IPhone Web Limitations

by Julius Vandersteen
When using an iPhone, you'll encounter some web limitations.

When using an iPhone, you'll encounter some web limitations.

George Frey/Getty Images News/Getty Images

The iPhone, a mobile phone made by Apple, has a touch-screen interface, plays music, shoots pictures and videos, and connects to the Internet over cellular data networks or Wi-Fi. You can surf web sites, use email and send and receive text messages. While the iPhone does offer the Internet in the palm of your hand, the device has some web limitations.

Number and Size of Web Pages

When you use a web browser on a desktop or laptop computer, you can open web pages in tabs or new windows for dozens of sites simultaneously. Because of the iPhone's smaller memory, it can only load eight pages at once. The HTML code for a page can be no larger than 10 MB, which might preclude you from loading an enormous website on your iPhone.

Flash

Adobe's Flash is a vector-based format used to deliver animations, movies, games and advertisements on websites. When you use a browser on a desktop computer, you can see Flash content with the browser's plug-in. Because Flash can require a lot of processing power and memory to display properly, Apple has blocked it from use on the iPhone.

Usage

The iPhone connects to the Internet over your service's 3G data network, letting you browse the web wherever you can pick up a signal. A fully charged iPhone has up to 300 hours of standby time, seven hours of 3G talk time and 14 hours of 2G talk time. If you're using the Internet, expect the iPhone to last up to six hours before needing a recharge. When you browse the web using Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet, your usage time is restricted to 10 hours.

Pause for Calls

If you are using an iPhone as a personal Wi-Fi hotspot to tether a computer to the Internet with Verizon, it serves as a wireless modem, enabling you to take your laptop on the road and not have to worry about finding a free public or paid Wi-Fi connection. However, if a phone call comes in while you are using the hotspot, web data will be paused to maintain the quality of the call. An iPhone using AT&T doesn't pause web data when a call comes in, but it does not allow for creating a personal Wi-Fi hotspot, as of early 2011.

About the Author

Julius Vandersteen has been a freelance writer since 1999. His work has appeared in “The Los Angeles Times,” “Wired” and “S.F. Weekly.” Vandersteen has a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from San Francisco State University.

Photo Credits

  • George Frey/Getty Images News/Getty Images