Lots and lots of websites are now using detection scripts for mobile devices like smartphones. This is all well and good, and when they work properly they’ll take you to a mobile version of a site for instance.
But as an iPad user I’ve noticed that more and more sites are serving up the mobile versions of their sites to iPads. The end result is a site that looks extremely simple, with large fonts and usually few or no design elements. And fewer ads. That’s kind of nice, but these sites really should offer a link to the full site in any case.
There’s only been one riff on this trend that I hate: promoting iPad apps in lieu of the site. Multiple big sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor give iPad users an interstitial begging them to download their app before allowing them to use the site. It’s silly. If I want the site, I want the site. Worse: one random news site refused to serve me any content – any! Instead, I was endlessly redirected to a page promoting their iPad app.
That’s not how you do it, folks.
Posted in Technology