i was asked to convert a simple HTML page into something static for the iPad. Essentially they want to access the website without an internet connection. They want the all the links to work in the same manner (just without an internet connection). What would be the best solution? It would have to be easy for them to install or load onto the device. Converting it to PDF would probably be the easiest solution. But I’m wondering if there is other options that may be more efficient. Ideas?
PDF will probably be the easiest to achieve. I say go for it. Anything else is going to cause additional problems since what you are being asked to do is extremely unusual/rare.
The problem with the PDF is that the content won’t flow. At smaller sizes, the PDF will be hard to read. You can mitigate that problem by enlarging the type so it would be readable at a smaller viewport.
On a windows PC you can open an html document in a browser - no internet connection required if it is stored locally. I would have thought the same would happen in an Ipad, give it a go?
You can also think of making a web app of it with a cache manifest file. The cache manifest file will list all the html pages and other assets connected to the pages. When the person downloads the first file, the line: <html manifest=” app_name.manifest”> links to that page and downloads all the resources to the device. Then it could be read offline. If you make changes to any of those pages later, you change the app manifest file contents, then the page on the device will read it, upload the changed pages, and it’ll work offline again, with the new pages. I would give a link to an article I wrote on it, but I’m not sure it would be spamming. So just look up “offline web app” or “cache manifest” and you should get some articles to try out.
I suggest this route only if there aren’t many pages or other assets. Also, being html, the text would reflow, keeping it easy to read in the device.