Windows Phone IE Problems

I have a Web app that was working correctly until recently using Windows Phone and IE.

Some weeks ago (not sure exactly) the screens started showing some controls that were NOT placed correctly on the screen. In some cases controls (text fields and labels) overlay other controls. Not every control is wrong. This exact same Web app works fine on all browsers in iOS, OSX, and on Windows desktop. The user had powered off and on the phone several times. I don’t think there has been an update to the phone but I am not sure. It is Windows Phone 8.0.

There are some screens in the app that are phone size specific and others intended to work on desktop sized screens. Both show the same behavior.

This happens with 2014r2.1 and 2014r3.1. The Web app is hosted on Windows Server 2008.

The user found a free browser (UCBrowser) and it works correctly on the same Windows Phone device.

Obviously this is an IE problem with the version of Windows Phone on this device but I was hoping somebody had seen it.

Thanks.

No wonder why Microsoft is creating a new browser code name Spartan for Windows 10 and probably the other platforms, such is the bad reputation of IE. Unfortunately, Spartan will still use IE rendering engine, which is probably the cause for that kind of bug.

is it WP8(.0) or WP8.1? big difference the .1 makes.

is IE in “mobile” or “desktop” mode. IE for WP7/8/8.1, can be in either mode (user selectable on the fly). For instance WP8.1 in “desktop” mode will tell the web server it is Windows 8.1 and not Windows Phone 8.1. It is designed for sites that isn’t mobile friendly. Or does weird things for mobiles sites.

I agree that IE is a big pile of crap. Spartan will be welcome as long as it doesn’t suck.

It is not released yet. At this time, there are speculations about it being shown soon at an event, but there is no news about if and when it will make it into Windows 10 technical preview.

I do hope it does not suck as much as IE.

I think the world agrees with us on this one. If it makes Win10 or not, I just hope that it sucks much less than IE.

Cautious optimism is in order : the rendering engine stays the same. So some of the stupid things will probably remain. It is slated to make Windows 10 upon final release. With some luck it will make it into the tech preview so there will be chances to see it improve before that.

Microsoft may not have a second chance with Windows 10. If they fail to meet expectations, it simply won’t sell. At least, it won’t sell better than the Windows 8.x blunder.

[quote=156370:@scott boss]is it WP8(.0) or WP8.1? big difference the .1 makes.

is IE in “mobile” or “desktop” mode. IE for WP7/8/8.1, can be in either mode (user selectable on the fly). For instance WP8.1 in “desktop” mode will tell the web server it is Windows 8.1 and not Windows Phone 8.1. It is designed for sites that isn’t mobile friendly. Or does weird things for mobiles sites.[/quote]

Good remarks.

WP8 uses IE10 I think, and WP8.1 using IE11. As Scott said, switch to “desktop” mode can change things too.

if the 8.1 update has not been proposed by his phone brand, the trick is to install the developer version. He creates a free developer account and receive all the updates directly on his phone. it works very well.

http://dev.windows.com/en-us/develop/devpreview
http://www.windowsphone.com/fr-fr/store/app/preview-for-developers/178ac8a1-6519-4a0b-960c-038393741e96

[quote=156382:@olivier vidal]if the 8.1 update has not been proposed by his phone brand, the trick is to install the developer version. He creates a free developer account and receive all the updates directly on his phone. it works very well.

http://dev.windows.com/en-us/develop/devpreview
http://www.windowsphone.com/fr-fr/store/app/preview-for-developers/178ac8a1-6519-4a0b-960c-038393741e96 [/quote]

good info. I have one WP8 phone that the carrier is not upgrading me to 8.1. The other phone has already been upgraded to 8.1.

I really like WP8.1 over WP8. WP8 is good but WP8.1 is really good. small changes that make a difference.

Just a word of caution. Just because MS releases a new browser, doesn’t mean that the framework automagically supports it and things get better all around. Not all users upgrade right away, and there’s still quite a few users on IE 8 and IE 9.

that is true. But MS and the carriers are pretty good about pushing out the updates to any relative current WP phone. MS doesn’t want old O/Ses around if they can help it. and with phones they have some control over it.