Mobile themes for Blogger blogs

If your blog theme is not responsive, you might want to consider how your blog looks to readers on their phones. ¶ 

You may not read blogs on a phone, but some of your readers surely do. ¶ 

And, you do have options.

The so-called Designer themes (Simple, Watermark, Awesome, Picture Window, and Travel) were introduced in 2010, when mobile web browsing was in its infancy.

But it only took a year for Google to release mobile versions for these themes.

The mobile Designer themes have some drawbacks (described below). However, they present individual blog posts in a straightforward, uncluttered way that makes good use of tiny phone-screen real estate.

Designer-based mobile themes

There are mobile variants corresponding to each of the Designer themes. For each theme, there are multiple choices.

Selecting mobile themes based on Awesome

The available options correspond to the basic designs and color schemes provided as starting points by Google on the Theme page.

You don't have to use the same theme as your desktop. But why would you choose a different one?

Custom mobile theme

A better choice for many is the Custom option, which reproduces the colors and fonts that you have chosen. This reenforces your brand and avoids confusing your readers.

Dynamic mobile theme

You can also chose the Dynamic theme as an option just for mobile. These only work with public blogs, and the dynamic theme you get seems to be Classic.

(I've published a guide to all the Blogger themes—Designer, Dynamic, Responsive, etc.)

The effect has a similar feel to the light version of the Simple theme, but is less compact. It shows the whole blog post.

Default mobile theme

There is also Default. If you have customized your theme in any way, Default seems to be identical to the light version of the Simple theme. It is bright, simple, and uncluttered.

If you have made no modifications to the theme, Default shows the colors and fonts that came with that theme.

No mobile theme

Finally, you can elect not to use the mobile themes. You readers will see a tiny version of the full desktop version on their phones.

Every mobile theme, except the Dynamic one, has a link at the bottom to the web version. You readers can choose that if they prefer it.

Mobile theme limitations

For all of the Designer mobile-friendly options, apart from going responsive, the sidebar is hidden and completely inaccessible. 

If you have a navigational menu at the top, in mobile view it changes from a collection of tabs or visible links to a drop-down menu. This functions but gives no clear cues to your reader about what it is.

(The Dynamic mobile theme's menu bar expands into a row of links if the view screen is wide enough, so its links could be visible on a tablet.)

I can make the case for any of these choices, and it's up to you (obviously), but here is my opinion.

My take

Despite some obvious limitations, I think the mobile versions are better to use than the web version. The latter is just too difficult to read.

Phone screen shot using the non-mobile "web" option. To be fair, you can reverse-pinch to expand, etc. But will readers do that?

That does not apply to the newer Responsive themes, where the desktop and mobile themes are the same theme. 

I would probably also stick with the desktop version of a Dynamic theme, too, but I do not really have enough experience to say. Test things out (and let us know!), if you are interested.

Best mobile theme

Of the Designer mobile themes: unless there is some problem, I would choose Custom.

That is the option that most makes your blog on mobile look like your blog on desktop while preserving the mobile-friendly layout.

If you want a super clean version, Simple Light is a good choice, and you might consider the Dynamic alternative.

Of course, there is another option, beyond the scope of this report: to convert your entire blog to a single responsive theme.

That's not for everyone but it is worth thinking over.

None of these solutions is perfect because phones have finite tiny acreage and there are tradeoffs in any design. You get to decide what's best, though.

There is a Preview option when trying out these themes. You should use it before saving any changes.

Links

• History of Blogger themes
• Mobile themes explained by Google.

Photo of woman with phone: Alex Green/Pixels