On An Apple Safari - iPhone Web Surfing Tips
August 5, 2008 by Derek Walter
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The iPhone’s Safari browser has revolutionized mobile web surfing. But even at 3G speeds, it’s not always the “Internet in your pocket” as Apple claims. 3G isn’t available everywhere, and even where it is you will notice a drop-off to EDGE. And at EDGE speeds, some web sites can be just a chore to load.
So how to make sure you surfing experience is a solid one? The best way is to hit as many optimized and mobile sites as you can. While having a full HTML browser is a great tool for being able to access any web site while you are out and about, there will be times where all that pinching and pulling can get tiring; and of course there is the occasional tapping of that link you didn’t mean to go to.
ESPN's optimized iPhone site
Many sites offer a site specifically optimized for the iPhone; and this is a trend likely to grow with the device’s growing popularity (and unavailability). ESPN, CNN, FOX News, Digg, even the Los Angeles Times is among the growing number of mobile-optimized sites.
Digg's mobile site
But finding the optimized site can take some work. For example, if you type espn.com into your browser, you will automatically be redirected to the ESPN’s optimized iPhone page. But not so if you go to Digg or the Los Angeles Times. And it can be a pain to surf around the site to find that “mobile” link to get redirected to the mobile site. So if there is a site that you plan to hit daily, say for example, Digg, you are better off typing the mobile address and saving it to your bookmarks. Most sites have their mobile version address with an “m” inside it: for example, CNN’s site is m.cnn.com, Digg’s is m.digg.com - you get the picture. Until everyone starts redirecting your mobile Safari browser, it will take some leg work on your part.
Another way to speed up your browsing experience is to clean out all those sites you visit after your browsing session. When you fire up Safari and it has to load a site with 700 images things tend to slow down a bit. Some have reported the overall speed of the iPhone drops in general when you are using other programs. Creating a bookmark to an “about:blank” will remedy this. When you finish your browsing session, close all the open pages and close Safari after clicking in your bookmarks to the the blank site.
These tips should improve your browsing experience on the iPhone. Any other tips? Share them below.
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