The move comes as HTML5 starts to attract increasing support in the online publishing industry.

FT.com MD Rob Grimshaw said HTML5 is a good way to “keep down complexity” as channels proliferate and the market shifts towards mobile - developments that publishers are still getting to grips with.

The Pearson-owned finance news site is updating its second BlackBerry app to an HTML5 Android platform, and is considering developing an HTML5 version of its How To Spend It site. The advantages of the platform are that it can support rich media, complex fonts and layouts in a simple way across multiple platforms and devices, according to Grimshaw.

“As the market shifts towards mobile, we need to understand how readers consume content through devices and apps. What we want to do is give readers what they want, when they want it and on whichever device they want,” he said.

“It’s still early days, but the HTML5 app could end up being the standard BlackBerry app, while working on the desktop just as well, or any of the tablet devices,” Grimshaw added.

“Almost every browser renders content differently, and when you’re developing you have to test each device and each browser. It’s a horrendous process. What HTML5 will do is sweep all that away.”

This is important, he said, when apps like the FT’s iPad app are updated automatically or by editors working on cross-platform content.

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