Making the Web Work on Mobile Patrick O'Reilly, dotMobi

How we got here

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Book, 2012 AD

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Radio, 1930speakerspeaker

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Radio, 2012speakerspeaker

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TV, 1950screenscreen

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TV, 2012screenscreen

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Previous media: relatively stable evolution

• Previous media have evolved quite a bit in their lifetime

– Sophistication

– Lowering of production costs

– Lower barriers to entry for consumers

• But

– User interaction models have not changed much in their lifetimes

– Models & paradigms from the dawn of the media largely still apply

– This has led to false sense of complacency with the web

But whatabout the web?

PC, 1995

PC, 2000

PC, 2005

PC, 2012

1024 x 7681024 x 768

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PC: computing capability, physical interface richness

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Web evolution engendered by device diversity

1990 2007 20122000

dark ages of the web—the monoweb

dark ages of the web—the monoweb

age of enlightenment—the polyweb

age of enlightenment—the polyweb

2002

mind the gap

mind the gap

portable capable

2013

mobile = spectrum of device types

mobile = spectrum of device types

2013

mobile = spectrum of device types

mobile = spectrum of device types

2014

?

Contexts, interfaces, input methods

Contexts, interfaces, input methods

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Contexts, interfaces, input methods

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A New Landscape

• The emergence of new devices is changing the way we access the web

• The rate of change is unprecedented compared to any previous media

• Every indication suggests that the new diversity is just beginning

• Radically changed interfaces and use cases mean that mobile web is effectively a new medium, not a differently sized one

• After a long period of stability, huge changes a short time have caught everyone off guard

Lessons from new media

Example: television

• The first television shows were people simply reading books, vaudeville shows

• 20 years passed before the first “TV-native” formats emerged– Soap operas– Sitcoms

• 50 years later: reality TV

Example: desktop web• Many early websites mimiced print

– images & imagemaps used in place of web-native content

• 15+ years before the first “web-native” ideas were invented

– sites that had no real precedent

– things that were “inherently web” could’t really have been done with previous media

– Facebook, Google maps

• We’re still getting used to the idea that there isn’t really a “fold” on the web—scrolling is effortless

Adapting to new media

• Content creators struggle to understand new media

• Initial uses mimic those of previous media• New medium capabilities remain

misunderstood and under-utilized • Experiences “native” to the new media take

time to emerge• Retro-fitting old content to new media is a

failure of imagination

Web on mobile, new medium

• Mobile web uses HTTP, HTML, CSS and JavaScript, just like the web we know

• But it is effectively a new medium, and perhaps should be treated as such

• This new medium runs on a vast array of devices

• Demands that you are aware of their features and limitations to deliver the best experience

• Let’s not forget the lessons from previous media—by force-fitting our desktop web to the new devices we’re repeating the error

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Good experiences are tailored, not re-purposed

Key lesson from previous media:– Good experiences are tailored to

the medium

– Good experiences acknowledge and harness their container

– Design for setting and context

– Automatic conversion doesn’t work

– One-size-fits-all isn’t good enough

– It may “work” but it won’t excel

Design for the new medium

• The new web isn’t problem to be solved, it’s an opportunity

to be embraced

• Just when things are getting exciting is not the time to look

for silver bullet solutions

• Previous new media suggest that experiences designed for

each media work best

• Let’s not limit our experiences of the new web to those we

know from web desktop

• The best way to cope with the changes is to cater for the

bit that changed—the devices

Embracing the new web

Existing tool chain is still evolving

• Most existing tools are either: – limited–mired in monoweb

thinking

• Industry is still grappling with the changes

• Situation not going to change any time soon

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The device is the canvas

• In this renaissance of the web, the device is the canvas—from feature phone to TV

• But the canvas is no longer fixed—no longer a valid assumption for the artist

• The paint is still HTML, CSS and JavaScript, the protocol is still HTTP ..but the methods have to change

Know your canvas—device awareness

• The new medium is defined by the devices that constitute it

• Embracing the device in question is best way to ensure a good experience

• Build an experience that suits the context & device:

– Be aware of its features, harness them

– Know its limitations, work around them

• We need all of the help that we can get

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Server-side device awareness

Device awareness: spawn of satan?• "Sniffing, as the practice has been called, is a fragile one,

however.”

• “Browser sniffing has a justifiably bad reputation”

• “Flawed concept”

• “Browser sniffing doesn't work”

• “There are too many browsers to handle”

• “..the user agent string was a complete mess, and near useless, and everyone pretended to be everyone else, and confusion abounded”

• “it’s simply not necessary, besides being wrong on a fundamental level”

• “Nearly everybody did it. And everybody was wrong. Not `there’s something to say for it but sometimes you don’t need it’ wrong, but just plain `you have no clue what you’re doing’ wrong”

Or best-of-breed tool?Server-side device detection used by:Server-side device detection used by:

So where does the perception come from?

• Mostly stems from working around browser flaws in early days of web

• Important not to conflate two uses cases for detection:

– Working around browser defects (historical)

– Catering to devices with radically differing capabilities (modern)

• The former usage may be objectionable, but the latter surely is not

• Don’t let historical misuse prevent you from using a useful tool

vs.

Response tailoring is built into HTTP 1.0

RFC 1945 (HTTP 1.0), T. Berners-Lee, 1996

10.15 User-Agent The User-Agent request-header field contains information about the user agent originating the request. This is for statistical purposes, the tracing of protocol violations, and automated recognition of user agents for the sake of tailoring responses to avoid particular user agent limitations.

RFC 1945RFC 1945

<?php include './DA/Client.php'; $data = DeviceAtlasCloudClient::getDeviceData(); $width = $data['properties']['displayWidth'];

if (480 < $width) { // smartphone view } elseif (600 < $width) { // narrow view } elseif (800 < $width) { // desktop view } elseif (1024 < $width) { // wide view }?>

@media screen and (min-width: 480px) { /* smartphone CSS */}

@media screen and (min-width: 600px) { /* narrow view CSS */}

@media screen and (min-width: 800px) { /* desktop CSS */}

@media screen and (min-width: 1024px) { /* wide CSS */}

device detection v media queries

vs.

similar complexity levelssimilar complexity levels

media queriesmedia queries server-side detectionserver-side detection

Being device aware

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100% control of delivered content

• Send only what you need to each device/experience

• Huge expressive range—from feature phones to televisions

• Change design, input mechanisms, image sizes, everything for each device type

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Performance

• Each device gets only what it needs, with cascade of benefits:

– Reduced loading time

– Reduced rendering time

– Reduced CPU overhead & battery drain

• Remember, 3G or 4G signal ≠ bandwidth guarantee (congested cell, airport WiFi)

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Performance of RWD-only sites

1121Kb 1002Kb 1001Kb

Leverage device capabilities• JavaScript feature tests are very

useful but:

– don’t know what the device is

– know only features related to browser (not device)

• Properties unknowable via JavaScript feature tests:

– device type: mobile | desktop | tablet | TV | e-reader | set-top box

– hardware features: camera | screen colour depth | NFC

– model, vendor, operating system, version

mobile device?mobile device?

has camera?

has camera?

supports touch?

supports touch?

Full control of site architecture

• All options supported

– Multiple different views on single URL

– Different site / sub-domain for each experience

• Full flexibility over experience & content served in each case

• Easy to add additional segmentation without compromising other experiences

– Easier testing—different device experiences can be isolated

• Big differences between form factors is easy (feature phone vs. TV)

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• Server-side device detection is only way to get device statistics from sites

• Used by Omniture, Google Analytics, Webtrends, IBM CoreMetrics etc.

Statistics and analytics

Disadvantages

• Some user settings can’t be known in advance e.g. cookie support, orientation

• Server-side skills required (a new reality for the web?)

• Cost—detection solutions have annual licensing fees

• Device data must be updated– single biggest issue– not “future friendly”

Future friendliness• Device databases need to be

updated, there is external dependency

– But so too do server OSes, libraries, media query breakpoints

• Sensible defaults mean graceful degradation when faced with unknown devices

• Don’t forget present-friendliness

– Are you supporting all currently available devices? Including feature phones?

– Getting no feature phone traffic? How do you know?

Point 3—use all the tools available

• In this new web environment you need all of the help you can get

• There are no silver bullets, no holy grail—you should use all of the tools available to you

• Device detection is a really useful tool in the developer’s tool box

– All best-of-breed experiences are using it

– Don’t let preconceptions from bygone era preclude great performance & expressive range

– Works well in tandem with client-side approaches—fine tuning, user settings

Wrap up

Summary—the landscape

• There are macro-level changes happening on the web, a web renaissance is beginning

• New devices are enabling the web to reach its full potential

• The new capabilities effectively engender a new medium

• Every indication that this diversity will increase over time—phones are just the beginning

• The polyweb experience is becoming a differentiating factor for brands

Summary—the tools

•There are many tools to help

•Harnessing the full potential of the web requires knowledge of the device

•Avail of all tools in the toolbox—no silver bullets

• If you don’t you’re discarding useful information

•Your competitors won’t make the same mistake

“Mobile gives the web wings” - Mary Meeker

• But only if you use them

“Mobile gives the web wings” - Mary Meeker

http://gomobi.info

@paddy2kPatrick O'Reilly poreilly@afilias.info

https://deviceatlas.com

https://deviceatlas.com/futureofthemobileweb