PhoneGap Serve now supports Desktop Browser

We have flipped the switch to enable desktop browser support by default for the phonegap serve command.

Overview

For the past 6 months, desktop browser support was available behind the flag phonegap serve --browser. We kept the feature quiet, while we added browser support to the core Apache Cordova plugins. We’re now excited to turn this feature on by default!

Usage

Now when you run the command, the browser platform is automatically added and served so that you can test and debug issues directly from your desktop browser.

Benefits of Desktop for Debugging

This allows for a more seamless developement process, letting you continue to work within the browser using tools you are already familiar with. It also makes it possible to leverage the powerful debugging tools that are integarated in modern browsers.

Plugin Support

Currently all the core Apache Cordova plugins have browser support. Some have an actual implementation, while others simply return an error but continue running the application.

Livereload

Running your app in the browser also supports livereloading. Any changes that you make to your source code will be automatically pushed to the browser so that you can test it right away.

Multiple Devices

The addition of the browser does not affect the multi-device functionality that was already present when serving apps. Now you can run your app in the browser, as well as on an Android, iOS, or Windows Phone device all at the same time with livereloading.

Of course, using the browser may not be necessary for all users. If you would like to continue serving applications without the browser, you can do so by running phonegap serve --no-browser.

Coming Soon

We are currently working on bringing browser support to the Desktop App as well. Stay tuned for more details!

Originally published at phonegap.com on February 19, 2016.