Do you go native or HTML5? It’s a question that’s becoming increasingly harder to answer as HTML5 flourishes into a mature platform. There are still a lot of advantages to going native, but HTML5 requires you build an app only once and it works across a number of devices. You can now add the Kindle Fire to those devices.
Amazon announced today that it’s now accepting submissions of HTML5 apps and mobile optimized Web sites. These apps will be sold alongside native apps on the Amazon Appstore for both Kindle Fire and the Amazon Appstore for Android.
To start, Amazon has opened up a new section on its developer portal called Amazon Web App Resources. The Web site not only includes the tools needed to monetize your Web apps, but it also includes what it calls the Web App Tester. This tool will allow you to test your app to make sure it runs smoothly on both the Kindle Fire and Android devices. You can grab it for free here.
Of course, all of this wouldn’t be possible without updates to the Kindle Fire in the form of a new Web runtime based on Google’s Chromium project. This allows for GPU accelerated graphics performance in HTML5 apps so that your Web apps will have nearly native performance. You can read up on the new Web runtime here.
So, how easy is it to submit a Web app? Amazon says you just need to sign in to the Amazon Mobile App Distribution Portal, go to My Apps and choose “Submit a New Web App.” It’s a simple as that, but you can check out some more information here if you need help.