Hello,

The mobile-text endpoint~[1] was introduced in the REST API as an experiment in the early days of the Mobile-Content-Service~[2] to provide page content optimised for use in very lightweight mobile clients. The route was an experiment towards a new-generation lite app, initially targeted for low-powered, older Android devices. The idea was to use native Android UI components to show the page contents instead of in a WebView; alas, it was quickly surpassed by a new set of mobile-sections endpoints~[3].

The route is not maintained, there are no plans to use it within the WMF and according to our metrics the endpoint is not used by the community. Therefore,  as part of the effort to consolidate the useful endpoints and focus on new features, we have decided to deprecate the route and remove it on May, 1st 2017.

If you’re using the endpoint, please use the alternative mobile-sections endpoints~[3,4,5] instead. Should you have any questions or concerns, please reply to this e-mail or contact the Wikimedia Services Team~[6].

Cheers,

Marko Obrovac, PhD

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/api/rest_v1/#!/Mobile/get_page_mobile_text_title

[2] https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Apps/Team/RESTBase_services_for_apps

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/api/rest_v1/#!/Mobile/get_page_mobile_sections_title_revision

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/api/rest_v1/#!/Mobile/get_page_mobile_sections_lead_title_revision

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/api/rest_v1/#!/Mobile/get_page_mobile_sections_remaining_title_revision 

[6] https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Services