Discover new iPhone web sites with Just Hit It

We wish there was an easy way to discover web sites that have iPhone compatible versions specifically designed for mobile Safari. Some sites will auto-detect the iPhone and serve up an appropriate site, but there’s no way to know if this will happen unless you actually visit the site with an iPhone. Many other sites offer iPhone versions but you have to know the url which usually contains an “iphone” or “m” or a “mobile” somewhere in the url string. This is a pain, and causes many iPhone optimized sites to go largely unvisited by the majority of iPhone and iPod touch users.

The team over at Just Hit It have been busy working on a solution to this problem by compiling a database of sites that are optimized for mobile Safari. Selecting a site to view requires just a single tap which randomly redirects you to any one of the sites in the database. The randomness of the selection prevents Just Hit It from being a great resource for iPhone users, but at the same time it does make it fun to discover new iPhone enabled web sites, movies, and games.

The user interface at Just Hit It is simple, just one big red button to tap. Above the “easy” button is a row of category links that let you narrow your results. There are also links to suggest new sites.

After you tap the big red button, an iPhone optimized web site will load into your browser. Just Hit It also attaches a small navigation bar at the top of your page that provides a “Hit it!” button as you continue to surf. Tapping that button at any time will load the next randomly selected iPhone site.

The ubiquitous “Hit it!” button makes it simple to move on to another web site, but it also makes bookmarking problematic since the url in the address field is always justhit.it instead of the site you are viewing. In order to bookmark a site, you’ll need to do it manually, and that requires you to know the exact url to the iPhone version of the site. Unless, of course, the site auto-detects mobile Safari and serves up the appropriate version, yet many sites don’t offer this convenience.

The overall surfing experience is a lot like using StumbleUpon in the desktop browser. The randomness makes it fun and addictive. The development team at Just Hit It is currently working on adding a ratings system, a feature which will make it even more similar to StumbleUpon.

The database of sites in Just Hit It is fairly small at the moment, but will certainly grow over time. If they can address the bookmarking issue, then add a ratings system and more categories, Just Hit It may just be a big hit. Until, then, it’s worth checking out in the meantime. You might discover some great iPhone content you never knew existed.

• Just Hit It – Free [web]

 

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