Mobile Front-End aka Mobile Skin

Following up our forum topic and user voice.



We’ve published the very first mock up of Mobile Front-End for CS-Cart at [url]Ecommerce Solutions and Software for all types of business - CS-Cart



The purpose of the demo is to give you an idea of what the “mobile skin” is going to be like and to make sure we’re going right way!



Mobile Front-End mock up is supposed to work in any desktop webkit browser (e.g. Chrome & Safari) and in standard iPhone & Android browsers. The app appears to be pretty smooth on iPhone, although that’s not the case for Android. Actually it’s hardly usable on old Android devices.



There is one more mock up of Mobile Front-End for CS-Cart at [url]Ecommerce Solutions and Software for all types of business - CS-Cart



Cutting the long story short the differences are in look & feel and supported platforms. The 1st mock up feels more native whereas the 2nd is more like a web page. However, we should expect the 2nd to work in any browser. At the same time the 1st mock up requires a webkit browser and is pretty slow even on htc desire.



We’re looking forward to your feedback, feature requests & error reports.

However, bear in mind it’s just a mock up and there are still a lot of things to do.





Please tell us which appeals to you more!

Basically the choice is very similar to: “store looks & feels native and works fine on iPhone, but is unlikely as good on ‘any mobile platform’” vs “web shop looks neat and works great on Android, iPhone, etc.”



Which approach is more appropriate for you?

This is excellent. The theme renders perfectly on the iPad, I would suggest only implementing specific forms of payment for ease of use. Maybe Paypal, Google Checkout and Amazon only. Makes purchasing easier as its just a username and password that’s normally needed to buy items.



Take for example mobile.maplin.co.uk I think this is exactly what CS-Cart Mobile needs



Regards

How about the speed & responsiveness?

The speed is excellent. :smiley:

Speed and responsiveness are excellent.



I don’t like that you have to tap on Products link after selecting a category. It should automatically display subcategories or list products after selecting a category.



If you can make it look and feel like the App Store app, that would be awesome.



On some products, the price is overlapping the product name.

[quote name=‘nmb’]I don’t like that you have to tap on Products link after selecting a category. It should automatically display subcategories or list products after selecting a category.



If you can make it look and feel like the App Store app, that would be awesome.[/QUOTE]



The thing is that a category in CS-Cart can contain both products and sub-categories. That’s why app store sample doesn’t seem to work. However, I agree the way it’s done now is not the best and we’re open for suggestions. Actually suggestions & feature requests are what I would love to see in this thread :slight_smile:

[quote name=‘ildar’]The thing is that a category in CS-Cart can contain both products and sub-categories. [/QUOTE]

Can products and subcategories be listed in the same view/list? List subcategories first and then products. Products will have pricing and subcategories won’t.

Apparently yes, they can. We’ll try that.

It’s a little cluttered on my iPhone… I would suggest having the thumbnail in the top left, the price and stock in the top right, and then the description below both of those using 2 cells so it doesn’t word wrap.

Actually we haven’t put much efforts in design yet. However, production version will definitely look more accurate.

Great Start. Looking really nice on my Android 2.3 device. The most immediate tweak I would recommend is reducing the font and thumbnail sizes, but I am guessing that this and other interface tweaks will be made after functional build is completed. Rock on!

What device are you using? The thing is that we’re really concerned how it works on android. And it appears to be a bit slow on our devices…

Looks good on my iPad and iTouch. I would think a smaller graphic on the iTouch is necessary.



Thanks for letting us take a look. I am very excited about this project.



Adam

There is one more mock up of Mobile Front-End for CS-Cart at [url]Ecommerce Solutions and Software for all types of business - CS-Cart



Cutting the long story short the differences are in look & feel and supported platforms. The 1st mock up feels more native whereas the 2nd is more like a web page. However, we should expect the 2nd to work in any browser. At the same time the 1st mock up requires a webkit browser and is pretty slow even on htc desire.



Basically the choice is very similar to: “store looks & feels native and works fine on iPhone, but is unlikely as good on ‘any mobile platform’” vs “web shop looks neat and works great on Android, iPhone, etc.”



Which approach is more appropriate for you?

Great Feature! I’m really exited about it and I know my client will also!

I would keep it as simple as possible and not make any specific styles (ex: rounded corners on thumbs)…



So far response time is great on my iPhone, it’s just the styles (colors, icons are too dark, thumbs too large and fonts too large in lists) that I’m concern about…



I’ve attached a screenshot from my iPhone to show how some listing show up.

photo-screenshot.jpg

Hello Guys,



This is really great progress, I think I prefer the MKII option especially as it will give wider platform compatibility.



Tested in iPhone 3GS IOS 4.30

The overall responsiveness seems very good, and the speed of page transition is excellent, I did notice the search box seems a little difficult to highlight.



I would like to see a search box on the top of everypage (http://m.johnlewis.com have this option and it seems very useful)



Keep up the good work, it’s very exciting progress



Andy

guys,



we’ll definitely polish the design, but this is just a sketch to let you know what way we’re going :slight_smile:



Batdelfuego, take into account that your customers can visit your store from android or blackberry devices.

Can’t wait for it to be completed…:stuck_out_tongue:

It’s Fast on my Galaxy S Android, just needs to be loaded up with the features and functions!

nino,



which one?

#1? #2? both?

Awesome! Can’t wait to start using this feature once its complete!