accessing mobile version of site from iphone

bababardwan
 May 14, 2012 at 04:14 AM posted in General Discussion

For the last few weeks, whenever I try to access the mobile version of this site from my iphone, I get the message:

"Safari cannot open the page because the server cannot be found"

What's the story here? I have everything updated. Any chance of a fix?

Profile picture
jennyzhu
 May 14, 2012 at 05:38 AM

Baba,

Since technologies have changed quite a bit since we first launched the mobile sites (apps are increasingly the answer now and that there were on average 5 people using the mobile sites each month while they were making the system very complicated to maintain, we decided to shut down the mobile sites. We did announcements through twitter and our blog. 

Please access the site through apps or your computer. I also have good news to report. We've just started the ChinesePod iPad app this week! We plan to release v.1.0 in mid to late June.

Profile picture
podster
 May 21, 2012 at 03:38 AM

PS: re "We did announcements through twitter and our blog" I missed that too. Why not announce it through the site directly? Not a disaster, but I hope you could draw a useful conclusion for the future.

Respectfully,

podster

Profile picture
podster
 May 21, 2012 at 03:35 AM

Jenny,

I guess I was one of the five users of the mobile version of the site also. I use the mobile app all the time, but the current version is far from being a substitute for website access. To give one simple example, its not searchable. It also has some serious bugs, such as disabling all access to your content if you try to update the lessons list while not on line. I am hopeful that the newer version of the app (apps? iPhone / iPad) will resolve this. I would also humbly suggest that a mobile optimized version of the site would get more than five users if it were done properly and you promoted it.

Profile picture
bababardwan
 May 20, 2012 at 05:11 AM

ok, well knowing that the mobile site was permanently down, I've checked out the standard site again using 3G on my iphone. While in the past I could never download and listen to the new lesson on my iphone via the standard site as that never worked [regardless of whether I was connected to wireless or 3G] I was pleasantly surprised to find that you can now do so. The standard site might not be as efficient data wise as the mobile site, but this very important function of listening to the new lesson on the move is what matters, so I'm stoked. 中文播客万岁！

Profile picture
bababardwan
 May 14, 2012 at 09:47 AM

further to above, I just noticed on the home page there is mention of an app for iPad. Just checked on itunes and it only lists apps for iphone. Going onto the CPod iphone app it says this is also suitable for ipad. So I'd just like a bit of clarification. Is this new iPad app that's coming in June basically the iphone app that has been around for a long time but now works on iPad, or is it an altogether new app?...and if so, how is it/will it be different? ..I realise if it's still in development you may not have all the specifics on that...but in a general sense what are the intended differences/ benefits?

Profile picture
bababardwan
 May 14, 2012 at 08:00 AM

oh, thanks Jenny, I didn't think to check twitter or your blog. Didn't realise you'd shut it down. hah, well I must have been one of those five...I used the mobile site all the time. The new lesson would come out at lunchtime here in Oz...so I could download the new lesson to my iphone via 3G...very exciting getting it as soon as it came out and not having to wait till I got home. I never took to the iphone app for the reason that I couldn't get the lessons when I was out and about...I had to wait till I got home from work to get them from my home wifi [or I presume you could get it via some public wifi which is more of a hassle]. Sometimes I'd connect to the 3G just before driving and it would start downloading as I took off..so even a public wifi wouldn't work in this circumstance....unless the app has changed and you can get it updated via 3G now ????.....but anyhow can understand it wouldn't be worth your while if practically no-one else was using it...but that's a surprise to me for the above reasons...the mobile site really was better suited for those wanting to download on the go.

Very excited about the iPad app. Not sure what you mean by "just started" ..I presume you mean just started working on it? [as opposed to just have released a beta version or something]...nothing available before mid to late June?