On Jan 16, 8:22 am, birdofprey <[email protected]> wrote: Can I ask that you quote per Usenet custom?
> Right, but I already practice good semantics and fluid div layouts > with separated presentation and content. Those are techniques for creating sites that work well in various window sizes, they don't necessarily have any bearing on the quality of the UI, particularly the last one. For iPhone, it is more important that the layout has blocks that can be easily zoomed into with a double-tap and that the page isn't too heavy. > It's great that mobile > devices can handle full-fledged sites, but most of these use zoom to > compensate for the small screens of these phones. This is not too bad > if you can use pinch zoom gestures on iPhone Safari, but not so great > if you have to zoom using, say, Opera Mini on a Blackberry Curve (from > actually using both on a regular basis). Is this leading you to think that you need 3 versions of the site - one for desktops, one for less capable mobile devices and one for more capable ones? Where to do netbooks fit in? Or those surfing with a gaming console and 125 cm HD TV? Is it all about screen size? > I used to serve fluid layout full sites to these devices, but > recently, I noticed that many sites try to spare users the zooming > trouble by browser sniffing or device sniffing, given that they can > predict the viewports and set them accordingly. Is this the best > practice? With the browser sniffing method, I now realize it's not > ideal. But you see what I was getting at. It is interesting that those sites are able to provide a full application in a limited space, it makes you wonder why they put so much stuff on the screen in the desktop version. Perhaps everyone would be happier if they provided a link to the full version and the cut-down version so those with desktop browsers can chose the minimal version if they wish and vice versa. > It's a more common practice than people seem to think. Just because it's common doesn't make it right or the best method. I abhor sites that trap my iPhone in a simplistic, dumbed-down interface when I could be using the full function site. I've used the example of <URL: http://www.qantas.com > before, try it in with a desktop and iPhone. Try to make a booking from iPhone. > http://apple.com/webapps What is the relevance of that link? > http://mobileawesomeness.com Interesting that the theme seems to be simplicity - have a look at Google's UI for standard browsers, it's very simple. It shouldn't take a mobile device to get home the "keep it simple" message. Most sites start out that way, then become more and more complex and difficult to use. Interestingly, the mobile trends web site[1] presents a single narrow column of text, then fills the right side with useless garbage. Seems layout silliness cuts both ways. > http://cssiphone.com More of the above, what's the point? > I actually just discovered an article that tries to address this > beyond browser sniffing, and it's from one of my long time respected > favorites, A List > Apart:http://alistapart.com/articles/returnofthemobilestylesheet I disagree with much of what is written there. For example, it says: "Mobile users operate in a very different usage context than PC users" I doubt it, what different context is the author talking about? I think the point is that if you put loads of junk in the page, mobile users will lose interest trying to find the actual content. If page designers toss the junk to focus on functionality for mobile devices, they might find that desktop users appreciate less junk in the page too. "offering a linear view (rather than multi-column layout) remains good advice" I disagree strongly. Most sites have a two or three column layout. Most do not translate into a single column layout very well at all, which is probably why they essentially toss the left (usually navigation) column and the right (usually ads and other junk) to make a "mobile" site. I find zooming in and out in a multi-column page better than endlessly scrolling up and down in an unnecessarily long page. The bottom line is that if you really must provide two (or three) different versions of a site, let the user decide which one they want. You may well find a lot of desktop users are visiting the mobile site because they prefer the simpler, cleaner UI. Note that Google's UI is very simple, and they are killing Yahoo!, who have a "let's put as much garbage on the screen as we can" approach. -- Rob --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "iPhoneWebDev" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/iphonewebdev?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
