Application Caching

From RuntimeWiki

This feature request calls on all popular browsers to implement the application cache feature found in the W3C HTML5 spec. Today, application caching is supported by Chrome (via Gears plugin), Safari 4+, iPhone Safari 2.1+ and Firefox 3.1+.

Application caching is a centerpiece feature that allows web applications to work when the browser is disconnected (i.e., offline) from the Internet, such as when they are on an airplane (without WIFI) or, for mobile browsing, when leaving their ISP's coverage area.

The application caching feature allows authors the ability to provide a manifest which lists the files that are needed for the Web application to work offline.

The HTML5 spec for offline applications and application caching is at:

• http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/offline.html

Ajaxian wrote an article on offline features in HTML5:

• http://ajaxian.com/archives/html5-features-in-latest-iphone-application-cache-and-database

Comments on this feature request

IBM feedback: important feature for future

One of IBM's product teams says this would be important to have in the long-term, but are not critical right away.