Wapple is another premier mobile framework at the disposal of web developers these days. The great thing about frameworks is that you can be sure your mobile site works across thousands of devices, and device detection should be spot on. It's a great way to go if you are limited on time, budget or desire to do extensive mobile device/browser testing.
Wapple offers three public business packages, ranging from roughly $150 USD/month to roughly $1,400 USD/month. Free trials are available, and for developers they have a program that gives unlimited access to their API for free. So it's definitely on the high end of the price spectrum, but they have some serious technology to backup the price.
The 3 Wapple products are slightly confusing at first, because all of them are included with any package. Canvas is a GUI, which allows creation of a mobile website using simple drag-and-drop tools. Coders wanting control of their own HTML/CSS won't be disappointed either.
The other two products, Architect and Exhibit are what separates Wapple from other mobile frameworks. Architect allows developers to mobilize their current website or application using Wapple's proprietary, XML-based language, called WAPL.
The beauty of using WAPL markup is when it calls on the other product, Exhibit. Exhibit profiles the device by handset, hardware/firmware, browser, carrier and more to deliver your website content in a form that is truly optimized for the device, whether the output is WML, CHTML, XHTML or HTML. You create ONE site, and Exhibit optimizes it for every available device with the most advanced profiling available. It eliminates the need for extensive testing across various mobile handsets and browsers.
While Wapple is more expensive than it's counterparts Mobify and MoFuse, their advanced tools give developers great control over the user experience, with minimal time invested. I'd like to see SSL security available as an option for all accounts, and MANY more page impressions included with an account. Paying $150/month for only 500 page views per day won't cut it for most websites or applications. All that aside, it is a really well-done platform that is certainly worth a look.
