![]() That follows a trend that hasn’t been reversed since 2016: the dominance of mobile devices over desktop computers. Since 2020 Google has announced a mobile-first index project, stating that their crawler will index sites as if experienced from a mobile device. Being mobile the most used type of device nowadays, you cannot relegate its implementation. Not finding an element may produce frustration on the users, who may prefer always having the same experience regardless of how they access it. These may have problematic consequences for the users as they may expect a given layout across devices. Responsive works by pushing around given elements around the screen, while adaptive may have different building blocks altogether depending on the device you are on. In his Wicked Web Wednesdays, Chris Davidson perfectly states the difference between responsive and adaptive design. You can also test this by comparing the layout on your phone to your PC. Want to know if the sites you are visiting use responsive or adaptive design? Just open it on your desktop browser and see how the layout changes when you change screen size: either the elements will adjust their proportions fluidly according to the size, or they will change abruptly. In almost all cases, it is less prone to errors and saves up time and effort. The last thing is that it usually implies less work for devs. This method keeps the same URL structure, making its indexing more efficient. It has only one set of code, making it easier for Google and Bing to crawl while still maintaining the possibility to show different layouts depending on the size. As an argument of authority, even Google recommends responsive designs in its guidelines. Responsive design unifies mobile, tablet, and desktop in a single scheme as it only cares about the web browser size. ![]() That is not to say that adaptive design is a terrible choice-it is okay to consider multiple viewports-, but the same can be found in responsive design. Google even declares that it may be an error-prone technique, and on the indexing side of things, it may cause link dilution. It implies at least two sets of code, generating more work and maintenance. The thing is, in this topic, the positives and negatives stack up to a clear winner.Īdaptive design has a somewhat long list of disadvantages. I would normally state how one side has many advantages while the other leaps forward in certain situations. When there is a versus in tech, it is usually not a boxing match with a clear win by KO, but rather a pros-and-cons list. It also means you have both time and financial resources to create and maintain several variants of your site. In this case, the coding effort is heavier as additional HTML and CSS need to be written for each screen size.įor projects with an audience that uses a wide range of devices, adaptive design is a good option. These adaptations are limited to what the designer created for the website-usually, six standard viewports ranging from 320 px to 1600 px. This way, there are different layouts for desktop, tablet, and mobile. Adaptive designĪdaptive design uses a few different fixed layouts and selects the best one for the screen size being used. It also speeds up your site's maintenance and update process without having to worry about different layouts. While saving time and resources, responsive design works perfectly with clean and functional designs. Instead of pixels, designers use percentages. Responsive design requires a flexible layout, flexible media, and media queries, letting content change proportionally to the screen size. When modifying the screen size, the elements respond fluidly as the page appearance is based on the browser viewport, meaning that coding efforts need not change for mobile, desktop or anything in between. It is about using HTML and CSS to automatically resize, shrink, hide, or enlarge a website to make it look good on all devices: desktops, tablets, and phones. ![]() Responsive web design uses a single website where the content layout changes as a liquid, letting you have a single site for all the browsers and devices. Responsive and adaptive design try to accomplish the same task but present different approaches to solving the same problem. A good website should look great on any device running any browser, be it Chrome on a Pixel or Safari on an iMac.
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