“Stable target”–per the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) concerning HTML5’s final rollout
However, after starting quickly got into the “incompleteness” of the HTML5 UI standard. It ended up being the right decision and set our client for the future. But, all along the rock star development lead I worked with would comment about “it would be much easier if we were just coding to one mobile app platform”. There was definitely a lot of trial and error required, not to mention very unique solutions he came up with. Plus, we had to do some creative decisioning when the legal department weighed in on some of the UI controls we hacked together in HTML5 (you know lawyers!).
The main benefit from the standard being complete will be that people don’t have to pick one mobile OS vs. another if it doesn’t match their preferred mobile strategy. Companies can let ‘er rip on developing in HTML5 knowing that they’re not shooting at a moving target. And if mobile app dev shops play their cards right, their original work will be a fantastic input for the potential re-write their clients might hire them to complete. They will be able to develop the right cross platform application for their clients, who in turn can reach their consumers in a much more consistent cross mobile device method. Regardless of whether the lawyers like it or not!