User cannot create account from iphone

[Husteds]

so....everything on the website (toskaspa.com) functions as it should when accessing via smart phone, login, cart, etc., EXCEPT for the ability to create a new user account from an iPhone. It works on iPad, Samsung tablet, but not from iPhone. When attempting to create an account, you can fill in the form, but when you click to continue, the page simply hangs. This only happens from the iPhone, normal PC works as expected, and an older version we had used to work fine with iPhone. All other functions work on the iPhone as they should. I've been through the code many times and cannot seem to find what is causing the hangup, any ideas?

[MrPhil]

My best guess is that the iPhone's "browser" has some incompatibility with what your server is trying to use for a secure connection (TLS version, etc.). I'm no authority in that area, but maybe that can be a helpful clue. Do you say that all SSL secured pages on the site, except for user account creation, work on an iPhone? Maybe there's a slight difference in form parameters on this page?

[Husteds]

I would have thought the same, tried Safari browser as well as Firefox mobile. In either case, the create account function is the only thing that won't work. Login (if user already has existing account) works fine. Another thing I've noticed is that when the page refreshes after clicking continue, the spacing in the form increases. Each subsequent tap on the continue button stretches the spacing more and more. This same behavior happened on the Firefox browser, except it occurred while trying to fill in the form. Eventually the form became unresponsive. I can't seem to find any reason why this one function would not work, even tried the original code from an earlier build which worked well (no change in behavior)......I would rather get this one function working than to have to create a whole new "mobile" version of the site (which I think is completely unnecessary to correct this type of problem).

[♥John W]

When I click on create account the create account page that loads is not secure.  So, there's no SSL loading.  Trying to load it manually as below doesn't work either with or without www.

https://toskaspa.com/products/shopping?slug=create_account

[♥John W]

The other thing is you really should look at using the BS version to display on phones and tablets.

[Husteds]

I understand the purpose of SSL, however the site has never used it. I'm not sure that has an impact on why that one page doesn't work as it did before, the website would default to non-secure http instead of the https. That shouldn't impact how the account gets created, as it works fine on a tablet, PC, MAC, etc. just not a mobile phone (iPhone to be specific, I have not tried on an Android OS).

 

Long story short: I built the website for my wife's business about 4 years ago, and I am by no means a software guru (I actually hate working with code). So, I ran an update about two months ago, and many of the custom features I had in the site no longer work with this newer OSCommerce version (i.e. separate pricing per customer to require login before prices are visible to the customer). Our vendor requires this feature, and I did not have time to research a fix to implement on the newer version, so I paid someone (advertised on the web as an "expert") to fix the issue. What I ended up with was that I could no longer create an account via an iphone, and some other issues that I have spent the past week trying to correct. I suspect many of my wife's clients will try to use their phone to shop, and while I agree that it would be absolutely fabulous to build a mobile version, I simply do not have the funding or the time to do so. The website works (or should work) without a custom mobile build. I would just like to find out why just one page will not work with iPhone. Once I can solve this issue, I can move forward to making the site more secure. I can't do too much at any one time or the missus gets upset with me......

[MrPhil]

So what version of osCommerce, what PHP version, what add-ons, and what customizations? Any templates or other Third Party changes to the store? Do you have a "before and after" comparison of what this "expert" did to your site, to double check those changes? Maybe they just broke something on that one page.

 

If your store is based on a very old version of osC, it's going to become harder and harder to keep it going as your server PHP gets upgraded, browsers get updated, and everyone goes mobile. You really should set aside the time to install osC 2.3.4BS, and start chipping away at porting over what add-ons and custom changes you need to get your store where you want it. Then switch over to the new version. Keep detailed records of every change you make, so that when 2.4 comes out you can easily apply them to that code (which hopefully won't be all that different from 2.3.4BS).

 

While it's possible to run a store without SSL, especially if you use a Third Party payment system such as PayPal, you're losing customers who expect at least a minimum level of security when entering personal information such as their mailing address. More and more people want to see the entire store under SSL, although that's probably overkill, and Google is starting to penalize sites in their rankings which are not 100% SSL.

[♥John W]

My point is that may be the reason the create account isn't working.  This is a guess, but Iphone may be blocking passwords on non SSL sites.  I've had SSL since 2002 and you're losing more money by lost sales.  Getting an SSL isn't very expensive and it's really a minimum to running an onlne business.  But, asking to help troubleshoot this while not having SSL of any sort is kind of like asking someone to help build a house that has no foundation. 

 

Sounds like you're getting pushed into working on something you absolutely hate.  I hate painting.

[verticalhobby]

You can try to set "Force cookie use" to true in configuration -> sessions.   It has helped us..  We are having the same problem with MacOS Safari and Ipads/Iphones (chrome or Safari).