There are some interesting articles covering the launch of the beautiful new FT.com HTML5 web app. It looks and feels like a native iOS app and is a great view into the capabilities/possibilities of HTML5 for publishers….But it gets better: It caches content on the device and allows for a great offline experience. This has been the gating factor that has led many publishers to cling to native apps rather than web or mobile web. Go play with it and let me know what you think.
Naturally, there are great business reasons to consider this approach, too. For publishers with a thriving audience, there is no great reason to pay the subscription vig to apple. Publishers can better control their destiny when they aren’t dependent on apple.
Here’s some good coverage from Peter Kafka @ All Things D as well as Steve Smith @ minOnline.