What is Apache Cordova and how does it address issues?

The Apache Foundation's Cordova project is a tool that provides web developers with a means of packaging their entire web application with an extremely lightweight and "chromeless" web browser. The resulting package comes in the form of an Android (.apk) or iOS (.ipa) file that can be manually installed on a mobile device or uploaded to an application marketplace for consumption by all of your users. The experience of using your Cordova-packaged application versus a native application is nearly identical. Because the operating system installed in the package is the same as a native application, users get an icon on their desktop to launch it, resolving the issue of added navigational steps to access. When the application launches, there is no URL input field nor home and back buttons (that is, a chromeless browser), so your application is viewed in fullscreen like most other native applications, addressing the issue of added navigation...