Do you have an iPhone ready Web site?
Monday July 2, 2007
I have been waiting for the iPhone for a long time. As long as anyone, I suppose.
Image courtesy Apple Computer.
I wasn't waiting for it because I want one, although it is quite tempting, it's so pretty. I was waiting for it because I'm looking forward to the chance to start seeing Web pages that actually work in cell phones. I can't tell you how many times I've visited a Web page from my Treo and been frustrated just trying to find a phone number, not even worrying about information from the Web page. From a recent poll, it seems that about half of my readers don't browse the Web on a cell phone. Based on the poor quality most Web pages take on when you use a cell phone or PDA to view them. I'm not surprised. But more and more people are getting devices like Blackberry's and iPhones and Treo's. And if your Web page can't get them the information they need, those customers will go elsewhere. The tips in this article are based on my own experiences browsing the Web on a cell phone as well as the recommendations from the Mobile Web Best Practices at the W3C.
Image courtesy Apple Computer.
Comments
I just hope that we eventually get to a point where we won’t need to create a separate CSS file for phones. Wouldn’t that be great?
I’ve grappled with this since 1999 when Spint released their service. We played with the 1st gen HP Jornada and then Samsung’s i700 in ‘04.
While reading your article I wondered if there is a way to redirect from the homepage.
As for programming for different mobile devices, KISS using the lowing common denominator. Most people on the run want fast, easy to read info.
Hi Jason,
Yes, that would be nice not to have a separate CSS file, and the iPhone does handle regular Web pages (without a separate handheld CSS file) pretty well.
But from my perspective, until they come up with a way to project the screen to a larger size from a small phone or beam it to your brain directly or some other science fiction method of information transference, the reality is that cellphones are going to be significantly smaller screens than computers.
Because the screens are smaller, designing style sheets to accommodate them is a good idea. Designers who do this will have pages a step ahead of designers who don’t. Sure, it’s a pain, but we wouldn’t be paid “the big bucks” if it were easy.
Hi Gary,
You wrote: While reading your article I wondered if there is a way to redirect from the homepage.
Check out my article for tomorrow - I’ll be talking about a few ways to get your wireless readers to a page that works for them. As well as some specific recommendations on styles you can use for your handheld pages.
My employer (a Mass Transportation provider) wants all of the bells and whistles on their site, but the one thing that I keep coming up with is that most of their clients can not afford the cost of theses bells and whistles. If they could then they would have their own transportation and therefore have no need to track the buses or check to make sure that they are on the correct route.
If you are poor and living in a ghetto, then you would rather spend your money on other things like food and housing.
Yes, the iphone would be nice to have, but it is way down on the list of things that people need. Especially in the part of the country where I live.
Thank you for the information!
Elliot