IFrame support on mobile devices

Posted 2007-12-28 in Mobile Web by Johann.

How viable are IFrame for use on mobile devices? IFrames could come in handy to add specific content to more capable browsers and hide it from down-level browsers.

In this blog entry, I’m looking at 6 mobile browsers and their support of the IFrame element.

Motorola

The Motorola mobile browser doesn’t support IFrames (tested here in the Motorola V600 emulator).

OpenWave 6

OpenWave 6 doesn’t support IFrames.

OpenWave 7

OpenWave 7 also doesn’t.

BlackBerry 8700

BlackBerry 8700 running a 4.2.1 firmware does not support IFrames.

BlackBerry 8830

BlackBerry 8830 running a 4.2.2 firmware also does not support IFrames.

IEMobile 6.8

IEMobile on Windows Mobile (formerly Pocket Internet Explorer) supports IFrames.

Opera Mobile 8.5

Opera Mobile 8.5 does not support IFrames.

Summary

Can you use IFrames in a mobile site? Yes, but the content will only be loaded by more capable browsers so plan accordingly.