[Update 7/27/16: The Cronote Reminders iPhone app is no longer available but may return in the future.]

The Cronote Reminders iPhone App was released ahead of schedule last Friday (a post about this is forthcoming). The app itself differs from conventional iPhone app development in that 98% of the code is Java. We used the Google Web Toolkit (GWT) in conjunction with the PhoneGap library to develop the app. GWT compiles Java source code into highly efficient and compact JavaScript webapps, while PhoneGap wraps the generated webapp into a deployable form in Xcode. Our model has been discussed at length on other sites such as:

http://blog.daniel-kurka.de/2012/02/mgwt-and-phonegap-talk-at-webmontag-in.html

http://turbomanage.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/gwt-phonegap-native-mobile-apps-quickly/

Some would ask why such a model is necessary. The simple – and powerful – answer is that we use the same Java POJOs for our REST API, our reminder-timing program, our website and our iPhone app. The website and iPhone app share the same code that calls the REST API.