Does a WebView app have access to Android features?

Issue

I am sorry if this is not the correct place to ask these questions but I cannot find the answer anywhere. I have built/building an app that basically displays a leaflet map and tracks users in real time with node and socket.io It has various functions but everything is contained either on or over the map. What I need to know is.

1. Will this run properly in a WebView app?
2. Can it run when the app is on but in the background (This has to run to keep the connection open and update location with the watch.position function)?
3. Can it access the HTML5 location features?
4. Can I access things like if I want to send a SMS from it via a button on the webapp?
5. Can I access the camera?
6. Whats the quickest software to use to develop this and could a similar app be made for iOS?

Sorry if a lot of questions but from what I have read WebView should be good enough as most of the work is back-end and map/browser based anyway. Or should I go down the native route?

Solution

I have done a couple of cross platform apps for iOS and Android with Cordova. To answer your questions: In a nutshell, I think you can do most of what you are trying to do with a framework like Cordova.

1. No.
2. Not with the webview, but maybe with Cordova (there is a plugin for background services).
3. Not with the webview, but yes with Cordova.
4. Not with the webview, but yes with Cordova.
5. Not with the webview, but yes with Cordova.

I am now a native developer for both iOS and Android. I would probably not do an app cross platform again unless it was really simple. I was always able to make things work in Cordova, but with a lot of hacking involved. Since you are familiar with javascript/html Corodova or Phonegap would probably be fastest in terms of development time for you.

Answered By - Richard Jacobs