[Device APIs Requirements] Input to Applauncher API

Here is some input to the Applauncher API requirements for next week:

1) Re "The following requirements, while they could be considered to be functionally part of this API, are already addressed as part of the HTML5 [HTML5] Custom scheme and content handlers:":

This is not exactly true. HTML5 says "The registerProtocolHandler() method allows Web sites to register themselves" (similar for content type handler). A web site is *not* the same as a widget-based webapp, obviously. The user experience given in the use case "if the user clicks on such a link, he is given the opportunity to use that Web site" is also not the desired experience. Other significant limitations of the HTML5 feature are that "This feature is not intended to be used with non-standard protocols" (it should support any arbitrary URI scheme, even non-standard ones - we are not trying to use real protocols in device-local interaction, just launch an application associated with a scheme) and various complex semantics/processing details that apply to web sites but not to local inter-webapp interaction. 

The focus of this requirement for AT&T is that a widget (the use case for this is limited to a widget) has the ability to serve as a silent scheme / MIME handler as part of a collaborative framework of webapps, and may in that capacity may provide protocol/content handling services to other widgets and browser-based webapps. Thus the first requirement under " 4. Application Launcher" should be:

* A User Agent may provide means for web applications and non-web applications to register themselves as handlers for media types and URI schemes. (Note that for non-web applications, this may be outside the scope of this API.)

2) There should be a requirement supporting discovery of launchable applications:
* It should be possible to discover launchable applications, and thus to determine their associated filename (full path), URI scheme, and MIME types as applicable.

3) There should be a requirement supporting launching of an application by its filename:
* It should be possible to launch an application by its filename (full path).

4) There should be a requirement supporting return of content through a callback provided by the launching webapp:
* It should be possible for the launching webapp to specify a callback function (with optional parameters) to receive a response from the launched application.

5) There should be a requirement supporting registration as an exclusive handler:
* It should be possible to register as an exclusive handler for URI schemes and MIME types.

Best regards,
Bryan Sullivan | AT&T

Received on Tuesday, 27 October 2009 05:09:32 UTC