I did that and it still does not show the web page on start.

Ok, I have shared it with you.

How do I share the app with you?
I use the iPhone with version iOS 7.1

The problem is not the alert. I just use that for debugging.
The problem is that the web page does not display in the InAppBrowser when called from the start page in the 'load' or 'device ready' event.
If I take the alert out, it still does not show the webpage when the app starts.

I have changed the code to :
var URL = encodeURI('http://www.google.com');
var ref = window.open(URL, '_blank');
alert('ref='+ref);

On my iPhone the alert shows that 'ref' is undefined.
Can you tell me what is wrong?

Well, still doesn't work on iPhone.
The app starts but the webpage does not show.
Testing with Chrome browser, it shows the webpage in a separate browser window.
Suggestions????

I found the issue, forgot to load url. Duh!