The following examples show why different WAP browsers require different WML pages. The following list is sorted in descending order of priority.
The same page is displayed correctly on one browser but cannot be displayed at all on another.
In many cases, pages on one manufacturer’s browser are displayed completely, whereas they are cut off on a browser from a different manufacturer. For this reason, you must test your pages on browsers from several different manufacturers.
Certain functions cannot be used on certain browsers.
WTAI-Links (Wireless Telephony Application Interface) work on Openwave Browsers. On some devices, the links are displayed but do not work. For this reason, you should not send WTAI links to the Nokia 7110 mobile telephone, for example. Conversely, you should use them on Openwave Browsers.
The appearance of the page is unacceptable.
The markup language WML contains the table tag <table>. The Nokia 7110 interprets this, but does not do justice to its tabular character. On an EZOS Browser, the table is formatted correctly.
Many of the differences between browsers cause the display of the same page to differ on different browsers, but in a way that is still acceptable.
For example, the character formatting tags <b>, <u>, <small>, and so on are ignored by the Nokia 7110 mobile telephone. However, this does not affect the user’s ability to use the functions. You should use these tags in pages displayed on an Openwave Browser, since they make the page more readable.
The above are only a few of the differences between different browsers. For this reason, it is unreasonable to expect application developers to know about all the differences that exist and to take account of them in their applications.