Oh boy here we go... queue the comments about how Apple hates your cat or whatever ridiculous theory people will invent to explain this.<p>Apple is testing WebGL. Introducing it in iAds is a pilot and will allow them to shake out bugs and such. This is a good thing as it means that WebGL is coming to iOS soon.
Although it's easy to look at this in a sinister light, the simpler explanation IMO is just that Apple doesn't feel entirely comfortable with its implementation of WebGL on iOS and wants to be able to screen apps instead of turning it into iOS's Flash.
I assume there's probably a risk of arbitrary code execution, which is mostly mitigated by vetting each ad. Too bad though, would be nice to see what could be built for iOS web apps.
How does this make any sense? Apps from the iOS App Store can use webkit views where webGL could apply but native apps have had direct access to OpenGL ES for years (only the original iPhone, iPhone 3G, and the first iPod touch iOS devices did not have a GPU and hence no OpenGL). I was pretty sure iAds only ran in native apps and hence could use OpenGL directly. So why would iAd developers have any interest in using WebGL.<p>Obviously web site developers and HTML5 app developers care very much for WebGL access in mobile safari. If Apple 'artificially' holds back WebGL they will just be shooting themselves in the foot. Imagine the damage if other pad platforms allow interactive, 3D web browsing and the iPad does not. It would be suicidal.
Aside from the security concerns, I suspect Apple would prefer game developers to write native apps rather than find itself constantly being benchmarked against last night's custom build of Android or Chrome or Firefox running a WebGL game no-one actually plays.
I wonder if this means WebGL will be in Android ICS. Sony Ericsson has already showed some demo in WebGL on a phone earlier this year, if Apple is starting to implement it in iOS already, then Google could do it, too. I just wonder if they considered it a priority, because when asked about WebGL coming to Android's mobile browser at I/O, the WebGL guys weren't too sure if that will happen anytime soon. But I sure hope so! Upcoming dual core and quad core chips should be able to take advantage of it somewhat.
does this mean these won't be any support for websites that use webgl in the browser natively at all?<p>what if I make a webgl site and someone goes to it on an ipad, will it just refuse to work like IE?