Are iPads and other tablets considered mobile devices?
-
A colleague and I were discussing whether or not iPads should be considered mobile devices. Obviously, developing for a mobile phone is different than developing for an iPad so we're trying to determine if mobile is the correct umbrella to put both of these devices under.
-
google adwords seperates them
<label for="gwt-uid-911">Desktop and laptop computers</label><label for="gwt-uid-913">Mobile devices with full browsers</label><label for="gwt-uid-915">Tablets with full browsers</label>
-
Depends what you're aiming for. The largest difference between mobile and any other browsing experience is real estate. You're extremely limited on a normal mobile browser vs any other venue. In this realm, the iPad is generally not considered mobile. You tend to get the same browsing experience you would get on a full computer.
Another difference is that no iOS devices support Flash (that includes the iPad). Adobe has also announced that they are dropping Flash support for mobile devices which leaves support for Android tablets in the future in doubt.
-
Hi Theresa
That's a really good question, to which you will likely get differing answers.
These days, there isn't so much difference between the way modern websites appear on Desktop browsers, Tablet browsers and Smartphone browsers. Non-smartphone mobiles tend to have more issues.
There are differences though, such as some JavaScript, navigational code and flash not working on tablets and mobiles as well as on desktops.
Personally, I see three main categories at present:
- Desktop
- Tablet (including the iPad)
- Smartphone
because websites do tend to load differently enough between the three, thus having three different technology platforms to cater for. As tablets and smartphones continue to develop & advance, it's slowly becoming more or less the same, one day not too far off, I believe all 3 will be similar enough and there won't be the need to build different versions (other than perhaps for the speed issue mentioned below).
Within Google Adwords, there remains the option to target 'All Devices', 'Desktop and laptop', 'Mobile devices with full browsers' and 'Tablets with full browsers'
Although another issue is of course Speed; 3G does not usually bode well for full-blown websites to be loaded on a tablet or a smartphone, thus this is a major reason why for the time being, it's usually advisable to cater for tablets and smartphones separately with cut-down versions of the main website. 4G is starting to launch and wireless hotspots and becoming more common, so also one day, speed won't be so much of an issue with tablets and smartphones.
I hope that helps,
Regards
Simon
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Responsive Site has "Not Found" Errors for mobile/ and m/ in Google Search Console
We have recently launched a new responsive website for a client and have noticed 2 "Not Found" errors within Google Search Console for /mobile and /m Both these URLs are not linked from anywhere within the site. However Google is reporting them as being linked from the homepage. This is not the first site we have seen in which Google has reported this error, however the other site was not a mobile friendly site. My thoughts are to 301 them back to the Homepage. Anybody else have any thoughts on this? or have recently received the same errors?
Web Design | | JustinTaylor881 -
Question Concerning HTML5/CSS Templates & Google Mobility Issues
Hi all, Looking for some kind of solution for a responsive update for a site and I am wondering if there are any templates (not Wordpress) that are both great SEO wise and would also pass muster with the impending Google update for responsiveness? I was looking at things like Canvas and Porto ( http://themeforest.net/popular_item/by_category?category=site-templates ) but can't find any discussion on whether or not these things have been addressed with any of these templates. If any of you have suggestions or other places to look for something that could possibly fit the bill (even if temporarily) I would be very appreciative. Thank you so much in advance!
Web Design | | Pixelwik1 -
In Google Anayltics does the iPad always report portrait orientation?
I find I have disproportionate anount of visitors viewing at 768x1024, which coincides with the high iOS visitor rate. However, does this mean the vistors are all viewing in portrait orientation, or does the report portair regardlaess of orientation?
Web Design | | gotomarketers0 -
New Mobile Site Traffic Drop
With all the talk about how much mobile is important and how it is going to return its own search results, we finally decided to make a mobile site for one of our smaller websites to test the water. We put it up about two weeks ago and did Vary HTTP header method to serve the site. Before the change, on the average week we would get 270-300 mobile visitors from organic search results and we converted 0.78% to sales. Since the change, we are now getting about 70 mobile organic visitors per week but converting 2.47% So what can I say but WOW. We are converting way way better but our organic mobile search traffic has dropped off a ton. Luckily our desktop and tablet traffic(we serve the desktop version of the site to tablets) has stayed the same and has not dipped. Do any of you guys have experience or gone through launching a mobile site before? Did you see the immediate drop in organic mobile traffic and did you recover your traffic back to previous levels? If so, do you know how long it takes to recover? I am thinking it is a big change and will take time for Google to adjust but I am not sure since the mobile version has so much less text now on the home page and on category or product list pages or whatever you guys want to call them.
Web Design | | KurtL0 -
Responsive Design vs Mobile For This Site?
They are going to do an entire website redesign for http://gaport.com/ and I think they should adhere to responsive design best practices. However, I'm just saying that because everything I have read says that's the "way of the future" if not the way of the present already. Any reason, they shouldn't do that and keep the desktop/mobile sites? Thanks, Ruben
Web Design | | KempRugeLawGroup0 -
Mobile Web Sites
Hi I have started offering customers a mobile app view of their existing websites using sencha touch which works well. On visiting the website if a user visits via a mobile device they access the mobile app view of the site. I am looking for some best practice please - as many of the customers already have hosting with their existing website so would it be possible to use a subdomain of m.theirdomain.com which will point to the mobile website which will be hosted on our servers in the cloud. Or is the only alternative to use a subdomain for their mobile sites because they are hosted with us in the cloud of businessname.ourdomain.com ? Many Thanks
Web Design | | ocelot0 -
Separate .mobi site or make .com site mobile friendly?
Our website now has enough mobile traffic to justify going mobile friendly, which it is not at this time. I am in favor of making a separate .mobi site designed specifically for mobile phones and smart phones for several reasons. It is cheaper, faster, and easier to accomplish. I think our mobile users will have a good experience though obviously not as much info as our full site. I would use ourdomain.mobi with link or a redirect for mobile users from from the main site. My top three choices for implementing that are http://allwebcodesign.com/setup/mobi-templates.htm#detailsarea
Web Design | | zharriet
Template that can be viewed by mobile or desktop. http://www.onbile.com/ http://www.networksolutions.com/mobile-website/index.jsp Does this seem like a good solution?1 -
Mobile Accessibility?
How can I check whether my website is accessible on mobile phones? Is there a tool that allows you to check if your website is opening on different mobiles? Also, is it better to have a dedicated website for mobiles or the original developed in a manner that it appears ok on mobiles as well? Cheers!
Web Design | | RishadShaikh590