Viewing my blog on mobile devices

1/23/2011 10:59:00 AM
I recently discovered that Blogger has introduced a new option (currently in beta testing, available in Blogger in Draft) that will automatically reformat a blog so that it's more convenient to access on a mobile device.

I've set up the option to do this for my blog, but I don't have Internet access on my mobile phone so I can't test it myself.  (I can text on my phone, and access email, but I can't access the web.)  So....I'm looking for somebody to help me try this out.  Are any of you using a mobile device to access this blog?  And if so:
  • What do you think?  Is it readable?  Easy to navigate?

  • Blogger says the layout is supposed to switch automatically from the "regular" view to the "mobile" view when it detects that the site is being accessed from a mobile device.  Can anybody confirm that this actually works?

  • What type of mobile device are you using to access my blog?  (Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything with that information!  Just curious.)
If you want to see a preview of what the mobile layout for this site looks like, go here.  (This will work even if you are accessing the site from a desktop or laptop.)

Please note that I have no control over the colors and fonts in the mobile version.  Maybe there will be a way to customize them in the future, but I don't know how to do that right now.  What you're seeing in the mobile version are the default fonts and colors.

Thanks in advance for your help with this!

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10 comments

Chris Holifield said...

Hi Karen,
The new mobile version is easier to read on an iPhone 3GS. It shows the blog itself, but not the links & info you have on the right & left sides of the regular version of your blog. It does have the 7 links that are across the top of your blog though. At the bottom of the blog, it gives you links for Home, Older Posts & Web Version. Hope this helps.

January 23, 2011 at 2:10 PM
Tracey R. said...

Not noticing the difference on a BlackBerry Curve--but it could be that the new formatting only works with iPhone/Droid type devices?

January 23, 2011 at 5:16 PM
Karen Henry said...

Chris - yes, that's helpful. Thanks!

Trecey - Hmmm, not sure what the problem is there. Keep in mind this is a beta version of the new functionality, so no guarantees. :-) I'll report it as an issue and see what they say.

Karen

January 23, 2011 at 7:40 PM
Business mobile phones said...

Karen Henry is right that it is a beta version and there are some problems which will be solved lately by its update.

January 24, 2011 at 5:23 AM
Karen Henry said...

Tracey - as a workaround, can you try accessing my blog from here:

http://outlandishobservations.blogspot.com/?m=1

(note the "?m=1" on the end!)

and see if it makes any difference? Even if the automatic switching doesn't work for you, I would think you could get there by "forcing" the option. Worth a try, anyway. Let me know if that works for you.

Karen

January 24, 2011 at 5:52 AM
Lolly S said...

Worked great on my iPhone 3G 'generation'!

January 24, 2011 at 11:09 AM
Karen Henry said...

Lolly:

Great. Thanks for letting me know!

Karen

January 24, 2011 at 12:10 PM
Shawn C. said...

Karen, I'm on a Motorola Droid as I type this. I can choose to read your blog on the google reader app where the full text appears or use the browser. In the browser the site is very simple -- almost no color or graphics which makes it load fast, and easy to read and navigate. Wish I knew how to do a screen shot for you!

January 29, 2011 at 4:15 PM
Shawn C. said...

Hi Karen,

I just accessed the site from my Motorola Droid. I usually use Google Reader app to read the text but checked it in the browser for you. I wish I knew how to take a screen shot. It was mostly text/black & white with no graphics and few colors, but it loaded fast and was very easy to read and navigate.

January 29, 2011 at 4:20 PM
Karen Henry said...

Thanks, Shawn, that was very helpful!

Karen

January 29, 2011 at 4:53 PM

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