iPhone Web Developer Guidelines
Apple iPhone will have passed its 1 millionth subscriber by now. If you’re a Web developer or someone just curious about how your blog or Web pages will function in iPhone, then you must read Apple’s Development Guidelines for iPhone. Web developers using the Windows platform were delighted with the public beta release of Safari for Windows. At last, they won’t be relying on browser screen shot services anymore to test their layouts.
On the other hand, with the release of iPhone there will be new opportunities for those who want to boost their blog readership and Web site traffic. Safari is also the Web browser used by the device. Apple said that those Web pages that rendered correctly in the desktop version of Safari will most likely display correctly in Safari on iPhone. However, there are changes that need to be considered and it won’t be that easy. According to the iPhone Development Guidelines, one will need to have an understanding of Web standards and established Web design best practices to provide the visitors of his/her blog or Web site with a great user experience.
The iPhone Development Guidelines listed some tips. Please visit the page to gain more information:
- Understand User-iPhone Interaction
- Use Standards and Tried-and-True Design Practices
- Integrate with Phone, Mail, and Maps
- Optimize for Page Readability
- Ensure a Great Audio and Video Experience
- Know What Safari Supports on iPhone
- Connect With Web Developers
Just a heads up (from the iPhone Development Guidelines):
- iPhone users supply their own input device — two fingers (no mouse pointer).
- Safari on iPhone doesn’t have windows; it has a fixed viewport.
- Supports all the latest modern web standards.
- An option to provide conditional CSS for iPhone.
- Doesn’t support Flash and the FLV format as well as Java.
- By default, Safari on iPhone blocks pop-up windows.
In addition, Safari on iPhone doesn’t support:
- window.showModalDialog()
- Mouse-over events
- Hover styles
- Tool tips
- Plug-in installation
- Custom x.509 certificates
iPhone Web Simulator for Designers
As far as visuals are concerned, a free software (currently available for Mac OS X) called iPhoney enables Web developers and designers to test their Web pages on a screen resolution compatible with iPhone. From the Web site:
iPhoney is not an iPhone simulator but instead is designed for web developers who want to create 320 by 480 (or 480 by 320) websites for use with iPhone.
July 6th, 2007 at 12:29
I thought iPhone sucks
. Atleast Digg says so. Just search iPhone and 90% of the results will be -ve feedbacks..
July 6th, 2007 at 14:30
Hey Beta3,
I depends on what you expect of the phone really. I think Apple got many of the things right that many other Major Phone makers should sit up and look hard!
Of course it has it’s draw back and I am concern with the call quality but style wise, ease of use is excellent!
I don’t need 3G, MMS or a ton of other features but I do take pictures and view them on the phone. And my current nokia is too slow for that.
The current web browsers on the mobiles are not up to standard and this is where the iPhone shines
It is not perfect but very close to what I need, closer then most existing phones out there.
So I wouldn’t say it suck!
July 6th, 2007 at 22:46
Haha! It could be because of the media hype even before it was released. My feed reader was full of that a week before iPhone’s release.
But I admit that iPhone is a revolutionary smart phone. Smart phones have been around for a while but they weren’t as good as Steve Jobs’ idea.
July 15th, 2007 at 0:31
[...] Apple opened up Third Party Development for the iPhone only weeks before it’s release. This blog post details the guidelines I would have to know to design an Application for the iPhone. [...]
April 2nd, 2008 at 20:45
Thanks for such a nice page. Iphone is the best I think.
April 11th, 2008 at 23:19
Top five shortcomings of the why iphone sucks? according to Newlaunches:
1. 2-megapixel camera when others have 5-megapixel shooters on board
2. 5-hour talk time: not enough battery life
3. No expansion slot. Go for the 8-gig model and that’s it.
4. No 3G: EDGE is so last year
5. No removable battery: You mean we can’t take along a spare battery? WTF?
June 4th, 2008 at 17:44
This is something that web developers are definitely going to have to take into account when designing sites — mobile devices. It is an interesting time for web designers!
June 5th, 2008 at 4:33
I don’t really care about mobile users. I could use my iPhone for the web but why would I bother if I have my computer at work. I think that there are not enough people using the iPhone for internet purposes for me to change everything I do.
June 9th, 2008 at 18:12
No, I do not think that the iPhone sucks. It actually is a quite good model for the first release. The iPhone 3G is supposed to come out very soon and I cannot wait to play around with it at the Apple Store. As for the iPhone for developers, that’s a strict outline they have. Thank you for this information.
June 11th, 2008 at 16:28
I guess, the less than 5 MP iphone camera does not actually matter. Almost everybody brings a digicam these days and the new iphone that will be released this year has a 3G.
June 12th, 2008 at 9:03
I don’t know many web developers who work their sites to look good on an IPhone, to be honest. As Polishbear, most people won’t use their mobiles to surf the web. Instead, they use their computers. It’s faster and more confortable.
June 17th, 2008 at 17:16
Great article. Thanks for taking the time to school us on this one!
I find the iphone have a few revolutionary, very unique features. I like the virtual iphone subdomain trick you’re using…I think I will switch to that rather than sniffing the user agent while testing. I’m also going to check out iUi, that looks very cool.
For sites that can’t be easily re-templated (or don’t need to be), I’ve had success with wrapping a global iPhone layout and custom CSS around my existing HTML templates.
layout :determine_layout
def determine_layout
if mobile_safari_subdomain_or_relevant_header?
return “iphone”
end
return “application”
end
You can make the entire site iPhone-friendly in a few minutes and you don’t have to rewrite every template to do it.
Through these tips you can use iUI! And create an iPhone version.
thank u.
June 21st, 2008 at 14:09
I like the iphone, it is just too expensive. It is a lot of money to be paying for something you don’t need. I don’t plan to use the internet on my phone, and I think that a lot of people get the iphone just because they want to have the coolest thing out there.
June 24th, 2008 at 5:39
I want to get the new iPhone. It looks pretty sweet. I think that the new mobile me service will be very successful.
June 25th, 2008 at 7:55
The iPhone is an expensive gadget that may or may not be worth the money. I know someone that has one and likes it, but they have had a few security problems, and apple is being really weird with their apps lately. I feel like they are trying to take over the world.
July 6th, 2008 at 19:44
That sounds awesome! It is really great…
July 14th, 2008 at 15:37
The iphone has become its own self sustaining organism. Its really quite fascinating.