How To Test Mobile Redirect?

rahmat · 13th Dec 2011, 07:43 AM

Hi guys,

I am new to this mobile marketing.

The task I want to do is to check whether a website (not mine) is having a mobile version or not.

The easiest way is to use mobile phone such as iPhone to do that, correct? But what if I don't have iPhone.. or I simply work faster using desktop...

Is there another way using a desktop to achieve the same results?

Currently I use Opera mobile emulator (download it for free here). The way I do is to load the main website (e.g. http://www.facebook.com), then click Go or Enter, if the website has a mobile version, I will be automatically redirected to its mobile site (e.g. http://m.facebook.com).

Is my technique correct? Let me know your opinion.

Thank you.

WillR · 14th Dec 2011, 08:10 AM

Different websites use different methods to detect mobile devices. Some websites use user-agent detection whilst others use screen width detection. For this reason there is no 100% effective method except for visiting the website on a REAL smartphone.

Although keep in mind that such a small minority of websites actually have a mobile version so it may be quicker to just wing it and don't worry about checking. This way you will be able to contact a lot more businesses in a much shorter period of time. You may get the odd person who tells you they already have a mobile site but if that happens, you just move on. Besides, you never know. They might already have a mobile site but prefer the look of yours better.

Jay Moreno · 14th Dec 2011, 09:20 AM

as Will says you really can't beat using a real mobile device!

That said though check out perfectomobile.com they give you access to a whole suite of mobile devices via the internet and also offer a 1hour free trial

hope that helps

cheers

jay

rahmat · 14th Dec 2011, 05:08 PM

Originally Posted by WillR

Different websites use different methods to detect mobile devices. Some websites use user-agent detection whilst others use screen width detection. For this reason there is no 100% effective method except for visiting the website on a REAL smartphone.

Although keep in mind that such a small minority of websites actually have a mobile version so it may be quicker to just wing it and don't worry about checking. This way you will be able to contact a lot more businesses in a much shorter period of time. You may get the odd person who tells you they already have a mobile site but if that happens, you just move on. Besides, you never know. They might already have a mobile site but prefer the look of yours better.

Hi Will,

Can you elaborate what REAL smartphone is? Any specific model you recommends?

If I were using market share as my base in US, I would choose a smartphone with Android.

Here is the data of US market share, as of Jan - Oct 2011

Android : 53%
iOS : 29%
RIM : 10%
Windows Mobile : 3%
Windows mobile 7 : 2%
Symbian OS : 1%
Palm/WebOS : 1%

Source: Android leads US market share, iOS may have stopped growing, RIM is still falling -- Engadget

However if you choose to target other country, the market share might be different. Examples are.. iPhone is very popular in Singapore, while BlackBerry is very popular in Indonesia. I'm not sure in Australia though...

rahmat · 14th Dec 2011, 05:11 PM

Originally Posted by Jay Moreno

as Will says you really can't beat using a real mobile device!

That said though check out perfectomobile.com they give you access to a whole suite of mobile devices via the internet and also offer a 1hour free trial

hope that helps

cheers

jay

Hi Jay,

thanks for the link.

bonn · 14th Dec 2011, 05:12 PM

We have an awesome iphone android emulator we built from the ground up, but it only simulates sites built on our platform.

I searched high and low for a damn smartphone emulator that didnt just simulate a small screen, but actually simulated the actual safari, android and black berry browsers! FOUND ONE and we acutlaly use it on our examples page to show screenshots of what our sites look like on all devices. DEFINITELY use this tool! and its freeeeeeee!

Its called mobilizer Mobilizer | Springbox

Its sweet you can choose which phones you want to simulate, and then if your right click the phone, you can save the image as a PNG so you dont get any white area around the phone like you would in a JPG! Great tool for mobile marketers!

rahmat · 14th Dec 2011, 05:23 PM

Originally Posted by bonn

We have an awesome iphone android emulator we built from the ground up, but it only simulates sites built on our platform.

I searched high and low for a damn smartphone emulator that didnt just simulate a small screen, but actually simulated the actual safari, android and black berry browsers! FOUND ONE and we acutlaly use it on our examples page to show screenshots of what our sites look like on all devices. DEFINITELY use this tool! and its freeeeeeee!

Its called mobilizer Mobilizer | Springbox

Its sweet you can choose which phones you want to simulate, and then if your right click the phone, you can save the image as a PNG so you dont get any white area around the phone like you would in a JPG! Great tool for mobile marketers!

Hi bonn,

Thanks for the link. So I tried the Mobilizer emulator. It's kind of buggy for me... the URL bar did not work. It always open google by default. So I had to use indirect way... that is to search for the website in google then click on the search result.

Damielle · 14th Dec 2011, 05:37 PM

As was said before the best way to check is to use a real mobile phone. Opera has an online checker here which I use for my testing and it works like a charm with nothing to download.

Hope that helps

Jay Moreno · 14th Dec 2011, 05:44 PM

Originally Posted by bonn

We have an awesome iphone android emulator we built from the ground up, but it only simulates sites built on our platform.

I searched high and low for a damn smartphone emulator that didnt just simulate a small screen, but actually simulated the actual safari, android and black berry browsers! FOUND ONE and we acutlaly use it on our examples page to show screenshots of what our sites look like on all devices. DEFINITELY use this tool! and its freeeeeeee!

Its called mobilizer Mobilizer | Springbox

Its sweet you can choose which phones you want to simulate, and then if your right click the phone, you can save the image as a PNG so you dont get any white area around the phone like you would in a JPG! Great tool for mobile marketers!

whilst it is certainly one of the better ones its not with out its issues the problem i found with mobilizer is unless they have updated it recently - if you are using javascript redirection based on screensize to detect mobile devices, it does not take into account the emulator screensize but instead your actual desktop screensize... if its still being the case it wont trigger your desktop redirect regardless of which "phone" you use... unless of course you adjust the javascript to indicate a screen size anything smaller than 1px bigger than your actual screen size width

additionally i have tested some jquery and javascript specifically designed for the iphone and it also doesnt work 100% of the time which is expected for an emulator

hope someone understands what i am talking about and finds it useful! lol

cheers

jay

WillR · 17th Dec 2011, 03:18 AM

Originally Posted by rahmat

Hi Will,

Can you elaborate what REAL smartphone is? Any specific model you recommends?

By 'REAL' smartphone I just mean an actual smartphone. One of the better ones would be an iPhone or an Android device.

Jay Moreno · 17th Dec 2011, 09:17 AM

Originally Posted by WillR

By 'REAL' smartphone I just mean an actual smartphone. One of the better ones would be an iPhone or an Android device.

you could also use an itouch with wifi enabled if you dont want a contract but some mobile features would not work ie gps location detection and tap to call unless you had a third party app like skype

our real test suite includes itouch4, iphone3, android galaxy, ipad, blackberry and an old school openwave browser type of phone we also do beta testing and also run our sites through several devices at perfectomobile.com the blackberry for example is a pay as you go but we just connect to it via wifi so there is no on going charges, you will find a lot of devices use wifi so you wont need to constantly keep paying for your test suite

hth

jay

4webmaster · 17th Dec 2011, 09:33 AM

Too bad I'm going on vacation today but I will try to add this feature to my simulator as an option when back in January, I think it's great but as WillR said above "Different websites use different methods to detect mobile devices." will not be 100% working for all sites so I'm still hesitating to add it and that's why mobilizer bugs. Get a real mobile device to test will be the 100% guarantee for testing.

Jay Moreno · 17th Dec 2011, 11:48 AM

Originally Posted by 4webmaster

Too bad I'm going on vacation today but I will try to add this feature to my simulator as an option when back in January, I think it's great but as WillR said above "Different websites use different methods to detect mobile devices." will not be 100% working for all sites so I'm still hesitating to add it and that's why mobilizer bugs. Get a real mobile device to test will be the 100% guarantee for testing.

Like you said with an online simulator you can get close but you cant get 100% - since whats rendered is based on the limitations of your actual browser ie if the browser you are using doesn't support CSS3 or webkit properties it won't be able to render those type of features if they are included within the mobile site.

Same goes for screensize detection - if your using an iframe to display the simulator content - again it wont simulate actual screensize width so any javascript redirection based on screen size wont trigger... you can however trigger user agent detection based redirection by using CURL Headers.

Whilst they work for fairly the most basic of mobile sites, anything beyond that chances are its not going to display it properly.

HTH

Jay

YellowGreenMedia · 17th Dec 2011, 12:00 PM

When i check the redirection i use my own phone, but i also use this Iphone sim it is called iBBDemo2 its free and you can get it here i use it to check redirects and i use it to check if the businesses i target already have a mobile site... it works much faster then using my phone

The Mobilizer emulator is really buggy imho, often the sites don't show and the phones don't wanna close and i need to use CTRL+ALT+DELETE to get it turned of.

Jay Moreno · 17th Dec 2011, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by YellowGreenMedia

When i check the redirection i use my own phone, but i also use this Iphone sim it is called iBBDemo2 its free and you can get it here i use it to check redirects and i use it to check if the businesses i target already have a mobile site... it works much faster then using my phone

The Mobilizer emulator is really buggy imho, often the sites don't show and the phones don't wanna close and i need to use CTRL+ALT+DELETE to get it turned of.

i have used that before too i will double check but i believe you will have the same problem if the site you are testing is using screensize detection - ie it won't trigger the redirect

Jay Moreno · 17th Dec 2011, 02:02 PM

@YGM FYI they just released a pro version of the emulator - just bought it going to test it out!

UPDATE

FYI Still wont trigger Javascript Screensize Redirect as it doesn't look at the current window but your actual screen desktop and pulls the screensize from that. Doesn't matter if you change the window size either - same applies to most other simulators too - ie the freeversion and mobileone

Hope that helps

pjCheviot · 17th Dec 2011, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by Jay Moreno

@YGM FYI they just released a pro version of the emulator - just bought it going to test it out!

Would be very interested in your review of this, Jay - if allowed in here - if not, I would appreciate a PM?

Many thanks
pj

Jay Moreno · 17th Dec 2011, 02:34 PM

Originally Posted by pjCheviot

Would be very interested in your review of this, Jay - if allowed in here - if not, I would appreciate a PM?

Many thanks
pj

From the looks of it the free version will still be fine for most people... the pro version has some more advanced developer features but for simple sites you should be fine with the free version.

If you are doing more advanced sites for mobile i would actually recommend getting a developer license from apple and install xcode/ipad iphone simulator thats by far the most accurate simulator i have used but downside is its mac only, plus $100/yr - i guess for those without a mac and doing more advanced mobile development than the alternatives would be this new IBB Pro version it's certainly cheaper than Mobile One simulator also at $100 - the Mobile One toolkit is in my opinion still worth it and i certainly have no regrets purchasing it

hth

pjCheviot · 17th Dec 2011, 04:09 PM

Originally Posted by Jay Moreno

the pro version has some more advanced developer features

hth

It was those advanced developer features I was interested in, Jay, because (price wise) it seems an ideal upgrade from the basic version. Do you think it is worth that small outlay for the added features?

All the best.

Jay Moreno · 17th Dec 2011, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by pjCheviot

It was those advanced developer features I was interested in, Jay, because (price wise) it seems an ideal upgrade from the basic version. Do you think it is worth that small outlay for the added features?

All the best.

Will have to play around with it a bit more to comment on the advanced features, the geo-targeting/localization could be very useful as you can't change your locations co-ordinates on a real device

It seems it also correctly shows mobile ads which normally you can only see by using a user agent switcher... I know for me I wish that Firefox user agent switcher didn't toggle on and off across all open tabs so am thinking just that in itself will be handy.

Will post back over the weekend once I have given it a proper run for its money

pjCheviot · 17th Dec 2011, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by Jay Moreno

Will post back over the weekend once I have given it a proper run for its money

Much appreciated

M Mark · 2nd Jun 2012, 04:01 PM

Is there a cross platform online mobile emulator anywhere

fitzpatg · 2nd Jun 2012, 04:25 PM

I'm wondering why the Opera emulator has no profile for iPhone. Or am I missing something here? (Wouldn't be the first time... lol).

13th Dec 2011, 07:43 AM	#1
rahmat HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: 2007 Location: Southeast Asia Posts: 373 Thanks: 34 Thanked 69 Times in 43 Posts	How To Test Mobile Redirect? Share on: Hi guys, I am new to this mobile marketing. The task I want to do is to check whether a website (not mine) is having a mobile version or not. The easiest way is to use mobile phone such as iPhone to do that, correct? But what if I don't have iPhone.. or I simply work faster using desktop... Is there another way using a desktop to achieve the same results? Currently I use Opera mobile emulator (download it for free here). The way I do is to load the main website (e.g. http://www.facebook.com), then click Go or Enter, if the website has a mobile version, I will be automatically redirected to its mobile site (e.g. http://m.facebook.com). Is my technique correct? Let me know your opinion. Thank you.

14th Dec 2011, 08:10 AM	#2
WillR Digital Marketer War Room Member Join Date: 2010 Location: Australia Posts: 12,475 Thanks: 1,984 Thanked 8,187 Times in 4,079 Posts	Re: How To Test Mobile Redirect? Share on: Different websites use different methods to detect mobile devices. Some websites use user-agent detection whilst others use screen width detection. For this reason there is no 100% effective method except for visiting the website on a REAL smartphone. Although keep in mind that such a small minority of websites actually have a mobile version so it may be quicker to just wing it and don't worry about checking. This way you will be able to contact a lot more businesses in a much shorter period of time. You may get the odd person who tells you they already have a mobile site but if that happens, you just move on. Besides, you never know. They might already have a mobile site but prefer the look of yours better.
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14th Dec 2011, 09:20 AM	#3
Jay Moreno Mobile+WP = JumpMobi.com War Room Member Join Date: 2009 Location: San Antonio, Tx Posts: 1,270 Thanks: 301 Thanked 449 Times in 309 Posts	Re: How To Test Mobile Redirect? Share on: as Will says you really can't beat using a real mobile device! That said though check out perfectomobile.com they give you access to a whole suite of mobile devices via the internet and also offer a 1hour free trial hope that helps cheers jay
	Sorry, I am too busy helping people to think of a cool signature!

14th Dec 2011, 05:12 PM	#6
bonn Mobile Site Wizzard! War Room Member Join Date: 2010 Location: Scottsdale / Santa Monica Posts: 174 Thanks: 4 Thanked 36 Times in 22 Posts	Re: How To Test Mobile Redirect? Share on: We have an awesome iphone android emulator we built from the ground up, but it only simulates sites built on our platform. I searched high and low for a damn smartphone emulator that didnt just simulate a small screen, but actually simulated the actual safari, android and black berry browsers! FOUND ONE and we acutlaly use it on our examples page to show screenshots of what our sites look like on all devices. DEFINITELY use this tool! and its freeeeeeee! Its called mobilizer Mobilizer \| Springbox Its sweet you can choose which phones you want to simulate, and then if your right click the phone, you can save the image as a PNG so you dont get any white area around the phone like you would in a JPG! Great tool for mobile marketers!
	GoMobile Enterprise : Enterprise Grade Mobile Content Management Software for Everyone Our WSO Watch a video of the founder building a site with the platform here

14th Dec 2011, 05:37 PM	#8
Damielle damielle.com War Room Member Join Date: 2011 Location: Jamaica Posts: 172 Thanks: 20 Thanked 37 Times in 32 Posts	Re: How To Test Mobile Redirect? Share on: As was said before the best way to check is to use a real mobile phone. Opera has an online checker here which I use for my testing and it works like a charm with nothing to download. Hope that helps
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17th Dec 2011, 09:33 AM	#12
4webmaster Advanced Warrior Join Date: 2006 Location: , , . Posts: 736 Thanks: 33 Thanked 144 Times in 119 Posts	Re: How To Test Mobile Redirect? Share on: Too bad I'm going on vacation today but I will try to add this feature to my simulator as an option when back in January, I think it's great but as WillR said above "Different websites use different methods to detect mobile devices." will not be 100% working for all sites so I'm still hesitating to add it and that's why mobilizer bugs. Get a real mobile device to test will be the 100% guarantee for testing.
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17th Dec 2011, 12:00 PM	#14
YellowGreenMedia Dave Zegers War Room Member Join Date: 2011 Location: The Hague Posts: 559 Thanks: 229 Thanked 207 Times in 118 Posts	Re: How To Test Mobile Redirect? Share on: When i check the redirection i use my own phone, but i also use this Iphone sim it is called iBBDemo2 its free and you can get it here i use it to check redirects and i use it to check if the businesses i target already have a mobile site... it works much faster then using my phone The Mobilizer emulator is really buggy imho, often the sites don't show and the phones don't wanna close and i need to use CTRL+ALT+DELETE to get it turned of.

17th Dec 2011, 02:02 PM	#16
Jay Moreno Mobile+WP = JumpMobi.com War Room Member Join Date: 2009 Location: San Antonio, Tx Posts: 1,270 Thanks: 301 Thanked 449 Times in 309 Posts	Re: How To Test Mobile Redirect? Share on: @YGM FYI they just released a pro version of the emulator - just bought it going to test it out! UPDATE FYI Still wont trigger Javascript Screensize Redirect as it doesn't look at the current window but your actual screen desktop and pulls the screensize from that. Doesn't matter if you change the window size either - same applies to most other simulators too - ie the freeversion and mobileone Hope that helps
	Sorry, I am too busy helping people to think of a cool signature!

2nd Jun 2012, 04:01 PM	#22
M Mark Active Warrior Join Date: 2010 Location: West ... Posts: 48 Thanks: 2 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: How To Test Mobile Redirect? Share on: Is there a cross platform online mobile emulator anywhere

2nd Jun 2012, 04:25 PM	#23
fitzpatg HyperActive Warrior Join Date: 2004 Location: , , Canada. Posts: 284 Thanks: 27 Thanked 42 Times in 39 Posts	Re: How To Test Mobile Redirect? Share on: I'm wondering why the Opera emulator has no profile for iPhone. Or am I missing something here? (Wouldn't be the first time... lol).