Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
Overview
Let’s learn about Wireless Application Protocol(WAP) in this tutorial. WAP was introduced in the late 1990s and early 2000s when mobile devices such as mobile phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) were becoming more popular.
Wireless Application Protocol
WAP is a standardized technology for cross-platform, distributed computing. Wireless Application Protocol is a standard protocol for accessing information over a mobile wireless network, such as a cellular network. It was developed to enable mobile devices to access and display web-based content, such as websites and online services, on small screens with limited processing power and memory.
WAP used a markup language called Wireless Markup Language (WML), which is similar to HTML but designed for mobile devices.
WAP-enabled mobile devices to access web-based content through a wireless gateway, which translated the content into a format that was compatible with the device’s display and processing capabilities. A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that uses the protocol.
WAP Uses
WAP is optimized for:
- small screens and low-display capabilities
- low-memory
- low-bandwidth devices, like Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), wireless phones, and pagers.
- WAP also supported a range of other features, such as push notifications, messaging, and location-based services.
Although WAP was widely used in the early days of the mobile internet, it was eventually replaced by newer technologies such as mobile apps and mobile-optimized websites(m-websites), which provided a better user experience and greater functionality. Today, WAP is largely obsolete, although it still has some niche applications in developing countries where mobile devices with limited capabilities are still in use.
More Information on WAP: