d like to use it as purposefully as possible.
PWA Support
At the end of 2017, we invested a lot in PWA. PWA aim to create an app like user experience using web technologies. This is something which is deeply in the core of WP-AppKit’s mission. PWA are well supported on Android and now expand on Mobile Firefox, Desktop Chrome and Edge. Reading the list of platforms supporting this technology, you can see that Apple is missing. This is not enterily true, iOS Safari offers some support for PWA but it is lagging behind other vendors.
Dropping iOS Support 😱
We are fully aware that iOS is a huge part of the mobile world but we came to the conclusion that our project can’t fit Apple’s schemes anymore. It is a difficult and scary decision, believe me. We also make the choice of web technologies as we did before since the beginning of the project. WP-AppKit has always been about strong choices and we understand that decision may anger some of our users.
What does that mean exactly?
It means that we won’t test anymore on latest iOS devices and we will deprecate the iOS platform in future versions of WP-AppKit.
If you have any questions or remarks about this new direction for WP-AppKit, please share in the comments. (However be aware, we won’t publish or respond agressive comments.)
oh no!
couldn’t you leave the current possibilities of your fantastic WP-AppKit (collecting all the things we need for a phonegap-app) inside the code?
i can understand you didn’t want buy all year again new expensive hardware! Me neither! its un-necessary and un-ecological, too.
But you don’t need to test by yourself! There is a community. We all want to use your creation for making our Apps. And we will test this apps on the devices we own. If there are Problems, we can fill an issue or maybe make a PR on https://github.com/uncatcrea/wp-appkit
i´ll be glad to see you stay having iOS on your flag – even without support 😉
First, thank you for your feedback. You’re totally right, I should have been more precise in my article. Let me be clearer: iOS features are here to stay as long as they don’t cause any problem. We will take in account all the feedback from the community of course. The only thing is that we can’t provide thorough iOS testing anymore and we wanted to be transparent about that.
sorry, forget to ask: “… we will deprecate the iOS platform in future versions of WP-AppKit.”
what do you think is a timeframe for that possible change? next summer, next xmas, next month …?
i´ll have to make a location-based app (PWA, iOS and Android). And wanted to build it with OSM, wordpress, pods.io and, of course, wp-appkit. But if you’ll drop the possibility for iOS (to fast, eg before Summer) i´ve to do another research and choose another way for building this app.
We don’t have timeframe. iOS features will be kept as long as possible but in a kind of freeze state.
Is this about native iOS apps or are you referring to PWA compatibility for iOS apps? Sorry, just want to be clear.
It’s about native iOS apps. Everything we’ve done for this platform will be still part of the plugin and the default Q for iOS theme, but we won’t add specific features for iOS native apps and we won’t test the iOS native platform anymore. Regarding iOS PWA support, we will closely monitor its progress.
Hi guys, i have an android app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.coroleu.Agendaparque) created with your excellent plugin and i starting to build/create an ios version, my question is if you recommend me continue. Is just a simple app without future addons. Wich you suggest me? Thanks in advanced
Hi Gaston, you can still build iOS apps with WP-AppKit, we just can’t guaranty that the iOS elements of your app (Cordova plugins, PhoneGap config, “Q for iOS” app theme) will still be compatible with iOS platform versions to come, as we stopped our tests on iOS.
If you’re proficient in creating a PhoneGap app for iOS and ok to deal with iOS/Cordova config and compatibility issues by yourself, it should work for you. Just be aware that we won’t be able to provide you support concerning the iOS specific part of your app.
we understand your difficulties and we give you the right ,we appreciate you for developing wp app kit , your project make the wordpress puzzle bigger and Stronger
the wordpress storm will change the hole of the web !
wordpress is web os !
your project is a matter part of the wordpress os ui side
good job
big step
Thanks for the kind words!
Just started using it. It compiles and works just fine using cordova for IOS. I use Monaca.io and no issues getting it fully supported. Is there any sort of theme sharing?
Thanks for your feedback.
We don’t have a theme sharing platform but don’t hesitate to share your theme on github/gitlab or equivalent, it is always interesting to see themes examples from WP-AppKit users.
I admire you guys and wish more people would stop developing for apple. I, myself, refuse to publish my app on the ios platform, no matter how popular it gets.