iPhone-Which way do you go? (no, not another debate)

[Scandiman]

No, this is not another iPhone debate, but the iPhone is creating a challenge for those of us who are trying to support both PC and mobile users with your .mobi sites.

The problem is that since the iPhone has a full browser, it is being served the PC site which may not be what you want.

Go to testiphone.com and type in http://mobility.mobi. The full PC site is served up but is that what you want, or do you want the mobile version? Not sure how to resolve this problem, any and all comments are welcomed.

[pilot]

In response to Scandi's post, is the reply to test for iPhone in the "http_user_agent"? I don't know, that's a question.

Thanks

[nombre]

i really look forward to seeing how many people really want to read the full version of the nytimes on their cellphone, or go to apple's home page and see the whole thing ??

in my opinion only dedicated geeks will be doing this (which, i realize, is the target market for the iphone) i think that even iphone users are going to want simpler, fast loading sites

isn't the answer that all these guys should just get a mobi so their readers know where to go ?? :adore:

[Scandiman]

i really look forward to seeing how many people really want to read the full version of the nytimes on their cellphone, or go to apple's home page and see the whole thing ??

in my opinion only dedicated geeks will be doing this (which, i realize, is the target market for the iphone) i think that even iphone users are going to want simpler, fast loading sites

isn't the answer that all these guys should just get a mobi so their readers know where to go ?? :adore:
Well, that's not quite what I'm talking about here. Mobility.mobi is both PC and mobile friendly, but the iPhone is considered a PC because of its full browser support, even though it is a mobile device. The topic here is which way do you go? do you first give iPhone users the PC version or the mobile version? If you decide to go with the mobile version, how do you make it happen since the iPhone browser is confusing the usual mobile redirect?

[pilot]

Does anyone have an iPhone? I have some simple code to test for iphone compatability. If so, please let me know and I'll post a url to test.

[Scandiman]

Does anyone have an iPhone? I have some simple code to test for iphone compatability. If so, please let me know and I'll post a url to test.
I don't have one but can I try it on the iPhone emulator?

[pilot]

I don't have one but can I try it on the iPhone emulator?


I tried it on the emulator, but wanted to see if an actual iPhone would give me different results. Basically I'm trying to see if there is any discernable information the the http headers that would let me know who is making the request to my page. I have a buddy checking on his lunch break. will let everyone know.

[newton]

**** thats nasty, you have to scroll all over the screen to see a normal site. Heaven forbid it should be able to play flash but since no-one ever uses flash on pc websites its all good ;)

[nombre]

Well, that's not quite what I'm talking about here. Mobility.mobi is both PC and mobile friendly, but the iPhone is considered a PC because of its full browser support, even though it is a mobile device. The topic here is which way do you go? do you first give iPhone users the PC version or the mobile version? If you decide to go with the mobile version, how do you make it happen since the iPhone browser is confusing the usual mobile redirect? got it ..at least i think i do

how about a splash page (to select which version they want) and a cookie if an iphone is detected ??

or how about a link at the top of the "full pc" page that says "go to the mobile phone version" ???

[Scandiman]

got it ..at least i think i do

how about a splash page (to select which version they want) and a cookie if an iphone is detected ??

or how about a link at the top of the "full pc" page that says "go to the mobile phone version" ???
WURFL might be the most complete answer because ultimately this isn't just an iPhone issue. There are plenty of existing devices that try a similar zoom and scroll method and no doubt there will be a flood of new ones coming.

I'm not fond of splash pages but that is my personal preference. They could certainly be used for this purpose. One problem to watch for with splash pages with a link to mobile site or PC site is if the SE's index both versions of sites there will likely be a duplicate content penalty. It would be prudent to let the SE's see only one version.

[newton]

Simple solution is to create a wordpress blog, install a mobile and an iphone plugin and you have additional benefits all around.

[pilot]

Here's the solution...

It seems that testiphone.com doesn't return the proper header information when doing a request of headers. I had a guy hit a few pages I developed for testing purposes, with browser and phone detection on his iPhone, and the code was able to recognize the word "iphone" in the header. Knowing that, you can easily redirect to what ever page you want. If iphone found in header do this...

php example:

<?php
$clientagent=$_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"];
if (ereg("iPhone",$clientagent)) {
echo 'True';}
else {
echo 'False';}
?>

asp example:

<%

test = request.servervariables("HTTP_USER_AGENT")

If Instr(Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_USER_AGENT"),"iPhone") Then
response.write ("It's an iPhone")
Else
response.write ("iPhone not found<br><br>" & test)
End if

%>

Hope this relieves some anxiety... Scandi hit me with this this morning and I haven't been able to concentrate on anything else. Thanks a lot Scandi!!






No, this is not another iPhone debate, but the iPhone is creating a challenge for those of us who are trying to support both PC and mobile users with your .mobi sites.

The problem is that since the iPhone has a full browser, it is being served the PC site which may not be what you want.

Go to testiphone.com and type in http://mobility.mobi. The full PC site is served up but is that what you want, or do you want the mobile version? Not sure how to resolve this problem, any and all comments are welcomed.

[Scandiman]

Here's the solution...

It seems that testiphone.com doesn't return the proper header information when doing a request of headers. I had a guy hit a few pages I developed for testing purposes, with browser and phone detection on his iPhone, and the code was able to recognize the word "iphone" in the header. Knowing that, you can easily redirect to what ever page you want. If iphone found in header do this...

php example:

<?php
$clientagent=$_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"];
if (ereg("iPhone",$clientagent)) {
echo 'True';}
else {
echo 'False';}
?>

asp example:

<%

test = request.servervariables("HTTP_USER_AGENT")

If Instr(Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_USER_AGENT"),"iPhone") Then
response.write ("It's an iPhone")
Else
response.write ("iPhone not found<br><br>" & test)
End if

%>

Hope this relieves some anxiety... Scandi hit me with this this morning and I haven't been able to concentrate on anything else. Thanks a lot Scandi!!

Thanks for the detective work Pilot, I'm glad that iPhone users will be able to actually use your mobile site instead of getting your PC informational site. My apologies if I caused you undue stress, just want to make sure we all embrace this emerging technology and keep these new mobile users happy.

[pilot]

What, no thumbs up smiley face?!


Thanks for the detective work Pilot, I'm glad that iPhone users will be able to actually use your mobile site instead of getting your PC informational site. My apologies if I caused you undue stress, just want to make sure we all embrace this emerging technology and keep these new mobile users happy.

[Scandiman]

What, no thumbs up smiley face?!
Do we have one of those now? Now you've made me curious...

:top::top: is the closest I find... but this seems most appropriate...:adore::adore:

[seanboy]

Scandi, the emulator on testiphone.com does not correctly show how full sites will appear on the phone. It does work well for mobile sites, however.

If you want a better representation of how the full version of the site will look on an iphone, try using "iPhoney." Its an open-source iPhone simulator. From what I hear it works pretty well.

http://www.marketcircle.com/iphoney/

Unfortunately, its only compatible with Mac OSX. However, Aptana is working on a iPhone plugin for their IDE (http://aptana.com/iphone/).