AT&T AppCenter Will Sell HTML5 Apps

One of the biggest challenges in launching a mobile web app is finding a distribution channel. Yesterday, AT&T announced plans to launch an HTML5 storefront to its AppCenter, similar to Apple’s App Store and the Android Market, that will curate and distribute HTML5 apps alongside iOS and Android apps.

Notably, the store will accept “unwrapped” HTML5 apps that have not been planted in an Android or iPhone shell for distribution through native markets. For Android/iPhone apps, the AppCenter will point the user to the native market to actually purchase the app.

The AppCenter HTML5 storefront aims to address two of the major issues in deploying browser based web apps:

Providing a singular distribution hub similar to the Apple App Store or Android Market for HTML5-based web apps.
Payment. AT&T will allow developers to charge for their apps straight through the customers phone bill.

The HTML5 storefront is planned for launch later this year.

AT&T also showcased the Application Resource Optimizer (ARO), a tool to help developers reduce battery usage. “This is going to help your apps run faster and use less battery,” Bradley from AT&T said. The tool is avaliable at developer.att.com/aro.

Filed under: Product Engineering | Topics: html, html5, mobile, mobile developers