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Google presentation: The Open Web goes mobile

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Peter-Paul Koch

The document discusses the challenges of developing websites for mobile browsers, including small memory, small displays, flaky browsers, and flaky connections. It proposes W3C Widgets as a solution, which are applications created with open web standards (HTML/CSS/JavaScript) that can run across different mobile platforms. W3C Widgets download only necessary data files rather than all code files on each page load. The document advocates for W3C Widgets as a cross-platform solution and calls on browser developers like Google to support them in addition to their own app systems by providing ways to associate widgets files with browsers and access to device APIs securely.

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Hell is other browsers - Sartre The Open Web goes Mobile Peter-Paul Koch (ppk) http://quirksmode.org http://twitter.com/ppk Google, 24 April 2009
The mobile web Four problems with making a website work well on a phone: - Small memory - Small display - Flaky browsers - Flaky connections
The mobile web Four problems with making a website phone-compatible: - Small memory Performance tests are necessary. And I'll leave it at that.
The mobile web Four problems with making a website phone-compatible: - Small memory - Small display This problem has been recognized years ago, and people are thinking about it.
Small display CSS: solve it with media queries @media all and (max-width: 300px) { div#container { // special styles for small displays } } Supported by Opera, iPhone, Bolt and Iris.
Small display JS: solve it with offsetWidth if (document.body.offsetWidth < 300) { // special scripts for small displays } offsetWidth and offsetHeight seem well supported (except on Blackberry).
The mobile web Four problems with making a website phone-compatible: - Small memory - Small display - Flaky browsers - Flaky connections
Mobile browsers Thanks to Vodafone's generous support I'm now able to deliver a preliminary report on the State of the Mobile Browsers.
Mobile browsers - Android WebKit - Opera Mobile - NetFront - Safari - Opera Mini - Blackberry - S60 WebKit - IE Mobile - Iris, Bolt, Skyfire, Obigo, OpenWeb, Nokia S40, Palm Blazer, Fennec, Teashark etc. etc. You may groan now.
Mobile browsers All these browsers have their own problems with advanced CSS and JavaScript. Worse, you have to test really basic stuff, too such as font-style: italic
Opera Mobile 9.5 on HTC Diamond Touch Supported but only in desktop mode
S60 WebKit on Nokia E71 Supported, but error in font-variant
Opera Mini 4.2 on Nokia E71 Supported except for letter- spacing
NetFront on Sony Ericsson C510 Basics supported
Opera Mobile 8.00 on Motorola V3xx Only color and text- transform supported
Mobile browsers The current top level mobile browsers are: - Android WebKit - Safari - Opera Mobile
Mobile browsers Top level: Android WebKit, Safari, Opera Mobile Mid level: - S60 WebKit - Blackberry - Opera Mini
Mobile browsers Top level: Android WebKit, Safari, Opera Mobile Mid level: S60 WebKit, Blackberry, Opera Mini Bottom level: - NetFront - IE Mobile (old)
Mobile browsers Top level: Android WebKit, Safari, Opera Mobile Mid level: S60 WebKit, Blackberry, Opera Mini Bottom level: NetFront, IE Mobile (old) Other default browsers (old): - OpenWeb, Nokia S40, Palm Blazer
Mobile browsers Top level: Android WebKit, Safari, Opera Mobile Mid level: S60 WebKit, Blackberry, Opera Mini Bottom level: NetFront, IE Mobile (old) Other default browsers (old): OpenWeb, Nokia S40, Palm Blazer Other browsers (non-default): - Iris, Bolt, Skyfire, Obigo, Fennec, Teashark etc. etc.
The mobile web Four problems with making a website phone-compatible: - Small memory - Small display - Flaky browsers - Flaky connections
The mobile web Four problems with making a website phone-compatible: - Small memory - Small display - Flaky browsers - Flaky connections
Flaky connections If the guy next to you is downloading a few movies your network connection will slow down regardless of how good it's supposed to be. I don't see this problem disappearing any time soon.
Flaky connections This is a serious problem for the mobile web, especially when your site uses 200K of custom JavaScript plus a few libraries. They have to be downloaded every time the user visits your site and caching isn't always reliable.
Flaky connections Solution: Put the core files on your mobile phone so that you only need to download the data.
Flaky connections W3C Widgets offer this solution: - Local applications - HTML/CSS/JavaScript - Run in a browser (any browser) - Can handle Ajax requests
Flaky connections The same approach is taken by all app systems: - iPhone apps - Windows Mobile apps - Blackberry apps - Android apps - etc.
Flaky connections The same approach is taken by all app systems: - iPhone apps (proprietary) - Windows Mobile apps (proprietary) - Blackberry apps (proprietary) - Android apps (proprietary) - etc. (probably proprietary)
Open standards If a company wants to put data on mobile phones, it can - create a website (which may be slow to load) - or create 4 or more separate applications (which is certainly expensive)
Open standards If a company wants to put data on mobile phones, it can - create a website (which may be slow to load) - or create 4 or more separate applications (which is certainly expensive) - use W3C Widgets
W3C Widgets Widgets are better than websites because they download only the data; and not the core files. Widgets are better than app systems because you don't have to write 4, 5, or 10 of them. Just the one is enough.
W3C Widgets Eventually, I'll be able to share a widget with a friend via Bluetooth, even if I use an Android and he uses a Nokia S60 or a HTC Windows Mobile or a Blackberry and It Just Works
W3C Widgets Wouldn't that be totally astoundingly absolutely inconceivably interoperable?
W3C Widgets And hundreds of thousands of web developers already know how to create widgets. It's just HTML/CSS/JavaScript, after all.
W3C Widgets - Create 1 HTML page with as much CSS, JavaScript, and images you need. - Add an icon and a config.xml - Zip the lot - Change extension to .wgt - It Just Works.
W3C Widgets Widgets will open the web faster and for more people than any other system. If people can easily create them and share them with their friends and They Just Work why do we need anything else?
Application systems An app system may remain more suited for some forms of applications: - animation-heavy games - secure applications - more ... ?
Application systems Besides, native app systems can foster innovation, too, and eventually W3C Widgets will profit from that. Proprietary systems are fine as long as you also support the standard.
W3C Widgets It Just Works. But not quite yet, unfortunately. That's one of the reasons I'm here today.
W3C Widgets It Just Works in the Vodafone Widget Manager for S60 phones.
W3C Widgets It Just Works S60 in the Opera/T-Mobile Widget Manager for (probably) Windows Mobile phones.
W3C Widgets It Just Works S60 Windows Mobile in the Nokia Widget Runtime on S60 (as long as you add an info.plist file)
W3C Widgets It Just Works S60 (2x) Windows Mobile Otherwise, though, there's no support. Yet.
W3C Widgets It Just Works. S60 (2x) Windows Mobile Google Android?
W3C Widgets It Just Works in Google Android? I came here to ask if it's possible Google Android will support W3C Widgets not instead of but in addition to its own app system.
W3C Widgets We need: - a browser (Android WebKit will do perfectly fine, thanks) - a way of associating .wgt files with this browser OR an installation mechanism - JavaScript device APIs
JavaScript Device APIs are APIs that grant access to phone functionality - camera - contact list - text messages - etc.
JavaScript Device APIs are necessary for a true mobile experience. W3C widgets should be able to tie into phone functionality.
JavaScript Device APIs - BONDI specification (not yet implemented) - Phonegap library (Android, Blackberry, iPhone) - Opera/T-Mobile widget manager (Windows Mobile)
JavaScript Device APIs Security If I receive a widget from someone and it uses device APIs how do I know it's not going to try to steal my contact list?
JavaScript Device APIs Security This problem will probably be solved by signed widgets and security levels. On the lowest security levels, phone users will be prompted for every device API call the widget wants to perform. Higher levels do it automatically.
JavaScript Device APIs Security Still, this problem will remain pretty serious and more research is necessary. Google can certainly help us figure out a good answer.
W3C Widgets Security JavaScript's same-source policy is not implemented in widgets, because they have to be able to request data from any source. This, too, requires more thought.
W3C Widgets Pros - Open standards - Countless people can already create them - Interoperability on a massive scale - They'll open the Web more quickly than any other system
W3C Widgets Cons - Other systems may remain better suited for certain applications - As yet moderately supported - Security issues
W3C Widgets The pros heavily outweigh the cons. So let's get to work.
Thank you for your attention
Questions? Ask away. Or ask me on Twitter http://twitter.com/ppk or on my site http://quirksmode.org

More Related Content

Google presentation: The Open Web goes mobile

  • 1. Hell is other browsers - Sartre The Open Web goes Mobile Peter-Paul Koch (ppk) http://quirksmode.org http://twitter.com/ppk Google, 24 April 2009
  • 2. The mobile web Four problems with making a website work well on a phone: - Small memory - Small display - Flaky browsers - Flaky connections
  • 3. The mobile web Four problems with making a website phone-compatible: - Small memory Performance tests are necessary. And I'll leave it at that.
  • 4. The mobile web Four problems with making a website phone-compatible: - Small memory - Small display This problem has been recognized years ago, and people are thinking about it.
  • 5. Small display CSS: solve it with media queries @media all and (max-width: 300px) { div#container { // special styles for small displays } } Supported by Opera, iPhone, Bolt and Iris.
  • 6. Small display JS: solve it with offsetWidth if (document.body.offsetWidth < 300) { // special scripts for small displays } offsetWidth and offsetHeight seem well supported (except on Blackberry).
  • 7. The mobile web Four problems with making a website phone-compatible: - Small memory - Small display - Flaky browsers - Flaky connections
  • 8. Mobile browsers Thanks to Vodafone's generous support I'm now able to deliver a preliminary report on the State of the Mobile Browsers.
  • 9. Mobile browsers - Android WebKit - Opera Mobile - NetFront - Safari - Opera Mini - Blackberry - S60 WebKit - IE Mobile - Iris, Bolt, Skyfire, Obigo, OpenWeb, Nokia S40, Palm Blazer, Fennec, Teashark etc. etc. You may groan now.
  • 10. Mobile browsers All these browsers have their own problems with advanced CSS and JavaScript. Worse, you have to test really basic stuff, too such as font-style: italic
  • 11. Opera Mobile 9.5 on HTC Diamond Touch Supported but only in desktop mode
  • 12. S60 WebKit on Nokia E71 Supported, but error in font-variant
  • 13. Opera Mini 4.2 on Nokia E71 Supported except for letter- spacing
  • 15. Opera Mobile 8.00 on Motorola V3xx Only color and text- transform supported
  • 16. Mobile browsers The current top level mobile browsers are: - Android WebKit - Safari - Opera Mobile
  • 17. Mobile browsers Top level: Android WebKit, Safari, Opera Mobile Mid level: - S60 WebKit - Blackberry - Opera Mini
  • 18. Mobile browsers Top level: Android WebKit, Safari, Opera Mobile Mid level: S60 WebKit, Blackberry, Opera Mini Bottom level: - NetFront - IE Mobile (old)
  • 19. Mobile browsers Top level: Android WebKit, Safari, Opera Mobile Mid level: S60 WebKit, Blackberry, Opera Mini Bottom level: NetFront, IE Mobile (old) Other default browsers (old): - OpenWeb, Nokia S40, Palm Blazer
  • 20. Mobile browsers Top level: Android WebKit, Safari, Opera Mobile Mid level: S60 WebKit, Blackberry, Opera Mini Bottom level: NetFront, IE Mobile (old) Other default browsers (old): OpenWeb, Nokia S40, Palm Blazer Other browsers (non-default): - Iris, Bolt, Skyfire, Obigo, Fennec, Teashark etc. etc.
  • 21. The mobile web Four problems with making a website phone-compatible: - Small memory - Small display - Flaky browsers - Flaky connections
  • 22. The mobile web Four problems with making a website phone-compatible: - Small memory - Small display - Flaky browsers - Flaky connections
  • 23. Flaky connections If the guy next to you is downloading a few movies your network connection will slow down regardless of how good it's supposed to be. I don't see this problem disappearing any time soon.
  • 24. Flaky connections This is a serious problem for the mobile web, especially when your site uses 200K of custom JavaScript plus a few libraries. They have to be downloaded every time the user visits your site and caching isn't always reliable.
  • 25. Flaky connections Solution: Put the core files on your mobile phone so that you only need to download the data.
  • 26. Flaky connections W3C Widgets offer this solution: - Local applications - HTML/CSS/JavaScript - Run in a browser (any browser) - Can handle Ajax requests
  • 27. Flaky connections The same approach is taken by all app systems: - iPhone apps - Windows Mobile apps - Blackberry apps - Android apps - etc.
  • 28. Flaky connections The same approach is taken by all app systems: - iPhone apps (proprietary) - Windows Mobile apps (proprietary) - Blackberry apps (proprietary) - Android apps (proprietary) - etc. (probably proprietary)
  • 29. Open standards If a company wants to put data on mobile phones, it can - create a website (which may be slow to load) - or create 4 or more separate applications (which is certainly expensive)
  • 30. Open standards If a company wants to put data on mobile phones, it can - create a website (which may be slow to load) - or create 4 or more separate applications (which is certainly expensive) - use W3C Widgets
  • 31. W3C Widgets Widgets are better than websites because they download only the data; and not the core files. Widgets are better than app systems because you don't have to write 4, 5, or 10 of them. Just the one is enough.
  • 32. W3C Widgets Eventually, I'll be able to share a widget with a friend via Bluetooth, even if I use an Android and he uses a Nokia S60 or a HTC Windows Mobile or a Blackberry and It Just Works
  • 33. W3C Widgets Wouldn't that be totally astoundingly absolutely inconceivably interoperable?
  • 34. W3C Widgets And hundreds of thousands of web developers already know how to create widgets. It's just HTML/CSS/JavaScript, after all.
  • 35. W3C Widgets - Create 1 HTML page with as much CSS, JavaScript, and images you need. - Add an icon and a config.xml - Zip the lot - Change extension to .wgt - It Just Works.
  • 36. W3C Widgets Widgets will open the web faster and for more people than any other system. If people can easily create them and share them with their friends and They Just Work why do we need anything else?
  • 37. Application systems An app system may remain more suited for some forms of applications: - animation-heavy games - secure applications - more ... ?
  • 38. Application systems Besides, native app systems can foster innovation, too, and eventually W3C Widgets will profit from that. Proprietary systems are fine as long as you also support the standard.
  • 39. W3C Widgets It Just Works. But not quite yet, unfortunately. That's one of the reasons I'm here today.
  • 40. W3C Widgets It Just Works in the Vodafone Widget Manager for S60 phones.
  • 41. W3C Widgets It Just Works S60 in the Opera/T-Mobile Widget Manager for (probably) Windows Mobile phones.
  • 42. W3C Widgets It Just Works S60 Windows Mobile in the Nokia Widget Runtime on S60 (as long as you add an info.plist file)
  • 43. W3C Widgets It Just Works S60 (2x) Windows Mobile Otherwise, though, there's no support. Yet.
  • 44. W3C Widgets It Just Works. S60 (2x) Windows Mobile Google Android?
  • 45. W3C Widgets It Just Works in Google Android? I came here to ask if it's possible Google Android will support W3C Widgets not instead of but in addition to its own app system.
  • 46. W3C Widgets We need: - a browser (Android WebKit will do perfectly fine, thanks) - a way of associating .wgt files with this browser OR an installation mechanism - JavaScript device APIs
  • 47. JavaScript Device APIs are APIs that grant access to phone functionality - camera - contact list - text messages - etc.
  • 48. JavaScript Device APIs are necessary for a true mobile experience. W3C widgets should be able to tie into phone functionality.
  • 49. JavaScript Device APIs - BONDI specification (not yet implemented) - Phonegap library (Android, Blackberry, iPhone) - Opera/T-Mobile widget manager (Windows Mobile)
  • 50. JavaScript Device APIs Security If I receive a widget from someone and it uses device APIs how do I know it's not going to try to steal my contact list?
  • 51. JavaScript Device APIs Security This problem will probably be solved by signed widgets and security levels. On the lowest security levels, phone users will be prompted for every device API call the widget wants to perform. Higher levels do it automatically.
  • 52. JavaScript Device APIs Security Still, this problem will remain pretty serious and more research is necessary. Google can certainly help us figure out a good answer.
  • 53. W3C Widgets Security JavaScript's same-source policy is not implemented in widgets, because they have to be able to request data from any source. This, too, requires more thought.
  • 54. W3C Widgets Pros - Open standards - Countless people can already create them - Interoperability on a massive scale - They'll open the Web more quickly than any other system
  • 55. W3C Widgets Cons - Other systems may remain better suited for certain applications - As yet moderately supported - Security issues
  • 56. W3C Widgets The pros heavily outweigh the cons. So let's get to work.
  • 57. Thank you for your attention
  • 58. Questions? Ask away. Or ask me on Twitter http://twitter.com/ppk or on my site http://quirksmode.org