[sword-devel] On the topic of an iPhone front-end

[DM Smith]

Greg Hellings wrote:
> On Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 12:33 PM, DM Smith <dmsmith555 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>   
>>  Currently, there is one iPhone interface that does not have this
>>  problem: web 2.0 browser interface. If the BibleTool or something like
>>  it were adapted for small devices with "grade A" browser support, that
>>  would be fantastic.
>>     
>
> As I understand it, the iPhone version of Safari is completely unique
> in its dual-faced implementation of a browser.  It tries to imitate a
> full desktop-style browser and then just display the size of the
> iPhone screen at one time.  However, you can also design a web app to
> work specifically with the mobile version of Safari and look almost
> exactly like a native app.  To do so is slightly beyond my ken with
> javascript and/or CSS tasks, but there are a few good Javascript
> toolkits I've used which would make it quite possible.  However, it
> would certainly require a redesign of the whole BibleTool interface.
>   

Here is a quick example of a Web 2.0 interface.

http://www.crosswire.org:8080/jsword/iBD.html

It is a very rough example of how JSword can be used on the web. I'd be curious to know how it looks and behaves on an iPhone. (besides ugly, I know it is.)

Can I assume that if I make Safari have the same display area as the iPhone or iPod touch, that I'll have a good idea how it looks?

And I agree with Nathan that offline capabilities is a good motivation to have an installable app.

In His Service,
	DM