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Apple iPhone localization favors .com over country codes

Started by John Yunker · 10 months ago

The Apple iPhone goes on sale today in the UK and Germany.
Awhile back I wondered how Apple would localize its Web keypad, which features the .com button to accelerate the input of URLs. I own an iPhone and really do make use of this button.
So I took a look at the German keypad demo today [ ... Continue reading »

2 comments

  • Brian

    1 year ago

    I think it is a mix of 1) and 2).

    In the past Apple has gained some experience in internationizing its products. And the outlined solution (minus the default or missing options) is quite good, too.

    But I doubt if they tested the device with real people in the local markets. For example, as a German using mostly German Websites I would have stronlgy preferred the .de default.

    But usability engineering, esp. for international target markets, usually requires more time and money than usual. And I guess, that is where Apple took the shortcut.
    reply
  • hobbs

    1 year ago

    I would guess it's 1. Or perhaps a variant: they may have architected the software assuming ".com" was the default, and they didn't have time to change that for the initial German launch.
    reply

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