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Does anyone know why the Gmail app won't run full-screen when you launch it from the home screen? It really annoys me that so much of my iPhone's small screen i

Does anyone know why the Gmail app won't run full-screen when you launch it from the home screen? It really annoys me that so much of my iPhone's small screen is taken up by Safari instead of the app.

BSeward 17y ago
It's an easy feature to implement (Just add an element to <head>: "<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes" />"). The downside is that going to other domains/subdomains from a webapp launched that way forces a user into Safari anyways, through a somewhat jarring app-switch-transition. Since Google has an ecosystem of mobile apps they'd like you to switch between they don't want you to feel trapped in just one at a time.
bouncingsoul 17y ago
There's a meta tag that triggers full screen for home screen bookmarks. Gmail may not have it set. http://developer.apple.com/safari/library/documentation/AppleApplications/Reference/SafariHTMLRef/Articles/MetaTags.html http://developer.apple.com/safari/library/documentation/Appl...
- jackowayed 17y ago
  Yeah, I know that. But I don't know why Gmail doesn't set it.
  - bouncingsoul 17y ago
    What BSeward said: The meta tag means the site launches full screen in its own instance of Safari – so any outside links clicked cause a switch to the main Safari app. Google probably assumes email is closely tied with browsing.
    - jackowayed 17y ago
      I guess they might assume that, but I don't think it's true. I think I click a link in ~5% of emails I read. And even in that 5%, the time it seems to take for it to exit a full-screen HTML5 app and load Safari seems to be about the same as the time as it takes for a new tab to open when I open a link in the Gmail app (already in Safari).
      - jrockway 17y ago
        Wouldn't your Gmail session lose its state when its browser is shut down? If only there was some way to run two applications at once...
        jackowayed 17y ago
        Oh. That is true. They could get it to remember what page you were on by storing your location in the persistent key-value store whenever you navigate and then putting you back in that place when it starts up. But as it is, it even remembers your location on the page and zoom and such.
Timothee 17y ago
You can create a bookmark with the following address: javascript:var%20meta=document.createElement(%22meta%22);meta.name=%22apple-mobile-web-app-capable%22;meta.content=%22yes%22;document.getElementsByTagName('head')%5B0%5D.appendChild(meta); Then you would open Safari on Gmail, select this bookmark, and then add it to your homescreen. Works on iPhone at least. I suppose iPad will work fine. Note: on an iPhone 2G, a page set up like this loads very slowly compared to inside Safari. The iPad allegedly being much faster, it might not be a problem. You do have the issue with external links opening Safari, but with the iPhone, the difference in screen real-estate is fairly significant.
- jackowayed 17y ago
  Good call! I was thinking that something like that could do it. (My default thought for that type of thing is a Greasemonkey script, which iPhone Safari doesn't support.) Btw, an easier way is just to paste the code into the address bar.
  - Timothee 17y ago
    The reason I mention a bookmark is to have it handy anytime you want to save a page to the homescreen, and because you can then create it from your Mac/PC and it can sync. Easier than typing it on an iPhone.

BSeward 17y ago

It's an easy feature to implement (Just add an element to <head>: "<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes" />"). The downside is that going to other domains/subdomains from a webapp launched that way forces a user into Safari anyways, through a somewhat jarring app-switch-transition. Since Google has an ecosystem of mobile apps they'd like you to switch between they don't want you to feel trapped in just one at a time.

bouncingsoul 17y ago

There's a meta tag that triggers full screen for home screen bookmarks. Gmail may not have it set. http://developer.apple.com/safari/library/documentation/AppleApplications/Reference/SafariHTMLRef/Articles/MetaTags.html http://developer.apple.com/safari/library/documentation/Appl...

jackowayed 17y ago
Yeah, I know that. But I don't know why Gmail doesn't set it.
- bouncingsoul 17y ago
  What BSeward said: The meta tag means the site launches full screen in its own instance of Safari – so any outside links clicked cause a switch to the main Safari app. Google probably assumes email is closely tied with browsing.
  - jackowayed 17y ago
    I guess they might assume that, but I don't think it's true. I think I click a link in ~5% of emails I read. And even in that 5%, the time it seems to take for it to exit a full-screen HTML5 app and load Safari seems to be about the same as the time as it takes for a new tab to open when I open a link in the Gmail app (already in Safari).
    - jrockway 17y ago
      Wouldn't your Gmail session lose its state when its browser is shut down? If only there was some way to run two applications at once...
      - jackowayed 17y ago
        Oh. That is true. They could get it to remember what page you were on by storing your location in the persistent key-value store whenever you navigate and then putting you back in that place when it starts up. But as it is, it even remembers your location on the page and zoom and such.

Timothee 17y ago

You can create a bookmark with the following address: javascript:var%20meta=document.createElement(%22meta%22);meta.name=%22apple-mobile-web-app-capable%22;meta.content=%22yes%22;document.getElementsByTagName('head')%5B0%5D.appendChild(meta); Then you would open Safari on Gmail, select this bookmark, and then add it to your homescreen. Works on iPhone at least. I suppose iPad will work fine. Note: on an iPhone 2G, a page set up like this loads very slowly compared to inside Safari. The iPad allegedly being much faster, it might not be a problem. You do have the issue with external links opening Safari, but with the iPhone, the difference in screen real-estate is fairly significant.

jackowayed 17y ago
Good call! I was thinking that something like that could do it. (My default thought for that type of thing is a Greasemonkey script, which iPhone Safari doesn't support.) Btw, an easier way is just to paste the code into the address bar.
- Timothee 17y ago
  The reason I mention a bookmark is to have it handy anytime you want to save a page to the homescreen, and because you can then create it from your Mac/PC and it can sync. Easier than typing it on an iPhone.