Okay, we get it!

now what?
iPhone statistics,
library services,
WorldCat mobile,
Android, Millennials,
charts and graphs,
yada, yada, yada
buy? build?
Hmm. Is it
too late to join
buy4lib?
now what?
www.boopsie.com/
www.blackboard.com/Mobile/
build
web app?
native app?
e.g. iPhone app
written in Cocoa
requiring download
via the App Store
Most of the folks I know in app
development are moving to
standardization on web versus
device specific development.
Linda Woods
AT&T Education Advocate
Industry & Mobility Application Solutions
2009 Handheld Librarian Online Conference
This just out an iPhone OPAC.
Download it from the App Store.
What? Uhhh. I just
bought a Nexus One.
Loser!
The Tao of mobile web (app)
design
standards compliance
web usability design
minimalist design
design and testing
cross-browser
cross-platform
A mobile web app
should do one thing
and do it well.
A mobile web app should be as simple
as possible, but no simpler.
a good mobile
web app
typical single-interface
that-does-everything
library web app
1
1
4
Simple is as
simple does.
iPhone web apps (according to
Apple*)
Three categories:
compatible with Safari on iPhone
optimized for Safari on iPhone
iPhone web application
2
W3C standards compliant
- no framesets or
- unsupported technologies
(cough, Flash)
If it doesnt look exactly
like an iPhone app
it cant be any good!
* Content on iPhone: Is It a Webpage or an Application?
iPhone web application tool kits
iUI: iPhone User Interface Framework
http://code.google.com/p/iui/
License: BSD
iWebKit: ditto
http://iwebkit.net/
License: GNU LGPL
jQTouch (jQuery plugin)
http://www.jqtouch.com/
License: MIT

JavaScript libraries, CSS
code, images I didnt
have to start from scratch.
iUI iWebKit jQTouch
Moores Law doesnt apply to
batteriesas were now going
into mobilethe cycles count.
Douglas Crockford*
Gee, I love what
jQuery can do, but
maybe server-side
processing is the
way to go.
* Quoted in Coders at Work by Peter Seibel, pg. 100
[11:45] <jkeck> jquery++
[11:45] <mjgiarlo> @fight bacon jquery
[11:45] <zoia> jquery: 2090000, bacon: 106
[11:45] <mdoran> whatever


Handheld emulators/simulators
Generally come with handheld OS SDKs
webOS (Palm)
http://developer.palm.com/
iPhone (Apple)
http://developer.apple.com/iphone/
Android (Google & Open Handset Alliance)
http://developer.android.com/
Web-based simulators (be leery)
Opera Mini Simulator good
http://www.opera.com/mini/demo/
TestiPhone.com absolutely worthless

Operating System
Software Development Kit
Oooohh
Handheld emulators/simulators
Palm iPhone
Android
Opera Mini
Browser compatibility dont skip
this
Internet Explorer Firefox Chrome
XHTML/HTML/CSS validation
XHTML/HTML
CSS
Accessibility
Get right with these
before you move on to
platform compatibility.
Mobile design platform
compatibility
viewport
Mobile design platform
compatibility
Larger buttons
for finger
tapping
Mobile design platform
compatibility
2
Test it on the real thing (handset),
too!
Borrow from colleagues
Or, as a last resort
Just need to
test my app.
one more time
Dont forget the documentation!
Mobile/handheld developer sites have useful
information on how to design for small
Read it
Seriously. Read it.
A viewport?
Who knew?
Its a small
world after all.
Example docs and websites
iPhone
Principles and Guidelines for Creating
Great iPhone Content
iPhone Human Interface Guidelines
for Web Applications
Google Groups: iPhoneWebDev
Others
Opera Mini Developer resources
many, many, more
still more
Reading?
I just want
to code!
Deliver relevance -- expectations are
high and you can only dazzle once.
Cindy Cunningham, OCLC
LITA 2009 National Forum
Patrons can be persnickety.
Maybe I should practice on
the Library staff, first.
Hmmm, a staff app
easier to do a needs assessment
easier to get UI feedback
library has WiFi, so we can use
mobile devices without a data plan
What would help staff
working in the stacks?
ShelfLister version 2.0
End barcode
Start barcode
3
http://vts.uta.edu/sl.htm
ShelfLister version 2.0
6
UTA hereby grants USER permission
to use, copy, modify, and distribute
this software and its documentation
for any purpose and without fee []
Consider releasing
your mobile app as
free open source. Its
better than free beer!
If that imbecile up
there can do it How hard
could it be?
Getting something
to beta would only
take me a week.
Thats it!
Any questions?
@dchud: Thanks
for giving up your
presentation slot.