Friday, September 14, 2007

Mobile browser support and xhtml

Some web browsers embedded in mobile phones should now work with aprs.he.fi to some degree. I've only tested it on Nokia E61i (maps work!) and N70 (no javascript + ajax => no maps), so reports for other browsers (iPhones, Windows Mobile) are welcome. Just drop a comment to this post, please.

The live APRS maps require AJAX support (XMLHttpRequest javascript API + DOM). For Symbian-based phones (Nokia smart phones, and some others), only the very latest models, which are based on S60 3rd Edition, have this functionality. E61i, E65, E90, N95, etc. Other phones can only browse the "normal" info pages.

The work is not complete, but some of the content has been converted to templates. There are different content templates for mobile browsers (ones with tiny screens) and "normal" browsers, and separate language template files which contain all of the English strings. So, if there is a typo or bad grammar somewhere, it only needs to be fixed once. And the layout can be tuned separately for each browser type without actually touching the strings or the application code. Maybe I'll add translations to other languages some day - it would be rather trivial (although time-consuming).

Beware - browsing the maps consume a lot of bandwidth. Depending on your carrier, you might end up paying a lot for just a little browsing. Be sure to check how much you're charged per megabyte.

While working on this I converted some of the site to mostly proper strict xhtml syntax. This changes how other browsers render things, so some new bugs might have crept in. This is what broke the weather pages the other day.

PS. The E61i browser is crappy - it hangs, dies or runs out of memory ("please close some applications") after just a little browsing around in the real-time map. Think I'll have to check what Opera has to offer.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Tested in Guatemala on a BlackBerry 7290 no maps where displayed.

The only available options to click on are: info, log out and search.

Hessu said...

I forgot - if aprs.he.fi live map does not work on your phone, please also try out if maps.google.com works. If Google Maps doesn't work, aprs.he.fi won't work either.

Unknown said...

I've tried on the new AT&T Tilt (HTC TyTN II Kaiser in RotW). IT runs Windows Mobile 6.

Using java-scripted MiniOpera and Opera Mobile browsers, with the option to hide mobility enabled, bring up the aprs.fi APRS Google Maps. But, they appear segmented with spaces between the segments. The active APRS stations are also shown in place on the maps. That's the good part.

Using any browser with mobility seen by the website brings up empty maps, with symbols and station listed below it...not on the maps but as seperate graphics.

73,

---* Ken WI7B

Hessu said...

Thanks for the info, Ken.

I would really like to know if maps.google.com works on your phone. If Google Maps doesn't work, aprs.fi won't work either. If Google Maps works for you, then I have a chance of making aprs.fi work.