Are iPads and other tablets considered mobile devices?

[TheOceanAgency]

A colleague and I were discussing whether or not iPads should be considered mobile devices.  Obviously, developing for a mobile phone is different than developing for an iPad so we're trying to determine if mobile is the correct umbrella to put both of these devices under.

[DavidKonigsberg]

google adwords seperates them

<label for="gwt-uid-911">Desktop and laptop computers</label><label for="gwt-uid-913">Mobile devices with full browsers</label><label for="gwt-uid-915">Tablets with full browsers</label>

[Highland]

Depends what you're aiming for. The largest difference between mobile and any other browsing experience is real estate. You're extremely limited on a normal mobile browser vs any other venue. In this realm, the iPad is generally not considered mobile. You tend to get the same browsing experience you would get on a full computer.

Another difference is that no iOS devices support Flash (that includes the iPad). Adobe has also announced that they are dropping Flash support for mobile devices which leaves support for Android tablets in the future in doubt.

[SimonCullum]

Hi Theresa

That's a really good question, to which you will likely get differing answers.

These days, there isn't so much difference between the way modern websites appear on Desktop browsers, Tablet browsers and Smartphone browsers.  Non-smartphone mobiles tend to have more issues.

There are differences though, such as some JavaScript, navigational code and flash not working on tablets and mobiles as well as on desktops.

Personally, I see three main categories at present:

• Desktop
• Tablet (including the iPad)
• Smartphone

because websites do tend to load differently enough between the three, thus having three different technology platforms to cater for.  As tablets and smartphones continue to develop & advance, it's slowly becoming more or less the same, one day not too far off, I believe all 3 will be similar enough and there won't be the need to build different versions (other than perhaps for the speed issue mentioned below).

Within Google Adwords, there remains the option to target 'All Devices', 'Desktop and laptop', 'Mobile devices with full browsers' and 'Tablets with full browsers'

Although another issue is of course Speed;  3G does not usually bode well for full-blown websites to be loaded on a tablet or a smartphone, thus this is a major reason why for the time being, it's usually advisable to cater for tablets and smartphones separately with cut-down versions of the main website. 4G is starting to launch and wireless hotspots and becoming more common, so also one day, speed won't be so much of an issue with tablets and smartphones.

I hope that helps,

Regards

Simon