.mobi Google's iPhone App/Seemingly Programming around dotMobi.

[NewWorldArk]

http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/

Google on the iPhone: Fast and Fluid
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 7:00 AM

Posted by Steve Kanefsky, Software Engineer, Google mobile team

We all know that using the web on mobile phones can be a challenge sometimes. Compared to our personal computers, the screens are smaller, it's more difficult to navigate and enter text, the network connections are slower, and the browsers lack many of the features we've become accustomed to. I deal with this every day as both a developer and a user of mobile web applications. So you can imagine how excited I was when the iPhone launched with a large touch screen, Wi-Fi, and a full-blown Safari web browser!

I started thinking about how to use AJAX technology to improve Google on the iPhone. I set out to create an application that would preload my favorite Google products and allow me to switch between them instantly. I wanted web results as well as image, local, and news results without having to repeat my search. I wanted to check Gmail and my news feeds in Google Reader without having to load a new page every time. I also wanted Google Suggest to save me time typing queries on the virtual keyboard.

I created a prototype and showed it to some fellow Googlers. After that, things started moving pretty quickly. A few weeks (and a few gallons of mint tea) later, I had an improved version which Googlers throughout the company were using on their iPhones (it works great on the iPod Touch too). Now we want to share it with everyone.

Our guiding principles were "fast" and "fluid." We think we've achieved both, thanks to some AJAX magic made possible by the iPhone's Safari browser. To try it out, just go to www.google.com on your iPhone.

We want to know what you think! You can post your comments below or submit specific questions on our discussion board. We hope you'll like it.

 

[meegwell]

around as in avoiding, going past - or around as in hovering?

 

[DomainMayhem.com]

That would be a real shame if this happens.

 

[NewWorldArk]

User Comments on this App already.

OK, this looks nice but there are two bugs, one of which has reduced enjoyability of using Google on my iPhone:

1) The new Google mobile for iPhone breaks the mobile version of Google search using the native Safari app's search box. I had this configured to use the mobile version of Google search, now this has defaulted back to the desktop version of the page and I can no longer find the option to make it display the mobile version.

2) Google Reader for iPhone, when used from the combined Google app does not open the original web page correctly zoomed on the iPhone. The page is zoomed to the width of the Google menu bar, and the page cannot be shrunk. (I have Google Reader setup to open the original post without reformatting for mobile.)

Bug #1 degrades the overall experience of using Google on my iPhone, as I will continue to use Safari's native search box.

Bug #2 makes me want to use Google Reader directly without going through the Google home page as this method is not usable.

Other than these two bugs, I do like the new interface and applaud Google's dedication to making its services work well on the iPhone.

December 5, 2007 11:34 AM