14
Feb
image

Today's xkcd: App

Posted by in Applications, Off-Topic

Too bad xkcd doesn't have a crappy app we could make fun of. That guy thought of everything!

If I click 'no', I've probably given up on everything, so don't bother taking me to the page I was trying to go to. Just drop me on the homepage. Thanks.

P.S. As always, don't forget to hover.

Source: xkcd or mobile xkcd

Tags:
Artem Russakovskii
Artem is a die-hard Android fan, passionate tech blogger, obsessive-compulsive editor, bug hunting programmer, and the founder of Android Police.
Most of the time, you will find Artem either hacking away at code or thinking of the next 15 blog posts.

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  • Barrie McNaught

    The humor in the fact that I tried loading that image via the app and it was blank the first time around.

  • PacoBell

    How does one "hover" on a mobile device?

    • http://www.androidpolice.com/ Artem Russakovskii

      Good point. It says: "If I click 'no', I've probably given up on everything, so don't bother taking me to the page I was trying to go to. Just drop me on the homepage. Thanks."

      • David Loring

        m.xkcd.com exists for just that purpose. xkcd doesn't perform a redirect to it,(Randall Munroe hates those too: http://xkcd.com/869/) and it's only been advertised as existing a couple of times, but it works wonders for those of us who check xkcd on their phones first thing in the morning ;)

        • http://www.androidpolice.com/ Artem Russakovskii

          Sweet. I'll link to that as well.

        • PacoBell

          It's interesting that Randall chose not to auto-redirect mobile clients to that sub-domain. Guess its a philosophical issue with him.

          • http://twitter.com/RvLeshrac RvLeshrac

            Automatic redirection based on browser/device type is inherently evil and should never be used by anyone, on any website, ever, in all of time.

            Instead of redirection to a completely different page, people should learn to properly code a fucking webpage and eliminate the problem.

            If I want the mobile version of a site, I'll load m.* - if I don't, I won't. Most websites that redirect not only have no way to get back to the 'desktop' site, they ACTIVELY INTERFERE with mobile browsers that demand the 'desktop' site.

        • Sootie

          Today is the first time I have heard of the xkcd mobile site, I have always wondered how to get the alt text on a phone (without resorting to explainxkcd.com). You sir are a good chap!

      • Jaime

        If you go to the mobile version, you can see the alt text by clicking "alt-text" (genius) below the image.

    • h_f_m

      That's part of the joke. On chrome for android you can just long press and view caption.

      • PhilNelwyn

        Doesn't work on my Galaxy Nexus.
        Are you sure it's Chrome?

        • h_f_m

          Works on fully stock 4.2.2 nexus 4 with latest chrome from play store. Long press the image and select view caption from the context menu.

          • PhilNelwyn

            Fully stock 4.2.2 Galaxy Nexus with latest build of Chrome from the Play Store here... strange.
            I'll get my Nexus 4 soon though, I'll check that again then.

      • David Loring

        Doesn't work on my fully stock 4.2.2 nexus 4 with latest chrome from play store. Or in the chrome beta. Dunno what's up with that, but it would be a good feature.

    • PhilNelwyn

      With an S Pen? :P

      • PacoBell

        Yeah, that was my first thought. I'm really hoping the SGS4 has that rumored floating proximity sensing projected capacitance touch screen. Now THAT'S game-changing!

  • Paul Bais

    so true ...

  • WilliamSurname

    Every now and then I'll come across a mobile app that really seems to get that an app version of a web page should reorganize things to work better on smaller screens, make buttons large enough to conveniently tap on the touch display, use typefaces that minimize blur and aliasing on high-DPI displays, use less bandwidth than the main page, and that people using an app on a mobile device are much more likely to want to directly access certain services than people hitting the main page (for example, a mobile banking app might put you just one tap away from checking your balance or finding an ATM, whereas the homepage might put you three or four clicks away from those features as you have to go through login screens and various menus trying to sell you on other banking products). When they're done right, the app can be far superior to a web page that has not factored in any of these concerns.

    Unfortunately, this is far too rare. It seems like even those apps that used to be good at all of those points have since lost their utility. Wikipedia's app was great a couple years ago, but I feel like mobile browsers have gotten much better at handling their page. There's fewer ads on IMDB's app than their homepage, but all of their functionality is hidden behind dozens of excess taps. GrubHub's app is amazing, but even there you have fewer options when placing an order and there doesn't seem to be any real reason why that should be the case.

    I shouldn't be surprised that things are as crap as they are on this front, of course. UI design has always been a secondary concern of developers for some reason. End users will take what they can get, and it's easier to churn out something that precisely meets stated requirements without ever giving a thought to how people will actually interact with the product.

    • http://www.androidpolice.com/ Artem Russakovskii

      The biggest problem is with the complexity of making a web page vs making an app. An app that is not an HTML5 web view is much harder to create, design, and make work for a variety of devices than HTML. Maintenance, release procedure, all of that complicates things as well. That, I think, is the biggest problem.

      Plus, app developers are much-much more expensive and in-demand than web developers. It's hard to find a good developer out there.

  • Xpgamer
  • RitishOemraw

    I hope tapatalk and all the other stupid apps learn from this.
    NO I don't want your app, not now, not ever!!! So stop bothering me with the stupid popups!!!!

  • Laurence

    Ooh, now we can figure out what phone Randall Munroe has!

    He's drawn the mobile Chrome as his browser. Though he has drawn the aspect ratio of the screen using iPhone-like proportions, there's no menu button, so it's not the iOS version. So we know he has an Android phone.

    If he's using Chrome, he must have an Android phone that has ICS or greater.

    However, there's no action overflow button, which means it's a phone that has a hardware key mapped to the action overflow button instead of soft keys. Which means Samsung.

    As for which Samsung - possibly a Nexus S, Galaxy S2 or S3. But I since Randall is a geek, he probably enjoys having newer tech, so I'm guessing S3.

    Yeah... I'm like the Sherlock Holmes of the AP comment section.

    • Matthew Fry

      Ah but you forget that about 90% of the websites that have "apps" only have iOS versions :)

      • Laurence

        Nevertheless, I encounter this problem quite a lot on Android.

        One in particular that irritates me is Slate. Their mobile app is terrible; but their website persistently nags you to download it. Most irritating.

    • nicereddy

      He also had a comic a few weeks bad about Ingress. That probably means he has an Android.

  • fixxmyhead

    huh? wtf is this?

    • http://www.androidpolice.com/ Artem Russakovskii

      It's a web comic. Any more questions?

  • FrillArtist

    I don't get it. I know it's making a reference to a behavior in Android but I don't know what.

    • http://twitter.com/RvLeshrac RvLeshrac

      It is not, no.

    • http://www.androidpolice.com/ Artem Russakovskii

      It's making a reference to all those mobile sites that offer less capable apps or can't keep track of where you are once you go mobile.

      • FrillArtist

        Ahhh, okay!