There’s a trend that has emerged in web design, specifically web apps made with an iPhone interface. Take for example anything made using Google’s iui. They all pretty much want to look like the iPhone’s own interface. Which is nice… but what if there was something different?

Here are some sketches I did of a possible interface for a free WiFi community in Montreal, IleSansFil, to adapt it to the iPhone. The necessary functions are:

• Connect
• Register

And because of the fact that ISF is a non-profit, some other important ones are

• About (to tell about the organization, why it exists and how it works)
• Shop
• Donate
• Map (Which uses the GMap API to show ISF hotspots)

Below is the first one I did. After a few minutes of working on it, I realized I didn’t like it AT ALL! It looks too much like a computer, looks too much like the “home page” on the iPhone, and lacks creativity. Also, this was without putting any cool effects in.

This is the second version… the benefits, I think, are a nicer feel. I love the contrast of a wooden background with the sleek industrial design of the iPhone, while still having a glossy “web 2.0″ look with its buttons and gradients. Also, the open, table-like surface allows multiple buttons in any configuration, without being confined to a grid. And the buttons are round, like fingers. I don’t know if this means anything, but it sounded right in my head. I’d love to set this up to actually work, but all the background coding is beyond me, or rather I don’t want to put in the effort to learn it all at this point.

Other ideas for this webapp:

• Ability to stream the local music content that some hotspots provide as part of ISF
• Integration with the Société de Transport de Montréal, to get Métro/Bus directions from current hotspot location.
• Integration with Google Maps in the same way (only really useful for iPod Touch users who don’t have the benefit of GMap cell tower triangulation technology)