iPhone 3.0 - Safari & Web site drop down menus

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iPhone 3.0 - Safari & Web site drop down menus

I have noticed in the iPhone V3.0 that drop-down menus on websites are now virtually un-usable. In previous versions of the software one touch would drop the menu down and a second touch would click the menu header but now the first touch clicks the header.

Some may not see this as an issue but in many popular business web-based applications drop down menus are important and being able to access the sub-menu items is important as well.

Of course any really well developed application will have an alternate way to access the same content, some do not. Has anybody else noticed this issue?

Dell XPS M1530, Windows Vista

Posted on Jun 17, 2009 2:46 PM

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Answer 1

bpcavan

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Jun 17, 2009 6:56 PM in response to MikeDVB

I'm having the same problem! I need the mouse over drop down menu to access essential company websites. Any ideas or fixes? Can I revert back to the old firmware?

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Answer 2

MikeDVB Author

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Jun 17, 2009 7:22 PM in response to bpcavan

Ok, good - it's not just me then. I don't understand why this change would have been made to begin with. Perhaps it's an oversight and will be fixed soon!!!

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Answer 3

bpcavan

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Jun 17, 2009 7:26 PM in response to MikeDVB

I found an option that should be on most sites. There should be a menu option somewhere on the page (usually on the bottom) that will list any drop down menus. Hopefully Apple will come up with a quick fix so we won't have to continue doing this.

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Answer 4

MikeDVB Author

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Jun 17, 2009 10:04 PM in response to bpcavan

some (very rare) sites may have something such of this. Due to the nature in which you browse (not being able to actually "mouse over") it is important that any mouse over effects are triggered on the first touch and then if you really want to visit the link on that button, a second tap isn't much trouble at all imho.

I would think that this was an inadvertent change - in some cases a mouse-over effect would cause you to have to tap twice such as when mousing over a row with a link in it would simply highlight the row. I'd much rather have to touch twice than not be able to use 99% of drop down menus.

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Answer 5

syops

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Jun 18, 2009 7:04 AM in response to MikeDVB

Why don’t we use a site that everyone can use and play with as an example.
www.BESTBUY.com
This site is loaded with drop down menus for product selection. The Iphone 3.0 will still allow the drop down menu to appear. But as mentioned earlier, the header is already activated. There is no chance making a selection from the drop down menu. I find it hard to believe that APPLE didn’t test this. Must be a bug introduced with a last minute security patch.
APPLE fix it.

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Answer 6

MikeDVB Author

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Jun 18, 2009 8:28 AM in response to syops

Beautiful example - I was trying to find such a site to use as an example. Near impossible to use BestBuy.com now on the iPhone 😟

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Answer 7

MikeDVB Author

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Jun 18, 2009 8:51 AM in response to MikeDVB

benhedrington (BestBuy.com Web Development)
@MikeDVB re:BestBuy.com Yep we know, we are working on a better mobile experience. Suffice it to say the dropdowns will not exist there.

This is so backwards - they're going to remove drop-down menus due to the iPhone not being able to use them now. That's like changing a part of the road because a tire company made a bad tire! I sure hope that Apple fixes this because it's one of the reasons I chose the iPhone over a Windows Mobile device - being able to actually use web sites on the go like they should be (including drop down menus).

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Answer 8

syops

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Jun 18, 2009 1:16 PM in response to MikeDVB

I spoke with the Apple Help Desk today and Apple SW Engineers are working this issue now. As with the 2.x release there will be updates. This should be fixed in the fist 3.x update. 😉

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Answer 9

MikeDVB Author

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Jun 18, 2009 1:20 PM in response to syops

Awesome - I made a short YouTube video to illustrate the issue for those that are "not able to see the issue"

It can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBQl8vKELVY

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Answer 10

Jun 18, 2009 2:19 PM in response to MikeDVB

Wow, I didn't notice that, my blog ( http://GarySaid.com/ ) routes you to an iPhone friendly page (that is boring and I'm not particularly happy with, but it's fast and works well).

I'm not sure if that's technically a "drop down" since it's css and not html. I really think that's more of a CSS cheat that a web page function. (Don't hang me if I'm wrong on this detail).

Because of the unreliability of CSS menus, I always try to have the next page have all those menu options on the page (preferably at the top). BestBuy does do this on top of next page.

This also helps with the visually impaired if the text on the page so screen readers can show it.

Yes, my last two paragraphs don't address the problem but it's a "solution" that anyone might want to consider when developing web sites.

Tried to post this on the YouTube page but I was too wordy...

Gary

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Answer 11

MikeDVB Author

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Jun 18, 2009 2:48 PM in response to garylapointe

I do agree that the issue may lie with the web sites (millions of them) and their implementation of drop down menus. However the Drop-Down menu on my site uses CSS for styling and JavaScript to control the actual drop-down.

But the primary issue is that it has always *worked beautifully* up until 3.0 - if it had always not worked I'd not be bringing the issue up. Coming from Windows Mobile 6 it was a pleasant surprise to find that drop down menus worked in Safari on the iPhone and then I was very disappointed to find that they no longer worked on the iPhone OS 3.0 version of Safari.

In the end, it's better to have the first touch be mouse-over and the second to be click when there is both a link and a mouse-over effect present on an element on a web site.

Here is a concise explanation of the issue:
In older version of Safari - First touch was mouse over, second touch was click on elements containing both methods.
In 3.0 - First touch is both the mouse over and the click on elements containing both methods.

Message was edited by: MikeDVB

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Answer 12

Jun 19, 2009 1:15 PM in response to MikeDVB

Yes I want this fixed as soon as possible.

I will be launching a business shortly, and I will need to use the billing system which uses drop down menus, so this will cause me major problems.

In version 2.2.1 these menus worked, now in version 3 they don't.

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Answer 13

Jun 21, 2009 3:29 AM in response to MikeDVB

I use voip for my phone service. The company I'm with uses drop down menus everywhere. I would login to check my balances or make changes to my call forwarding. I can no longer do any of this using my iPod Touch. What amazes me is that I discovered this issue within 2 minutes after downloading sw ver 3.0. Nobody tested this before releasing? That is poor quality testing.

The biggest worry is how long before it's fixed?

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Answer 14

MikeDVB Author

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Jun 21, 2009 10:51 AM in response to MikeDVB

I have submitted the issue to Apple via the iPhone Feedback form - you guys experiencing the same issue and/or wanting this fixed may want to do the same: http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

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Answer 15

Jun 23, 2009 10:01 AM in response to Kevin Canada

Me too! I also use a company called "Voip.ms" and they use drop down menus to access everything pretty much on their site. Since the version 3.0 upgrade, I have not been able to perform call forwarding while out and about. I cannot look at my call log to see what calls came in or were placed, and I cannot change any of my voip settings. I love the copy/cut and paste, but I would rather go back to the old software version than to lose website functionality.

Does anyone know if there is a way to backout of the software upgrade? I wouldn't mind getting my money back too seeing as it is not working.

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