Convert any page (with images, JavaScript, etc.) into a locally stored iPhone app with new script

We previously reported on a method for storing an entire set of HTML in a bookmark on the iPhone (in effect allowing "Web apps" to live locally on the device) by utilizing the data: URL. All page content is stored in bookmark data, and can be accessed when no network connection exists â?? even if the iPhone is in Airplane mode.

Now, developer Kee Hinckley along with the folks at Somewhere Inc. have created an enhanced perl script that will take any entered URL and convert the entire page (including any images, JavaScript, CSS, etc. -- the previous script handled only HTML) to a bookmarklet that is storable on the iPhone. Just enter a page URL, click the conversion link, then save the resulting data: URL as a bookmark, and you have a locally stored version of that page.

The current implementation is not without some flaws and limits; it looks like the iPhone has a ~32KB size limit for bookmark data storage, so pages larger than that may not store properly. Also, some current iPhone-designed Web apps render improperly on don't function when put through the conversion process.

Kee notes:

"Storing a couple of these in your bookmarks slows down bookmark editing in Safari. [...] Don't point it at your favorite MySpace or news page. Those sites are way too big. You'll want to stick to widgets and iPhone web applications, preferably with minimal graphics."

"Some complicated Javascript doesn't seem to work. I suspect it's a case of javascript code loading other javascript code. We get the first, but not the second."

Give it a shot on your iPhone and let us know your results.