TiPb loves answering your emails, but we also love sharing our answers with the community in hopes that more people will benefit, and even better answers will present themselves (hey, that’s why we have them forums!). Today’s question comes from Jozsoo:

Is there an iPhone-friendly version of the web apps section of Apple’s site? Seems odd to me that the iPhone maker has no such tailor-made service on its site. Or am I missing something? Maybe you could cover this on your blog for others, too, to know.

TiPb answers, after the jump!

To the best of our knowledge, there is no iPhone optimized version of the Apple WebApps page for MobileSafari. Curious that. On first blush, it may seem that Apple is merely doing what they promised: providing a real web page for a the first mobile device capable of displaying “just the internet”.

Is this strange, however, in the face of promoting other sites like Facebook and Amazon that do provide iPhone optimized WebApps? (We’re not talking games here that require more complex AJAX-based interactivity — though Facebook can be buggy enough to crash MobileSafari almost regularly…)

It seems like Apple could show a little leadership here and create that very MobileSafari optimized version of that page. Call it WebApp Central (because “Store” would be inappropriate), and make it the drop dead easy (and gorgeous) way to add browser links and WebClips to our Home screens for every great WebApp out there (because there are still many).

Anyone know of a great 3rd party WebApp for WebApp sites that Jozsoo and the rest of us might like?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb Answers: Why No WebApp for Apple’s WebApp Site?

Wired’s blog picked up a story from iPhone Atlas today about a minor MobileSafari browser UI change that sees the (defaults to Google) search box surfaced right on top beside the URL address box (currently it only pops up when the top box is activated to save on vertical real estate). To compensate, the Refresh button gets demoted and tucked inside the refresh box. Not sure about the usability on this change yet…?

The more interesting speculation is about cut and paste, which Wired claims NO specific info on, but offers this as part of the ongoing search for some reason why Apple hasn’t yet implemented this seemingly core functionality:

It’s possible that Apple is taking so long to implement copy and paste not because it is difficult, but because Apple is reinventing it. Imagine a system-wide menu added to all applications which, instead of shuffling items off to a clipboard, lists all the places you can send that file (or text string). This would be like the existing “Open with” option available in the Mac’s right-click menu — each application effectively reports to the OS exactly what kind of files it can handle and the OS remembers this. Thus a picture could be sent to not only the Photo app, but to any other photo program. Text could be sent directly to any open dialog box in, say, Safari.

Sounds good to us. What about it, Joz?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iPhone 2.2: Safari Tweaked, Cut and Paste Freaked?

WebKit, the open source foundation behind Apple’s Safari for Mac and MobileSafari on the iPhone (not to mention Google Chrome, Nokia, and Adobe) introduced the SquirrelFish JavaScript engine a while back, and billed it as the fastest on the planet. Then came Mozilla’s (Firefox) TraceMonkey. Then came Google’s V8. But you just can’t keep a good SquirrelFish down — not when it’s willing to go… Extreme!

Surfin’ Safari, the WebKit blog, made the announcement this week. But what does it mean for iPhone users? Muchfasterwebsiterendering.

As WebApp’s (browser-based productivity tools like Google Docs and MobileMe, or Web 2.0 social sites like Facebook and Twitter) grow not only in popularity but in function, they become heavier to load and slower to run, largely because of all the JavaScript being processed in the background. This is especially true for a mobile device like the iPhone. The ability to tear through those pages — without crashing! — becomes incredibly important in the growing “cloud” based computing world.

In other words, this will make future versions of MobileSafari screaming fast.

Can we have it now please?

(For those interested in how SFX compares with TraceMonkey and V8, check out the stats!)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

SquirrelFish Javascript Engine Goes Extreme!

Dieter just told us about Crackberry Kevin’s uber-frustrating experiences trying to pit the iPhone 3G and Blackberry Bold head to head in the browser war to end all browser wars. But — silver lining — for iPhone users, not only did we snag bragging rights, but a handy tip as well!

Unlike the Blackberry Bold, the iPhone defaults to having Javascript enabled. As anyone who’s waited — and waited — for an overstuffed Facebook profile to load already knows, Javascript can be heavy lifting for a browser. For WebApps, it’s a necessary sacrifice, but if all you want is casual browsing, you can turn Javascript off and send MobileSafari into turbo mode.

Here’s how:

From the iPhone home screen, tap Settings. Scroll down and tap the Safari button. Under Security, slide Javascript to Off.

There you go, you’ve just switched to light, clean HTML and CSS mode (still technically “just the internet” — unless you’re in the UK…). In Crackberry.com’s tests, it made a big difference on some sites. Let us know how it works for you!

(Thanks to Crackberry Kevin!)

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

How To: Disable Javascript to Speed up MobileSafari on the iPhone

So while Apple is ramping up production of the iPhone 3G, it looks like the rest of the cell phone industry is in a serious slump. Kind of. According to the NPD, (via Ars Technica) only 28 million cell phones were sold this quarter representing a 13% year-to-year decline. But looking specifically at the model-by-model numbers, it looks like everyone is enjoying success on Motorola’s dime.

“Quarterly unit-sales of handsets fell to their lowest level, since NPD begin tracking the category in 2005,” NPD director of industry analysis Ross Rubin said in a statement. “Even so, most major manufacturers picked up market share that was lost by Motorola.”

In related news, MobileSafari has been on an absolute tear since the release of the iPhone 3G. According to Analysts, (via MacDailyNews) MobileSafari has nearly doubled its market share to 0.31% since the launch. Doing rudimentary math, having more handsets on the market that are twice as fast as the old one, well, I guess it adds up.

And to top it all off, our friends at Engadget have created an iPhone specific web page. Why, you ask? Because in 2008, the iPhone/iPod Touch Family has accounted for nearly 96% of all mobile views on their full Engadget site. That’s just jaw dropping.

So that’s the state of the industry. Surprised that the iPhone 3G has had such an effect on the numbers? What’s to come?

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

The Numbers: Cell Phones Down, Smartphones Up, MobileSafari WAY UP

Hot on the heels of the just released Safari 3.1, some of whose features are reportedly trickling down to baby brother MobileSafari on the iPhone 2.0 firmware, Apple has reportedly begun seeding early builds of Safari 4 (5526.11.2) to developers.

The big news? WebKit’s screaming fast SquirelFish Javascript engine is a go, and 53% faster, which will be huge for Web 2.0 apps like Google’s… and the newly announced MobileMe service from Apple, of course!

Other new features include the ability to spin off “Site Specific Browsers” (or SSBs), which are basically thin browser clients for your favorite Web 2.0 apps — imagine a dedicate window on your desktop just for MobileMe. Continued CSS attribute additions like gradients, masks, and reflections are also on spec (Gee, gradients and reflections? From Apple? What a surprise…)

Combined with the CSS and HTML 5.0 features already added in 3.1, such as animation, video, and audio tags, Apple seems to be retaining its focus on open, web standard interactivity, in conjunction with old nemesis Flash and similar — sometimes buggy — technologies like Silverlight on the desktop (for now), and in lieu of them on the iPhone. Add in QuickTime X, and Apple is definitely trying to leverage some space away from the current, pseudo-proprietary web video giants.

While OS 10.6 Snow Leopard isn’t expected until mid-2009, Safari 4 seems on the fast track for a much sooner release.

Can another MobileSafari bump for the iPhone be far behind?

Read Via

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Safari 4 to Take Aim at Flash, Beef up Web 2.0 Apps