Filed under: Internet Tools, Developer, iPhone
Make your content look good on the iPhone
Some might think that I hate iPhone specific websites based on this opinion piece I wrote in which said I hate iPhone specific websites. Actually, it didn't say anything of the sort, but many read it that way. The point I was trying to make was that crafting websites which use browser detection to only allow the iPhone in is a step in the wrong direction (Eric Meyer, CSS guru, agrees with me so I really can't be that wrong.). That being said, since I have long been a mobile Internet user I am all for variants of websites that work well on smaller screens.
The Iconfactory's Craig Hockenberry has penned a great article (the first in a two part) all about making your website shine on the iPhone. He covers everything a budding iPhone web developer should know (which boils down to, ';Use standards!'), and points out some specific iPhone tags and tricks that you can use on your site.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Josh H. said 12:30PM on 8-28-2007
I agree, but you have to admit that it is amazing that people are taking the time to make webpages specifically for the iPhone. It just goes to show how much impact this device has made. Sure, the regular web is awesome on the iPhone, but making specific sites can be great. Easier to navigate, faster loading over EDGE, etc. On another note...
Perhaps by accident, a simple game I made this weekend while practicing my JavaScript looks awesome on the iPhone. http://www.mntdev.com/TopFrame.html. Its a simple game, but on the iPhone it is really fun!
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JR said 12:57PM on 8-28-2007
That's Eric *Meyer* (without the s), not Meyers.
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PSM said 1:33PM on 8-28-2007
It's great that web designers are catering to the screen size of the iPhone and other mobile devices, but too often I'm frustrated by sites that force mobile users to view a reduced mobile page with no way of viewing the full page to see all the content. I can't read comments on TUAW from my Treo because even when I manage to view the full main page, it takes me to a mobile page for each post, which does not include the comments. TUAW is not the only site that does this, but it's among my favorite to read, so it's very frustrating.
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MxSix said 2:22PM on 8-28-2007
As a web designer, that was a very informative article on A List Apart. I'm going to start on an iPhone site today. :)
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theodorelee said 2:55PM on 8-28-2007
While on the topic of iPhone and websites, it should really be brought to TUAWs attention (again) that using a 35kb background image is ridiculous. I realize most people have high speed connections, but even over high speed, that 35kb image is a bottleneck in loading the page. On an iPhone over EDGE, it is downright painful.
Do us all a favor and '86 it.
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basscadet said 3:22PM on 8-28-2007
throwing flash out of the window and adopting EDGE is a great step backwards, so why bother making the effort of creating and maintaining iphone specific pages for a trend item that will be obsolete within a year?
Flash Forward some years ahead and we'll be laughing and wondering what got into us with all that iPhone mania...
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brian said 3:55PM on 8-28-2007
FYI, "86" does not refer to the year, thus it doesn't need to be preceded by an apostrophe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/86_%28number%29#In_other_fields
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