Web Addresses
Web addressesâknown to many as URLs, and to
a few pedants as
URIsâare another type of specialized text. The syntax of
a web address is constrained by the relevant Internet standards. If
someone asks you to enter a web address into a form, heâll be expecting
something like http://www.google.com,
not â125 Farwood Road.â Forward slashes and periods are common, but spaces
are forbidden. And every web address has a domain suffix like â.comâ or
â.orgâ.
Behold...(drum roll please)...<input
type="url">. On the iPhone, it looks like Figure 9-4.
Figure 9-3. Keyboard optimized for entering an email address
Figure 9-4. Keyboard optimized for entering a URL
Just as it does for email address fields, the iPhone provides a special virtual keyboard thatâs optimized for web addresses. The space bar has been completely replaced with three virtual keys: a period, a forward slash, and a â.comâ button. You can long-press the â.comâ button to choose other common suffixes, like â.orgâ or â.netâ.
Browsers that donât support HTML5 will treat
type="url" exactly like type="text", so thereâs no downside to using it
for all your web addressâinputting needs.
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