Mobile browser testing/iPhone

iPhone issues

Framesets and Textboxes

Rendering web pages in Safari Mobile that rely on the ability to scroll individual frames is a problem because there are no scroll bars on the iPhone. This applies to editing content in a fixed width/height textbox for large pages because there is no easy way to access the information that falls outside the displayed textbox area due to the lack of scrollbars.

iPhone users can use two-finger scrolling to scroll regions that would have scrollbars, but unfortunately, due to the lack of scrollbars, there is no visual indication that the area has more to see.

Popup Windows

By default, Safari on iPhone blocks pop-up windows; however this is a user preference that can be changed in the Security settings for Safari.

Select Elements

HTML <select> elements gets special treatment in Safari on iPhone. A custom select control that is optimized for selecting items in the list using a finger as the input device is displayed. The user can "flick" to scroll the listing and "tap" to select an item from the list.

PDF, Excel, Word and text files

Safari on iPhone uses iPhone's native application for displaying files of these types. PDF documents are displayed in a browser window, and a page indicator keeps track of where a user is in the document. The orientation of the document on the screen automatically rotates with the orientation of the iPhone.

QuickTime audio and video files

Safari on iPhone uses iPhone's native application for displaying QuickTime video files; a window is displayed that automatically expands to the size ofthe screen and rotates when the user changes the orientation of the iPhone; these controls are automatically hidden when not in use.

Supported Rich Media MIME Types

Safari on iPhone supports the following rich media MIME types:

MIME Type	Description	Extensions
audio/3gpp	3GPP media	3gp, 3gpp
audio/3gpp2	3GPP2 media	3g2, 3gp2
audio/aiff audio/x-aiff	AIFF audio	aiff, aif, aifc, cdda
audio/amr	AMR audio	amr
audio/mp3 audio/mpeg3 audio/x-mp3 audio/x-mpeg3	MP3 audio	mp3, swa
audio/mp4	MPEG-4 media	mp4
audio/mpeg audio/x-mpeg	MPEG audio	mpeg, mpg, mp3, swa
audio/wav audio/x-wav	WAVE audio	wav,bwf
audio/x-m4a	AAC audio	m4a
audio/x-m4b	AAC audio book	m4b
audio/x-m4p	AAC audio (protected)	m4p
video/3gpp	3GPP media	3gp, 3gpp
video/3gpp2	3GPP2 media	3g2, 3gp2
video/mp4	MPEG-4 media	mp4
video/quicktime	QuickTime Movie	mov,qt,mqv
video/x-m4v	Video	m4v

Resource limitations

• The maximum size for decoded .gif, .png and .tiff images is 2 megapixels
• The maximum size for decoded .jpg images, using subsampling, is 32 megapixels
• The decoded size of animated .gif images must be less than 2 mb
• The maximum size for a canvas element is 2 mb
• Individual Resource files must be less than 10 mb
• Javascript execution time is limited to 10 seconds for each top-level entry point
  • for iPhone OS version 1.1.4 and earlier, the maximum execution time is 5 seconds
• The maximum number of open documents is eight

Unsupported Technologies

Safari on iPhone does not support any third-party plugins or features that require access to the file system. This includes:

• Downladable web fonts

  The CSS gets parsed, but the font fails and the browser's default font is used instead. Note: Downloadable web fonts were supported in iPhone OS version 1.1.4 and earlier.

  Modal dialogs

  Such as window.showModalDialog() or window.print().

  Mouse-over events

  "Mouseover" events aren't available on non-clickable elements; to activate "mouseover" events on clickable elements, a user must use the "touch and hold" gesture.

  Hover styles

  Since a "mouseover" event is sent only before a "mousedown" event, hover styles are displayed only if the user taps and holds a clickable element with a hover style.

  Tooltips; Similar to "hover" styles, tooltips are only displayed if a user taps and holds a clickable element with a tooltip.

  Java applets

  Flash

  QuickTime VR Movies

  XSLT

  Plug-in installation

  Custom x.509 certificates

  WML

  Safari on iPhone is a full web browser; therefore there is no need to support Wireless Markup Language (WML); however, XHTML mobile profile types and sites at .mobi domains are supported.

  File Uploads and Downloads

  Safari on iPhone supports <input type="file"> elements on iOS starting in iOS 6; in prior versions, these events get disabled by Safari.

References