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Re: iPhone with screen CSS support?

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From: Bill Mason
Date: Sep 15, 2007 10:40AM

Jorge Fernandes wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Recently I put this question "Why doesn’t Safari support the handheld
> CSS media type in iPhone?" in a Portuguese forum. The answers was a
> little agressive and seems me that I broke a leg to the "handheld"
> iPhone. Seems me that call "handheld" to an iPhone is offending it...

First, I think it's fair to assume that one of the principles behind
iPhone Safari is to mostly "just work" with existing web content. The
developer pages on iPhone Safari [1] are sprinkled throughout with
statements such as:

"If you are a seasoned web developer, there are probably just a few
refinements you can make to ensure that your site looks great and works
best on iPhone."

"Standards-based web development techniques ensure the most consistent
presentation and functionality across all modern browsers, including
Safari on iPhone. A well-designed website will probably require just a
few refinements to look good and work well on iPhone."

> I decided to put the question at Google search and, curiously I found
> that I'm not isolated, but almost:
>
> Said Joe Clark:
>
> "There’s no need for user-agent sniffing, a debased practice from the
> 1990s. Why doesn’t Safari support the handheld CSS media type?"
> <http://www.flickr.com/photos/scriptingnews/684663427/
> #comment72157600591488277>

Again my supposition, but one further goal of iPhone Safari is most
likely for web content created after the launch of iPhone to continue to
"just work" without necessarily having to target it specifically with CSS.

> Did you think that someday Steve Jobs will write a letter to iPhone
> Clients with the issue: "Why iPhone changed from screen to handheld
> CSS support."?

No, because if you do need to target iPhone in a more specific way, an
answer lies both in the Apple documents [1] and further down the same
Flickr thread [2]: CSS3 media queries.

[1] http://developer.apple.com/iphone/designingcontent.html
[2]
http://www.flickr.com/photos/scriptingnews/684663427/comment72157600648597033/

--
Bill Mason
Accessible Internet
<EMAIL REMOVED>
http://accessibleinter.net/