Sunday, 20th of July 2008 at 04:00:35 PMOne of the exciting options that I’m looking forward to with FlexMLS that I currently don’t have, or at least not a good solution is the wireless access to the system from my iPhone (or a smartphone). I don’t believe that I have shown a single client (okay, just thought of one) that while we’re out looking at homes goes hey, what about that one? I just cringe at that statement, currently looking up listing on my iPhone is difficult, so next, I have to call my assistant and try and get as much information over the phone, which is never answers the questions my clients have.
Well, FlexMLS jumped into iPhone and built css just for iPhone (thank you), so the screens are easier to work with and navigate. My friend Dru and I spent a day just working with each other on my iPhone and on her Treo and it was rather impressive, we did find a couple of minor issues, but hey, it’s better than what we currently have.
On the iPhone, there was a problem with loading pictures, but not on the Treo. On the Treo, Dru had problems getting maps to come up, but not so on the iPhone. Are those really necessary, well, probably not, but would be great to work out those little issues. Then I can say that FlexMLS is the standard for other MLS providers on the wireless side (I love to say that!).
Here is an iPhone screen shot of the main page:
Top of the Main Screen
Now, let’s look at a Listing from an iPhone perspective
FlexMLS Wireless Listing Page
Now here are the different ways you can look at that listing:
Options for looking at a Listing
Here is the mapping of that listing:
Map the location of the Listing
And finally, an example of what doesn’t work on the iPhone right now. I’ve looked at the source code and the underlying URL, other than having two slashes (//) in it, I see nothing wrong, so it has to do with the internal environment and will probably be a quick fix:
Currently not working, but will probably be fixed pretty quick.
So there you have it, a quick look at the FlexMLS from an iPhone interface, makes you just want to run out and get an iPhone, doesn’t it? Next, we just need to get them to work with the SupraKey system and we may very well be set. Yes, I have a note out to Steve asking him when I should expect the expansion slot to be available for use and then I’ll start working on adding a very small card to work as an IR for the SupraKey.
Related posts:
Craig,
The broken photo will be fixed this week, hopefully today or tomorrow, but definitely before ARMLS is live. This is only a problem on the secure site, which I noticed you’re logged into on these screenshots. We’re currently restructuring how photos are stored on our servers in preparation of go-live.
Regarding the maps on the Treo, was that problem noted using the secure or non-secure wireless site?
If you bookmark the main http://wireless.flexmls.com/ page on the iPhone and select “add to home page”, you’ll get a button on the iPhone home page to log directly into flexmls Web wireless without first having to open a browser.
Greg,
Thanks for the follow-up. I knew the problem would be taken care of. I’m not sure of the Treo situation on the maps, Dru will probably post something in the near future, I know that she will be in San Fransico for the next couple of days, so there might be a delay.
Thanks for the tip on the bookmark, I like the logo and will become quite popular with others in ARMLS that have iPhones (that number is growing now that 3G is out).
Craig,
The broken photo is now fixed on the secure wireless site.
I believe we’ve isolated the issue with the map not appearing on the Treo. It’s happening for me on the secure site with my Treo. It seems that the Treo won’t display a non-secure image from a secure site. The map image is on a non-secure site. If this does correct the problem, and we’re testing that now, we’ll purchase a security certificate so this can be fixed. In the meantime, the maps display correctly for Treos on the non-secure version of the wireless site.
Greg,
The pictures look great! Thanks for the help. Let us know if you want an extra look at the Treo issue.
Hey Craig, I checked out the new flexmls interface and it doesn’t seem very user friendly. With all the steps you need to go through to set up a client I think using it on an iphone would take forever. Having it on available on a iphone is awesome but it will need to be a little more user friendly compared to the desktop version. I would recommend coming the the ARMLS tech fair on the 21st and 22nd of August at WestWorld in Scottsdale. There will be a lot of vendors their offering service comparable to the new flexmls. It will be worth the drive there, trust me. Great post