Q: Java for Safari on iPhone4?

[Curt]

I expect (but doesn't know) millions of people must have Safari on their iPhone 4, because my girlfriend's phone came with Safari by default. So how come Java is not available for it? What do all these people do when Java is a must? Or more to the point, what should I tell my Safari-on-iPhone 4-using girlfriend to do, when Java is required? Or is the problem maybe only her phone? I am really in the dark here, just navigating on her iPhone is a huge problem to me, her phone has really made me a smart phone hater! How can these micro people even talk about progress? This "small-is-good" technology is all one step forward and two steps backwards!!

[eleman]

What do all these people do when Java is a must?

Is Java really a must?

It's just a memory-leak-rich framework lazy developers use when they don't want to make a proper port but want to claim they support n platforms.

I don't allow java browser plug-ins even on my desktop machine. Would anyone need it as a must on a too small to be useful screen?

[Renegade]

http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/9731

Does the iPhone support Java?

No. The iPhone will not support Java applications of any kind. Steve Jobs has been quoted as saying "Java's not worth building in. Nobody uses Java anymore. It's this big heavyweight ball and chain."

We can't disagree with the last part of Jobs' scathing remark, but stating that Java doesn't get used anymore couldn't be farther from the truth - especially in the world of mobile devices.

That being said...

If you are a developer, there are ways. But that's another can of worms.

I just went through 2 days of hell to find out that my pain was entirely because of a Java bug. I'm not a huge Java lover, but I'm not a huge hater either. Any framework or platform or technology will cause you pain.

That 2 days should have been 2 hours, if that much.

[Curt]

Thank you, Renegade, for the answer. It never crossed my mind that iPhone wouldn't support Java - the very idea seems unthinkable! The reason is the simple one that in Denmark we use the Internet for communicating with the authorities, and to log in to our personnel tax account, and of course to use net-banking, etcetera, and each and every one of these services takes that the user has Java! Right now I am not too sure if Steve Jobs must be the idiot, or if the Danes are the idiots, or both.

[Ath]

and each and every one of these services takes that the user has Java!

Sure it's not JavaScript they're requiring? (Java is not JavaScript and reverse)

I'm not in DK, but I've had no Java plug-in installed in my browsers for years (though I have Java installed and I use it), and I can't remember any sites that wouldn't work because of it missing.

[fenixproductions]

It never crossed my mind that iPhone wouldn't support Java - the very idea seems unthinkable!

Really? Not a single thought after anti-Flash campaign?

These technologies may seem obsolete but I think SJ's reason was rather simple: any non-Apple framework would give users the possibility to install non-amazing apps.

[Curt]

Sure it's not JavaScript they're requiring? (Java is not JavaScript and reverse)

--hmm: I never knew.
Enriched with new knowledge I will try once more to help her  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjF0jI2e5Eo

By the way:

Firefox can't find the file at http://www.dannyg.com/ref/javavsjavascript.html.

[Ath]

By the way:

Firefox can't find the file at http://www.dannyg.com/ref/javavsjavascript.html.

Hm, I found, wrote and tested that using WaterFox, the x64 incarnation of Firefox...

[tomos]

and each and every one of these services takes that the user has Java!

Sure it's not JavaScript they're requiring? (Java is not JavaScript and reverse)

f0dder has talked about needing Java - I think for online-banking - in dk. And complained heartily about it too...

[mrHappy]

Most banks, if not them all, have mobile banking also, just search for you bank in the app store and you should find something.

Re. tax account, you can also use a "normal" user/pass to log in there, so no need for java for that, although why you would do that on a phone if it's skat.dk, which it probably is, I have no idea.

[f0dder]

It's just a memory-leak-rich framework lazy developers use when they don't want to make a proper port but want to claim they support n platforms.

*grin* - slightly prejudiced there, are we?

As much as I hate Java-in-the-browser, it's a decent enough language for other things (wouldn't use it for desktop stuff, but server-side it's great) - and while the Java language is merely "decent-enough", the JVM+frameworks are a great resource, and there's some really fine languages running on the JVM platform (Scala comes to mind).

Anyway, Curt, there's no chance in hell you'll get Javastuff running on an iPhone that isn't rooted, just like you're not seeing Flash there. Apple lovers will claim it's because the benevolent Steve Jobs wouldn't let these Evil, Insecure and and Battery-Sucking technologies in (oh, and they are all that), while in fact it's at least as much to do with those two platforms being a MAJOR threat against the AppStore model. At any rate, you won't be seeing NemID support on the iPhone. Your bank might have a non-NemID app, but that's it.

Also, while you're at it, be sure be fscking careful with Java in your browser. Please read this thread.

DO NOT BROWSE THE WEB WITH NEITHER FLASH NOR THE JAVA PLUGINS ENABLED!

[Curt]

I enjoy the benefits of having my Java plugins enabled, and have not yet been given any valid reason why they shouldn't be. And Yes, I've read the linked page(s), but I don't trust people who mistakes a cracker for a nuclear bomb. Secondly, the question in mind was her iPhone, not my PC.

But I thank you all for telling your thoughts on the matter.  

[f0dder]

I enjoy the benefits of having my Java plugins enabled, and have not yet been given any valid reason why they shouldn't be.

Hasn't there been plenty of good reasons given the last few months as to why you should disable you Java browser plugin? Keep in mind that you will not see any popups or warning signs if you get hit by a drive-by exploit, and this kind of thing doesn't just happen for people who are browsing for porn or pirated software - all it takes is one exploited banner server.

And what "benefit" do you get from the Java plugin? Apart from NemID, the only thing I can think of that "normal" people need Java for is a few gaming sites, like KomOgVind. If you need that, it's not exactly hard to launch a secondary browser for that specific site - or at least using Chrome for your primary browser, and enabling plugin ClickToPlay.

[tomos]

Keep in mind that you will not see any popups or warning signs if you get hit by a drive-by exploit, and this kind of thing doesn't just happen for people who are browsing for porn or pirated software - all it takes is one exploited banner server.

I have my brother-in-law's laptop on the floor here. It is totally incapacitated in spite of an antivirus/security system with one of the best reputations around. He has no recovery disk, and knows very little about computers (which is why it's on *my* floor). Oh yeah, he's self employed and there's lots of important files on it that aren't backed up.
Caused via a popup

To be honest I wouldnt have taken the whole java thing so seriously before seeing that today.