6 javascript based web ui libraries and html5 frameworks

How many times have we heard a client (or prospect) tell us that they want their web app to look more “smart”? As mobile and smartphone platforms increase in popularity, so will the necessary toolkits to create apps for them. Going towards an HTML5 / Javascript-based toolkit will help many teams get their app out there faster, and with a cross-platform consistent experience. Here’s six of my (current) favorite smartphone HTML5 UI kits.

• iUIiUI is a framework consisting of a JavaScript library, CSS, and images for developing advanced mobile webapps for iPhone and comparable/compatible devices. This is a popular lightweight toolkit for making your smartphone app look “iPhone-y”
  
• Sencha Touch – Sencha Touch allows you to develop mobile web apps that look and feel native on iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry touch devices.
  
• xui – xui is the smallest framework that works across all of the devices in the mobile landscape. it does not try and dictate a page structure or widget paradigm. instead, it uses the dom and since most mobile applications consist of lists and buttons, we feel, html and css do a fine job of rendering.
  
• jo – For iOS, Android, webOS, BlackBerry, Chrome OS & anything else with HTML5 Widgets, lists and scrolling goodness using JavaScript & CSS3 Make native mobile apps or web apps with the same code Works great with PhoneGap
  
• JQuery Mobile – A unified, HTML5-based user interface system for all popular mobile device platforms, built on the rock-solid jQuery and jQuery UI foundation. Its lightweight code is built with progressive enhancement, and has a flexible, easily themeable design.
  
• jqTouch – a JQuery plugin for mobile web development on the iPhone, Android, iPod Touch, and other forward-thinking devices.
  

There you have it. While this is a brief overview of the available possibilities that I’ve come across in projects, I’m sure there’s many out there that I haven’t seen yet.

Got a favorite? Tell me about it!