Landscape mobile browsing not optimised

[GreyOS]

On the main news site here (not the forums), landscape browsing on safari on iPhone 6 8.4 (and for previous versions as long as I can remember) seems to be just an enlarged version of the portrait mode. It's a shame the extra horizontal real estate is not made use of like it is now on the forums for example.

As well as not making use of the space, the large text just gives it a play school feel.

I hope you can optimise it for landscape

Thanks

 

[GreyOS]

hello

I would be very happy if this was simply acknowledged as a request.

not really expecting this but: if there is an update on whether this is likely to happen, and if so when, that'd be great!

 

[S.B.G]

hello

I would be very happy if this was simply acknowledged as a request.

not really expecting this but: if there is an update on whether this is likely to happen, and if so when, that'd be great!

This isn't anything the moderators can address, but @arn or @WildCowboy can.

 

[WildCowboy]

Unlike the forums, we don't currently have a responsive design in place for the news side of the site, so we currently serve different versions of the site depending on whether users are on mobile or desktop. Adding a landscape mobile mode adds a third layout to the mix, so it's not a simple undertaking.

A move to a completely responsive design that could address this and other issues is something that's on our plate, but I wouldn't expect anything soon. Sorry I don't have better news on this front...I agree the mobile site looks comically large in landscape mode, particularly on an iPhone 6 Plus. One option is to switch to the desktop site if you generally browse in landscape. It looks pretty good in that orientation on most devices.

 

[willmtaylor]

On a similar note, the news site on the iPad looks very odd with the ads taking up just as much space as news articles. Is it supposed to be this way?

 

[WildCowboy]

On a similar note, the news site on the iPad looks very odd with the ads taking up just as much space as news articles. Is it supposed to be this way?

Well, yes, it does look kind of odd in portrait. Because of the screen dimensions, things have to squish if you're using portrait (or use mobile version, which also doesn't look great). If we made the right column narrower on portrait iPad, the rest of the sidebar stuff below the ad would be too skinny. And the effect is exacerbated when you have a tall ad at the top of the right column like in the screenshot.

Like I said, a truly responsive design is on our wish list. It's going to require some changes in our news organization though, so it's going to take some work.