MIT Mobile Platform

Mobile Platform Services MIT Mobile Web – m.mit.edu – Hosts mobile modules for MIT services – Optimized for and accessible to all mobile browsers Native apps – iPhone and Android apps – Native-only features – Content comes from m.mit.edu Device Capability Detection Service (DCD) – Mobile-service-prod.mit.edu – Classifies mobile browsers by capability – Simplifies mobile development for all of MIT

A Brief History of MIT Mobile

Future-proof device support Mobile browsers are grouped into 3 buckets – Featurephone, Smartphone, and Touch (WebKit) m.mit.edu displays custom look for each bucket Grouped via Device Capability Detection Service – mobile-service-prod.mit.edu – Groups browsers according to capability – Free web service for all MIT applications – How Touchstone chooses its mobile interface

Modules on m.mit.edu ModuleService OwnerTechnology% of 2010 (780K hits) ShuttleTrackFacilitiesNextBus XML29% Campus MapFacilitiesArcGIS22% StellarIS&TXML9% Events CalendarIS&TSOAP5% People DirectoryIS&TLDAP4% News Office XML3% Libraries Drupal1% Emergency InfoFacilitiesRSS< 1% 3DOWNIS&TRSS< 1% TechCASHCard ServicesCustom< 1% MIT150Institute AffairsDrupalNew in 2011 Campus TourInstitute AffairsCustomNew in 2011 Sorted by 2010 popularity does not include native app traffic.

Choosing new projects 1.What is most useful to students? 2.What has the broadest impact for MIT? 3.Does it make sense in a mobile context? 4.Is its data readily available to us? 5.If it requires authentication, it should use Touchstone (no certificate support on most phones).

Why Native? Features not available in web browsers – Push notifications, background processing, offline use, better performance, rich SDK Greater student involvement – Students are more interested to work on a native project than a website. – Can give students an official place to publish interesting native projects. Marketing tool for the Institute – MITs name on the App Store. Helps MIT stand out because not many schools have native apps.

Easing development burden All code shared under MIT License iMobileU – Group of 22+ schools around the world, most base their mobile site on MIT Mobile Potential for student projects leveraging m.mit.edu Accepting code contributions

Questions Do we consider tablets to be mobile devices? – iPads are used more like laptops than phones, should they default to the mobile web or the desktop web?

m.mit.edu Web Demographics Page views during December 2010 Does not include native app traffic

Mobile Web Traffic Does not include native app traffic

Native App Statistics App PlatformInitial ReleaseActive UsersStore Rating iPhoneFeb ,0004/5 Stars AndroidNov 20102,4004/5 Stars Native app traffic is not a meaningful statistic due to predictive caching and periodic checks (e.g. ShuttleTrack polls every 15 seconds).