In our not-so-humble opinions, we think that the Google Web Toolkit (GWT) and the Apple iPhone are two very cool technologies. Because we're all highfalutin computer-scientist types (as well as being irrepressibly geeky) we wanted to see what happens when you mix them together. Would it be like peanut-butter and chocolate, or hot-sauce and poison ivy? Our approach was to build an application that primarily targets the iPhone and to use that as a test-bed for new ideas.

So what kind of application should we build? The application should:

  • demonstrate a well-defined purpose that is useful to developers using GWT
  • take advantage of the always-connected iPhone platform
  • present a UI that is familiar to iPhone users and geared towards information presentation
  • demonstrate integration between GWT and other Google technology

And so the GWT Feed Reader was created. It combines the Google AJAX Feed API with a user interface geared for use on the iPhone. The source code to GWT Feed Reader is available under an Open Source license from a Google Code project.

The primary take-away from this project is to say this: The Google Web Toolkit can be used to create applications that, in the same code base, work well on an iPhone and a traditional desktop browser. You can read more about the development of the GWT Feed Reader in a Google Groups article.


Enjoy.