Re: [whatwg] Request: Implementing a Geo Location URI Scheme

Hi, well, the "kind of support" I think should be implemented is actually
something that should be a standard, any anchor that have a "mailto:"
inside is supported out of the box in any web browser and the first time it
is clicked the web browser asks for the default app to open that link.

The "geo" URI handler is not supported by default out of the box and it
should, for the sake of the user experience, to make it work it is required
for everyone in the web browser development community to join forces with
the maps application developers, the "registerProtocolHandler" isn't
working well and here are some tests another user have done:

http://web.lookout.net/2012/01/testing-registerprotocolhandler-and-web.html

I have tried to, here is my test:
http://rodrigopolo.com/tests/handler/

So, the main idea is to establish a standard way to handle geo location,
first by making the URI scheme available on all web browsers and letting
the user decide whether he wants to use a local app or a web page to access
the links with the URI scheme just as it is done with the "mailto:" URI
scheme, second step has to be done by the maps developers, they have to
give a way to receive this geo location information from the browser and
show the user the location, it could be by a URL or a parameter sent to the
local binary/executable.

I know this is something that can be achieved very easily by the web
browser developer and the maps app developer, the main thing is to make it
an standard that everyone uses and that everybody know that it will work
just as it works the "mailto" URI scheme today, I'm very confident that
most of the users will appreciate it.

The common day to day applications are infinite, useful and enjoyable for
anyone, here some examples:
Twitter able to "detect" a geolocation on a tweet and make it a geo link
(anchor) so it can be clicked and it will open your map app.
Receiving an emails with geo location coordinates on a link instead of an
address and when you click it it opens your preferred maps app or webpage
and not the one the user "force" you to see.
Common websites have a contact page that can omit showing a map or an
address and instead show a link with the geo location.
Chat apps like WhatsApp can share geo locations that open on your default
app and not into a frame inside that app giving you de possibility to just
press the "directions to that location" to find your way to that point.
Faceboook fan pages or business pages can have a geo location link and with
just a click I can see the location and get directions to that place.

The possibilities are limitless but for that to happen it is required that
everyone agrees on enabling this URI scheme on all web browsers.

BTW I know that app makers can add their own URI handler just as the
"magnet" handler works on bittorrent clients, but again isn't available in
the markup out of the box.

On Wed, Jun 5, 2013 at 3:56 AM, Julian Reschke <julian.reschke@gmx.de>wrote:

> On 2013-06-05 00:25, Rodrigo Polo wrote:
>
>> I really don't want to fight over any issue, I, as a user, want to share
>> with you the current state on this topic and (as I said on the letter)
>> with
>> "a friendly open letter in the pursuit to make a polite request to make
>> the
>> life of millions easier" give you some of the reasons why I think it
>> should
>> be implemented ASAP.
>>
>> I already checked this proposed specs:
>> http://tools.ietf.org/html/**rfc5870 <http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5870>
>> http://www.iana.org/**assignments/uri-schemes/uri-**schemes.xml<http://www.iana.org/assignments/uri-schemes/uri-schemes.xml>
>> http://www.w3.org/wiki/**UriSchemes <http://www.w3.org/wiki/UriSchemes>
>>
>> But my experience waiting for many browsers implementations tell me the
>> process is slow and it looks like it works by the interest of each brand,
>> I
>> really feel sorry for the "Web SQL Database" spec that was later removed,
>> I
>> really hope the "geo" URI scheme could be implemented.
>>
>> I know the "registerProtocolHandler" but it doesn't work exactly as
>> proposed, "geo" "protocol" isn't accepted on Chrome, only "protocols" with
>> the "web-" prefix and the URL parameter have to match the webpage that
>> make
>> the request, it is designed for websites, not for local apps, all this
>> conclusions made by the tests I have done with the latest beta of Chrome
>> and FireFox:
>>
>> https://developer.mozilla.org/**en-US/docs/Web/API/navigator.**
>> registerProtocolHandler<https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/navigator.registerProtocolHandler>
>> http://updates.html5rocks.com/**2012/02/Getting-Gmail-to-**
>> handle-all-mailto-links-with-**registerProtocolHandler<http://updates.html5rocks.com/2012/02/Getting-Gmail-to-handle-all-mailto-links-with-registerProtocolHandler>
>>
>> Again, thanks for your attention and help.
>> ...
>>
>
> Not sure what kind of browser support you are looking for.
>
> If you want to "geo" URIs to invoke a local mapping application, all you
> need is to install an URI handler fort that scheme and that application in
> the *operating system*. This is how things like mailto: have been working
> for two decades now.
>
> Best regards, Julian
>



-- 
Rodrigo J. Polo
www.rodrigopolo.com

Received on Wednesday, 5 June 2013 11:28:10 UTC