Am I the only one who HATES mobile versions of websites?
 

When I go to a website on my mobile phone and it shows me a mobile version, I fucking hate it.
I always want the actual desktop version.

Yet the entire web is being re-written to work on mobile devices. Am I the only one who hates mobile versions of websites?
I dont remember the last time I used an actual app, maybe months ago.

A lot of the mobile sites are pretty shitty. I have to wonder if they were being designed for someone on a flip phone - most of the time on a modern smartphone/tablet the desktop version is better.

shitty coders and shitty designers. if the mobile version is properly done, it should work equal or even better (well, way better) than the desktop version. Period.

I cannot stand it either.

The best (read worst) example of this is fucking EBAY! I had to download an app to view their site so guess what - no viewing that site.

There is no need for mobile versions of sites these days. Mobile phones and tablets can display and handle websites without the need to turn the site into a crappy cut down version of the full site.

can you recommend a mobile version of a website that is properly done? I'd like to see.
Even Amazon and eBay I prefer the desktop version.

I hate that when i am on my tablet - no reason to give me a mobile version

Exactly how I feel, took the words right out of my mouth.

Im annoyed because Im getting back into web development and everything is mobile mobile now. An executive told me dont bother making a website, just make an app. It feels so foreign to me

Mobile versions of almost every site I have used are worthless. GFY actually being one of the best.

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eBay is amazing on iphone, far better than the desktop version. Even GFY whist not an app is better in a mobile version, rather than desktop... at least I can easily avoid the multiple images of mens assholes that frequent threads these days.

A lot of sites use a simple generator to create a mobile version and I will agree that these, on the whole are pretty bad. Done well though a mobile site can be brilliant.

eBay is pretty good on the phone, so is Craigslist.

What bothers me is sites reading iPad as mobile and not having a desktop link to use. I don't want to surf a mobile site on my iPad!

I have a smartphone with a generous sized screen, yet I often end up viewing plain mobile pages that feature gigantic text (seriously... tumblr mobile shows only 4-5 words per line, and this is on a Galaxy Note II!) I've set up my proxy/cache at home to lie about the user-agent so that I don't get redirected, but when I'm not home I don't have that luxury.

A 301/302 redirect to a mobile version - rather than simply displaying differently formatted content under the same URL - is also stupid, because it means that people share m.example.com links, which breaks those of us using desktop browsers.

People need to start doing something more sophisticated than "if the user-agent is in this list, redirect to mobile version." It's 2013, we're no longer on 20x4 dot matrix WAP screens.

A better approach would be to base the decision on screen resolution. Don't send those with 800 or 1024px wide screens to shitty sites that have huge letters, and buttons that fill 20% of the screen.

javascript has the screen.width/screen.height and screen.availWidth/screen.availHeight variables. That's a good start.

I like mobile version for news sites here.. no ads :)

I see where you're coming from, I think it depends on the nature of the site, I'd like your opinion on the mobile version of vixen-escorts.com which is here vixen-escorts.com/mobile/

You do exactly what i hate: i am on my pad with 1280x800 resolution and get redirected to a mobile version. Why?

You shouldn't be not on an Ipad, click the first link, thats desktop, Ipad, laptop, second link is smartphones

I agree although it's touch I treat tablets as desktops

I am on a samsung note 2 pad, i click on the first link and get redirected to the mobile version

Fuck, thanks, need to check that then

So something is wrong with your script then

Edit: i see you noticed ;)

i don't think there is enough end-user checks going on for hte 'usability' of mobile sites

GFY for example has a a 'go back to forum' next to 'reply' or something

i never use gfy mobile cause of it

Took the time to look, first link looks awful, second link great :thumbsup

OK so basically I believe your Samsung has an Android OS ? so I need to redirect based on screen size rather than OS......fuck, it's hard keeping up.

Yeah first link is hand coded 14 years old, second link is all the latest shit.

Yeah, Android.. the OS alone should not be the critera. Ask GFY how they do it, with my phone i get the mobile version, with the tablet the desktop version

Its really depends. Some mobile sites are good. Some suck. NBA.com has a good mobile site and just too much info to have a responsive design. But most suck. It also depends on your device. Ive noticed some mobile sites different from device to device.

I always go for the desktop version as well.

I hate it as well, and I think most people do.
It's 2013, most people have a smartphone and those phones display desktop pages just fine. It's just frustrating to be redirected to a mobile site.

I have done extensive tests with split testing mobile traffic to test between mobile tours and normal tours on the paysites, and in every case the normal tour had better signup ratios than the mobile tour on mobile traffic. So it seems that porn surfers don't like mobile tours either.

GFY is a good example of a site that NEEDS a good mobile version, and luckily it has one. Text heavy forums like this are a bitch to read or post on with a regular version even on an Android device with a 4.8 inch screen.

Although the mobile version of GFY is missing a few options it should have. It does work much faster then using the normal version.

this is what all good designers are currently doing, it is called 'responsive webdesign'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsive_web_design

We are ditching our mobile versions, screen resolutions on mobiles is getting better and better every release of a new handset, most people spending money on porn will have luxuries such as smart phones so it makes sense to follow screen res. html 5, streaming mp4s in a standard web version look fantastic on all large screen phones and tabs, no need for a mobile only version.

Responsive design is where it's at, one site, coded to work with all screen resolutions, pc, tablet and mobile...

While I embraced that approach for at least 3 years, nowadays I'm not so convinced.

Responsive design has an element of randomness, and depending on the code, it may become weird. That's why many people is complaining in this thread. Responsive design is a good solution if you're told to work with the code without touching it. Then you have no options (well, you have some, but very limited). I prefer the different code approach: "if desktop, load site A. If mobile, load site B".

See, the problem is not many people knows what UX/UI is, and from those who know about it, very little people knows what to do with it. That's why I know of good UX developers who charge an average of $150 an hour: they know their stuff and your site will be perfect.

The problem here is most developers think this way: "OK, let's code a regular (desktop) version and then use the same site only smaller and try to fit everything in a limited space" when it should be "for desktop I have all this space and I can do this and this. for mobile, I have a different canvas, so I have to keep the theme, yet do something ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. Let's think in UX terms". That's the difference between good and bad mobile design.

Also, relying in desktop versions for mobile display is bananas. First, not everybody has the latest smart phones. If people complained about IE6 support until a couple years ago because you could miss as much as 5% of traffic, saying you're willing to miss more than 75% of traffic is weird to the very least. Second, even with a smart phone, if you have traffic limitations or slow bandwidth and you're serving pages with really heavy images... well, you won't visit that page ever again.

Think about this: when you're complaining about e-bay or whatever... do you really think they're stupid? really? I bet you'd love to be at least 0.1% of what eBay is. And they didn't grow out of stupidity, they know what they're doing and they invest in development 10 or even 100x your total earnings. That's why there isn't a single successful site without a real mobile version. They know their stuff

The worst thing about mobile sites is the fact that you're viewing it on your phone.

Its not 2010 anymore though, very few people actually have limited data plans these days, especially when it comes to business clients (not specifically porn surfers).

Any designer who creates an image heavy website, responsive or not for a mobile site, may as well just create a Flash website for the mobile traffic.

I guess that is the difference between and amateur and a professional designer though ultimately.

The thing that amazes me the most about mobile website design is that, in non-adult, most company owners that *should* have mobile versions of their sites (or mobile apps for that matter) simply do not understand the benefits of doing so.

We have a limo service that needed a new website mid last year, told him we could streamline the reservation process for his clients by allowing the P.As, secretary's and office staff to access the site on mobile devices, he just gave us a blank look until we showed him what we meant.

He followed up with us a couple of weeks back and is getting around 60% more booking via his mobile site than standard one, which has actually increased his revenue about 25% he tells us :)

Some businesses do need mobile (or mobile friendly) versions of their sites, others however don't.

Honestly, I used to feel the same way about mobile sites, but soon discovered the reason I hated viewing sites on my devices was because the sites I was viewing simply sucked balls.

A nicely designed, optimized and laid out mobile site imho, can definitely beat a regular browser based site with pretty much all the same features, I can honestly say right now I do a good 50% of my internet surfing on my iPad with maybe 20% being done on my Droid, the rest is on my laptop.

I don't know how is it in US, but most countries companies have limited plans. See Cisco's information on the subject http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions...11-520862.html (very interesting for everybody who wants to understand mobile business nowadays). Anyway, the point is that lousy designers and lousy coders amounts for 99% of lousy sites


on a side note, coincidentally we're working in a massive limo site right now, with 3 different versions: desktop fluid, desktop fixed for iPad and laptops, and mobile

There should be an option to go to desktop version. Whoever doesn't add that, must be some idiot. :1orglaugh

If you have mobile users. If not, who cares.