Yahoo focuses on the full capabilities of the iPhone’s Safari browser including browser cache and transfer speeds. It’s an interesting read, for example:

The iPhone has an amazing UI, but it is limited by the small cache size and slow network speed. Downloading large components over the air through the EDGE network is slower compared to DSL. According to published reports, the typical data download speed varies from 82 kbps to 150 kbps. Though the WiFi network speed is usually more acceptable, it’s better to give users the choice in which experience they’d prefer.

Niall Kennedy has a nice summary:

Web applications built for the iPhone’s Safari browser need to specifically target web performance these small devices and special cache rules. Desktop browser best practices such as zipped components and combined files for CSS and JavaScript may be too bloated for the Safari mobile browser. A few tips:

  • Limit cacheable components to a decompressed size of 25 KB or less
  • Limit yourself to 19 or less cached components
  • Minify CSS and JavaScript for slimmer file weights.
  • Use CSS sprites to combine multiple small images into a shared image under 25 KB

Also, don’t assume those viewing your iPhone / iTouch site are using wifi. Remember, iPhones will probably be using slower EDGE.

Tags: , , ,

Related posts