[LincolnSpector]

Hi, everyone.

I finally broke down and bought an iPad (an iPad 2, to save money). This is my first Apple product of any kind.

I hate it, for a number of reasons. I thought it would, as the ads claim, "just work." But I keep running into road blocks.

Here's the worst of them. I hope there's a solution:

When I go to a web page, the iPad automatically takes me to the mobile version of the page. The text is very tiny, and even in portrait mode the rows of text are too long. Very difficult to read.

So I zoom in. But the text doesn't re-wrap. I have to scroll horizontally to finish each line of text.

My Droid X phone does the same thing, but there's a solution. Turn the phone to landscape mode, and then back to portrait, and the text re-wraps. Is there anyway to do that on the iPad?

I can't believe that the world's most popular tablet--the device that changing the whole computer ecosystem--doesn't allow you to easily read a web page.

Lincoln

[smax013]

LincolnSpector, on 18 April 2012 - 07:48 AM, said:

Hi, everyone.

I finally broke down and bought an iPad (an iPad 2, to save money). This is my first Apple product of any kind.

I hate it, for a number of reasons. I thought it would, as the ads claim, "just work." But I keep running into road blocks.

Here's the worst of them. I hope there's a solution:

When I go to a web page, the iPad automatically takes me to the mobile version of the page. The text is very tiny, and even in portrait mode the rows of text are too long. Very difficult to read.

So I zoom in. But the text doesn't re-wrap. I have to scroll horizontally to finish each line of text.

My Droid X phone does the same thing, but there's a solution. Turn the phone to landscape mode, and then back to portrait, and the text re-wraps. Is there anyway to do that on the iPad?

I can't believe that the world's most popular tablet--the device that changing the whole computer ecosystem--doesn't allow you to easily read a web page.

Lincoln

It is probably just as much, if not more, the webpage's fault as it is the iPad's. There are a lot of websites that "force" a particular font size such that even the typical browser font size change options on a computer won't help.

I have found most websites will usually wrap text appropriately and work with an iPad fine (whether the WEBSITE forces the mobile version or you get the regular version...it is the WEBSITE that decides that, not the iPad)...but there are a few that will not re-wrap and you either have to zoom and "scroll" the page or just try to read the small text.

The one thing to try would be changing the text size in the Accessibility settings under the General settings. From my testing with Safari on an iPad, it did not help...I believe it is only for the native apps of Addressbook, Mail, iCal, etc...it did not seem to help with Safari.

The other thing to try is double tap the text. It should automatically zoom to the right magnification for the text to fill the screen. This works most of the time. But, if the webpage is set so that it will not re-wrap and the text is too small to read when fully filling the page, then it likely won't help.

For webpages that send you to the mobile version (again, it is the website that does it), the website might allow you to switch to the full version...most do. I have found that most websites will deliver up the "full version" to an iPad.

[LiveBrianD]

Lincoln, what site are you talking about? Granted, I don't have a mobile device to test with, but I could look at the mobile version to see what's up with it (using a mobile user agent).

[compnovo]

Lincoln,
I know what you're talking about because I do have a mobile device (first a Kindle Fire, now a Lumia 900), and I've run across this issue on a few web sites. I'm inclined to agree with smax13 that the web site itself is a much to blame, in that I've noticed that the sites that are optimized for mobile, like USA Today for instance, render perfectly while others like, ironically, AT&T Wireless, give me a standard page in micro-mini font and images (that require a lot of zooming and scrolling).

[LincolnSpector]

Hi, everyone.

This happens with every site. When I zoom in--no matter which of the various tricks I use to zoom in--it doesn't rewrap the text. In zooms in on the onscreen image, rather than resizing the text and altering the image appropriately.

However, I've found a workaround:

This is only a problem with the mobile versions of news sites. mobile news sites run the text straight; the text wraps to the width of the screen. But regular news sites are formatted with reasonably narrow columns of text. I can zoom in and still see the entire column.

So the trick is to go to the regular rather than the mobile sites. Unfortunately, the sites see that I'm using mobile Safari, and give me their mobile sites.

My solution: I've invested $1 a bought the Atomic Web browser. I can set this browser to appear to sites as something else. I've set it as Safari Desktop.

Lincoln

[smax013]

LincolnSpector, on 23 April 2012 - 07:06 AM, said:

Hi, everyone.

This happens with every site. When I zoom in--no matter which of the various tricks I use to zoom in--it doesn't rewrap the text. In zooms in on the onscreen image, rather than resizing the text and altering the image appropriately.

However, I've found a workaround:

This is only a problem with the mobile versions of news sites. mobile news sites run the text straight; the text wraps to the width of the screen. But regular news sites are formatted with reasonably narrow columns of text. I can zoom in and still see the entire column.

So the trick is to go to the regular rather than the mobile sites. Unfortunately, the sites see that I'm using mobile Safari, and give me their mobile sites.

My solution: I've invested $1 a bought the Atomic Web browser. I can set this browser to appear to sites as something else. I've set it as Safari Desktop.

Lincoln

I was wondering if you could provide some examples of sites you have experienced this with. I ask because I rarely have "mobile versions" of sites come up on the iPad (I cannot think of the last time I encountered a mobile version on my iPad), so I am a little curious as to why you seem to be having mobile versions apparently popping up frequently.

[LincolnSpector]

smax013, on 23 April 2012 - 08:32 AM, said:

I was wondering if you could provide some examples of sites you have experienced this with. I ask because I rarely have "mobile versions" of sites come up on the iPad (I cannot think of the last time I encountered a mobile version on my iPad), so I am a little curious as to why you seem to be having mobile versions apparently popping up frequently.

Google Reader, and anything I go to from Google Reader.

Lincoln

[smax013]

LincolnSpector, on 24 April 2012 - 07:42 AM, said:

smax013, on 23 April 2012 - 08:32 AM, said:

I was wondering if you could provide some examples of sites you have experienced this with. I ask because I rarely have "mobile versions" of sites come up on the iPad (I cannot think of the last time I encountered a mobile version on my iPad), so I am a little curious as to why you seem to be having mobile versions apparently popping up frequently.

Google Reader, and anything I go to from Google Reader.

Lincoln

I played around with Google Reader some.

There is an option to put Google Reader in the mode of using the "desktop" version of the webpage. That will allow you to zoom in such that the text of the article files the screen. You are still locked into what ever text size that Google sets, but you should be able to make it a little bigger by zooming in since the text is not the full width of the screen in the "desktop" webpage mode.

When I actually click on a link to the article on the original source's site, every time I have tried it I get the "desktop" version of their website rather than a "mobile" version.

And when I switched to the "desktop" version of Google Reader's page, it would STAY that way until I switched it back.

Now, I have no idea why Google initially chooses the "mobile" version...as I have said, I rarely ever get "mobile" versions on the iPad. If I allow my inner conspiracy theorist loose, I might wonder if Google is doing to make the iPad look bad (this assume you get the "desktop" version by default on an Android tablet).

[LincolnSpector]

smax013, on 24 April 2012 - 05:52 PM, said:

I played around with Google Reader some.

There is an option to put Google Reader in the mode of using the "desktop" version of the webpage. That will allow you to zoom in such that the text of the article files the screen. You are still locked into what ever text size that Google sets, but you should be able to make it a little bigger by zooming in since the text is not the full width of the screen in the "desktop" webpage mode.

I found it! Thanks.

Lincoln

[lagok]

Have just bought an iPad 3 for about the same reason and the high resolution display. The intended use was to read books, web view photos and media.

The screen's resolution and color rendering is excellent and navigation is easy. Besides a couple of iPod Nanos its my first Apple stuff. Must say I is disappointed about browser, tiny text, impossible to resize text in Google reader and e.g. This forum form will be wider than the screen if resized to comfortable size. One "solution" is to hold in portrait mode, but then it will be uncomfortable to hold with both hands an use thumbs. Yes one can double tap on text column's and they will resize to screen with. But that's not even close to my experience in Xperia with Android 4 where you resize text to desired size and then double tap to reformat to screen size, also works fine in Google reader.

This tiny text in iPad browser is more and more annoying. Despite excellent screen and so on I regret I that I didn't look up an good quality android 4 tablet that also have better customization.

[lagok]

smax013, on 24 April 2012 - 05:52 PM, said:

I played around with Google Reader some.
...

There is an option to put Google Reader in the mode of using the "desktop" version of the webpage. That will allow you to zoom in such that the text of the article files the screen. You are still locked into what ever text size that Google sets, but you should be able to make it a little bigger by zooming in since the text is not the full width of the screen in the "desktop" webpage mode ....

Well not in ICS android 4 that does an excellent job in rendering web site text. But it is also better there to turn of Google rendering of the sites you click on in Reader.

I got the suspicion Apple haven't really adopted the browser to the iPad 3 high resolution display.

Must say I don't find the iPad as flexible and easy to use when you are a little bit of power user that want a high degree of individual customization, as the Android 4 on a phone.
I have PC, Android phone and now a Apple iPad. So far the latest is most of a spanner in the works to integrate these things, but it have it's qualitys.

It have very poor google contacts integration, even with the Excange workaround, I use a lot of custom phone lables and those doset sync at all, dosent show the number. Outlook on PC aint that good eighter but at least show the phone number as "other" erasing the custom label. If you export Google contacts as vCard and import it to iCloud, custom lables works fine (so it is doable)but then Google dosent include Groups in the vCard export.

How come Apple made Outlook/Exchange attachments work on iPhone but not on iPad?
Must say the rumor of Apple stuff as easy to use is an gross overstatmemt, i've had spend lot of time to make this iPad useful.