Database Users

Browser: Load all pages as 'desktop' ?

Is there an easy way to make all pages 'think' that the browser is a desktop? Like if I go to google.com I want it to take me to classic instantly, and any other sites that automatically adjust to mobile sites if it detects a phone.

If you use Dolphin Browser you can set the user agent to desktop and it will load all pages that way.
EVO on Tapatalk

How does dolphin compare to the stock browser?

Dolphin HD is slow in my opinion, you could also try opera mini 5.1.
I still prefer the stock browser.
here is a trick to always view your favorite websites in desktop view. I don't know how to make every site open as desktop, just your most frequent ones.
Go to a website.. such as www.google.com
it will auto open mobile view...scroll down in the website and click on desktop. once desktop view opens.. set this page as a bookmark... now everytime you access the pg via bookmark, it will go to desktop view.
another option, if you want to set google.com desktop as your homepage.
again click desktop, when desktop google comes up, copy the link, paste this new link as your homepage. and your phone will automatically go into desktop google everytime you open your browser.
you can bookmark many webpages, so just set up your most favoritely frequented sites to be bookmarked as desktop view. simple!

There is a code you can enter into your browser that gives you more settings. One of those is the ability to make your phone appear as a desktop, not a phone.
However, I tried this and my browser crashed and I had to delete all data and cache to get it to work again. This DID work on the Nexus One when flash came out (allowed us to watch hulu.com)
The string is about:debug, then go to web settings. Last option is ua string. Change to desktop. Again though, I DO NOT recommend doing this.

s15274n said:
There is a code you can enter into your browser that gives you more settings. One of those is the ability to make your phone appear as a desktop, not a phone.
However, I tried this and my browser crashed and I had to delete all data and cache to get it to work again. This DID work on the Nexus One when flash came out (allowed us to watch hulu.com)
The string is about:debug, then go to web settings. Last option is ua string. Change to desktop. Again though, I DO NOT recommend doing this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't seem to find this option :S

I don't know about everyone esle but i like SKYFIRE browser from the market: allows you to choose between Android, Desktop or Iphone i think as your default loading method. It's very speedy to load in desktop mode. Try that out

stepinmyworld said:
I don't know about everyone esle but i like SKYFIRE browser from the market: allows you to choose between Android, Desktop or Iphone i think as your default loading method. It's very speedy to load in desktop mode. Try that out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, this works well. A few pages still detect the presence of a mobile browser, but 9 out of 10 pages load the desktop versions.

I always experienced Skyfire on other phones as laggy. Does it run as fast as Android stock browser?

Like how iPad plays HTML5 video on sites instead of flash? You can too

I think many people know this but just in case you don't. Many sites detect when an iPad is browsing the site and redeliver any Flash video content as HTML5. This is both less taxing on your CPU and usually higher quality. On the XOOM it also runs full screen which is nice.
Here's what you do.
Download Dolphin Browser from Market
During the Setup it'll ask you what user agent you want - select iPad!
Now you're set. Any site you visit (try Engadget and some CNN pages) you'll notice that pages load video with HTML5, just tap it and the XOOM will load them full screen and it's buttery smooth and crystal clear.
Anytime you want the iPad browsing experience, just launch Dolphin HD - done

Here it is in full, if someone wants it.
Code:
Mozilla/5.0 (iPad; U; CPU OS 3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/531.21.10 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.4 Mobile/7B334b Safari/531.21.10

You can do the same with the default browser in the xoom. Just go into debug and instead of choosing desktop choose I pad. Now every site will think your an ipad

Are you sure it's less taxing? Flash 10.2 has hardware accelerated video playback with a new stagevideo object
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flashplayer/stagevideo.html
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App

ebpman said:
You can do the same with the default browser in the xoom. Just go into debug and instead of choosing desktop choose I pad. Now every site will think your an ipad
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How do u get into debug?

droidrev71 said:
How do u get into debug?
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Click to collapse
in the address bar do
about:debug
when you hit enter it will look like nothing happened. go into the settings menu and you'll find a debug category. pick your useragent there.
when you're done do
about:debug
again to exit debug mode (remove it from the settings menu)

This trick does not stick.
ebpman said:
You can do the same with the default browser in the xoom. Just go into debug and instead of choosing desktop choose I pad. Now every site will think your an ipad
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Wifi Only always get's mobile sites?

Is there a way around this? A lot of times I'll click a link and get taken to a mobile version of that site
I have the Wifi only model and browsing on the Xoom on my home wifi this still happens.

mikejet said:
Is there a way around this? A lot of times I'll click a link and get taken to a mobile version of that site
I have the Wifi only model and browsing on the Xoom on my home wifi this still happens.
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Click to collapse
Go into the browser and type about:debug in the url press enter and then go to the settings and it should bring up a debug menu at the very end of the list. go to UA String and change it from android to desktop. should solve the problem.

znfrazier said:
Go into the browser and type about:debug in the url press enter and then go to the settings and it should bring up a debug menu at the very end of the list. go to UA String and change it from android to desktop. should solve the problem.
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Click to collapse
This solves the problem until the browser is closed. Next time the app is loaded, it is loaded back into a mobile mode.
Something people need to realize is that the browser UA String for Tablets is "Android" and Phone is "Android Mobile".
Most websites who do detection are probably only looking for either the word "Android" or "Mobile" to redirect. You will have to give websites time to adjust for the change. Send an email to the site admin.
Also, there is a hack in the development threads to solve this permanently, by broadcasting UAString as Mozilla(if I remember right) , Which could cause issues for websites that detect Mozilla to fix certain bugs, the work around that they may being using could potentially not work on android or cause a problem with viewing.
There won't be a perfect solution, all browsers are different, and you just have to hope that the website is updated, or trick it into thinking you are a desktop - which works most of the time.

Kcarpenter said:
This solves the problem until the browser is closed. Next time the app is loaded, it is loaded back into a mobile mode.
Something people need to realize is that the browser UA String for Tablets is "Android" and Phone is "Android Mobile".
Most websites who do detection are probably only looking for either the word "Android" or "Mobile" to redirect. You will have to give websites time to adjust for the change. Send an email to the site admin.
Also, there is a hack in the development threads to solve this permanently, by broadcasting UAString as Mozilla(if I remember right) , Which could cause issues for websites that detect Mozilla to fix certain bugs, the work around that they may being using could potentially not work on android or cause a problem with viewing.
There won't be a perfect solution, all browsers are different, and you just have to hope that the website is updated, or trick it into thinking you are a desktop - which works most of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wouldn't it make more sense to identify itself as "Chrome"?

Kcarpenter said:
This solves the problem until the browser is closed. Next time the app is loaded, it is loaded back into a mobile mode.
Something people need to realize is that the browser UA String for Tablets is "Android" and Phone is "Android Mobile".
Most websites who do detection are probably only looking for either the word "Android" or "Mobile" to redirect. You will have to give websites time to adjust for the change. Send an email to the site admin.
Also, there is a hack in the development threads to solve this permanently, by broadcasting UAString as Mozilla(if I remember right) , Which could cause issues for websites that detect Mozilla to fix certain bugs, the work around that they may being using could potentially not work on android or cause a problem with viewing.
There won't be a perfect solution, all browsers are different, and you just have to hope that the website is updated, or trick it into thinking you are a desktop - which works most of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ive haven't had to change it after the app closes out. it stays the same and it has fixed the mobile problem. I never have a mobile site pop up on my xoom since i've had it.

RayKinStL said:
Wouldn't it make more sense to identify itself as "Chrome"?
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Click to collapse
Well, webkit is webkit. Chrome is webkit, safari is webkit, mozilla is webkit, and Android is webkit - however, each browser has its own changes for the way they want to handle things (Gotta love standards).
Mozilla is probably next to IE the most used browser, so it would make a little more sense to broadcast as it instead of Chrome. Chrome may actually be broadcasting still as Mozilla(it was at one time) or generic webkit, i can't remember.
This stuff changes monthly. And Android =\= Chrome its close, but not. From a web developers stand point there are several things that Android's browser cannot do that Chrome can (eg: 'Overflow:' )

isnt there a way to perma change the UA if your rooted?

HERE is the post about changing UAString for rooted users
along with some other goodies. Not sure if it works on Wifi Only yet - somewhere down there they where talking about it.
Code:
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Intel Mac OSX 10_6_3; 3.0.1; en-us; Xoom Build/HR166) AppleWebKit/534.13 (KHTML, Like Gecko) Version/4.0 Safari/534.13
Like i said, it Identifies as Mozilla - should work 92% of the time.

thanks for that. I MAY try it later.

I'll try the debug method when I get home. I haven't decided if I will root or not yet

Kcarpenter said:
HERE is the post about changing UAString for rooted users
along with some other goodies. Not sure if it works on Wifi Only yet - somewhere down there they where talking about it.
Code:
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Intel Mac OSX 10_6_3; 3.0.1; en-us; Xoom Build/HR166) AppleWebKit/534.13 (KHTML, Like Gecko) Version/4.0 Safari/534.13
Like i said, it Identifies as Mozilla - should work 92% of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI, all WebKit browsers identify as Mozilla, including the default mobile UA String. The string I used was just taken from the 'Desktop' setting. It is actually emulating Safari, not Mozilla. You are right though, that changing your user agent can result in unexpected behavior.
I think even IE still says Mozilla from the Netscape days

sangreal06 said:
FYI, all WebKit browsers identify as Mozilla, including the default mobile UA String. The string I used was just taken from the 'Desktop' setting. It is actually emulating Safari, not Mozilla. You are right though, that changing your user agent can result in unexpected behavior.
I think even IE still says Mozilla from the Netscape days
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Click to collapse
you are correct.

yea..... about:debug does nothing for me

monkeefied said:
yea..... about:debug does nothing for me
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about:debug does not display anything. You need to go into the settings menu to see the debug options.

monkeefied said:
yea..... about:debug does nothing for me
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Click to collapse
go to settings then under "debug" you'll see the menu. when you put 'about:debug' in the bar and hit enter, nothing will happen.

Kcarpenter said:
HERE is the post about changing UAString for rooted users
along with some other goodies. Not sure if it works on Wifi Only yet - somewhere down there they where talking about it.
Code:
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Intel Mac OSX 10_6_3; 3.0.1; en-us; Xoom Build/HR166) AppleWebKit/534.13 (KHTML, Like Gecko) Version/4.0 Safari/534.13
Like i said, it Identifies as Mozilla - should work 92% of the time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wouldnt push this to a wifi Xoom. You will boot loop since it is made for a 3G model. Framework-res cannot be swapped between the two models. :/
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

It worked, kind of. Maybe 70% of the sites are fine but some still recognize as mobile.
Also, once I logged into youtube with my account it switched to the mobile version of the site for some reason.

i used Skyfire browser on here for a bit.
One feature I loved was that they had that dedicated button that changes mobile to desktop and vice versa.

wow i can't believe people still wasting time with stock browser..typing about:debug...just get Dolphin mini go to settings & set it to desktop then you're done for good lol...& furthermore it works better than Dolphin Hd

Tweak Stock Browser for a Desktop Experience

I see a lot of folks complaining about a poor web browsing experience. Perhaps this will help.......
There is a hidden settings menu that you can access by doing the following:
* type "about:debug" in the URL line and press enter/go
* select the "settings" menu (squiggle lines) top right corner
* select Debug, UA, and Desktop
* back out of this and again type "about:debug" in the URL line
This should tell other websites to display web pages in a non-mobile format. I have not yet tried, Netflix, Hulu, etc... but I believe these sites will work properly thus removing the need for the android apps. Please confirm.

Irieone said:
I see a lot of folks complaining about a poor web browsing experience. Perhaps this will help.......
There is a hidden settings menu that you can access by doing the following:
* type "about:debug" in the URL line and press enter/go
* select the "settings" menu (squiggle lines) top right corner
* select Debug, UA, and Desktop
* back out of this and again type "about:debug" in the URL line
This should permanently tell other websites to display web pages in a non-mobile format. I have not yet tried, Netflix, Hulu, etc... but I believe these sites will work properly thus removing the need for the android apps. Please confirm.
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Click to collapse
Works fine but we need something that is permanent, have to do this everey time browser has been killed

I know I know....
I just minimize the browser and it holds me until I reboot...

just close the browser
the setting are kept...
I ve done this a while before, and didn't have to change to desktop again after...
but for me that option should be... in setting directly and not in a debug mode

works fine...therenare also options for rendering.."render single cloumn"nsounds interesting

I can't get this to work with Hulu, though. I have the latest flash installed, as well as the latest Adobe Air, and when I go to Hulu, I am still told that my platform is not supported at this time.
Can anyone confirm that it is working with Hulu and the stock browser? How about with Dolphin or even Mozilla?

it just does not work, it always goes to the default page it is not accepting about:debug any ideas??
thx

krachlatte said:
it just does not work, it always goes to the default page it is not accepting about:debug any ideas??
thx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After you type about:debug nothing will change. Select the menu square in the upper right hand corner of your browser. Select settings. Then select debug. The setting for the ua string are in there.

thx alot mate, looks mich better know.

You can use Dolphin HD. It uses the same rendering engine (which means flash enabled) and can set the user agent to desktop permanently.

VillainousVivi said:
I can't get this to work with Hulu, though. I have the latest flash installed, as well as the latest Adobe Air, and when I go to Hulu, I am still told that my platform is not supported at this time.
Can anyone confirm that it is working with Hulu and the stock browser? How about with Dolphin or even Mozilla?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you are correct.... hulu reads that you are using the mobile flash even in desktop ua

I use dolphin HD it has that option in its setttings.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

Dolphin sucks in a major way. They even acknowledge that they have a known bug with web pages simply not opening.

Can't use Netflix because Silverlight needs to be installed and as far as I know that can only be done on a tab running Windows.
The setting stays in my browser even after boot, thanks for the tip.

The setting stays for me, but I always have to type about:debug to get websites to detect it correctly.

Euclid's Brother said:
The setting stays for me, but I always have to type about:debug to get websites to detect it correctly.
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Click to collapse
I too have to do the same thing. I'm not sure if this will be fixed with 3.1. On my thunderbolt it always works and loads full pages instead of mobile.

Is there away we can use Tasker to set something every time we open a web page.

about:debug did not work for me (stock browser no OTA update).
When I select the settings menu I have additional options for "Dump navigation cache" and "Dump V8 counters" but not a Debug option.
Am I missing something?
UPDATE: Ugh! I just realized I needed to select settings FROM the menu - sorry!

scottw714 said:
Can't use Netflix because Silverlight needs to be installed and as far as I know that can only be done on a tab running Windows.
The setting stays in my browser even after boot, thanks for the tip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe in a browser, but there is an app for that - I have Netflix on my Evo. There's about a half dozen Android devices that can run Netflix and many others are able to trick Netflix by making it think it is a different device.

Opera Mobile UAString

I've always wondered why some websites insist on delivering desktop versions to Opera Mobile when I have the UA set as "tablet". I don't do a lot of browsing with my NST, but my local newspaper has a website and a mobile version that is much easier to navigate with a small touch screen. It loads up fine on my NT running CM 10.2 with the UA on the stock browser set to "Android", but with Opera Mobile on the NST I get the desktop site with all kinds of tiny print and tiny links.
Until today!
I've been looking at the UAString issue for awhile but today I found a website that would tell you what your UAString was. I remembered that the stock browser on the NST--with all its problems--was served the mobile version of my local newspaper's site. You couldn't do much with it, of course, but it was recognized correctly. So I brought it out of mothballs again and went to the site where I could read the UAString. After laboriously and carefully copying that out on paper, I fired up Opera Mobile 12.10
Typing opera:config in the address bar takes you to a LOT of things you can customize (some work, others don't). There is a place near the bottom of the list to select the UAString by mystery number but although you can do that and hit "save", it will not actually save the information. Thanks, guys.....
A few lines below that option is "User Prefs". Under that is "Custom User Agent" with a blank line just waiting for you to put something in there. When you have done that, you need to scroll way down to the bottom where there is a "save" button. Then restart Opera.
Now the fun part. Below is the UAString for the stock browser. It is painful in the extreme to type in, largely owing to the fact that the period is under the question mark, away from all the other punctuation and numbers. But...
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.1; en-us; NOOK BNRV300 Build/ERD79) AppleWebKit/530.17 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/530.17
Whew! I'm not sure how important spaces and/or caps are, I just gave what I got from whatsmyuseragent.com using the stock browser and I tried to type it in carefully.
I realize that some people struggle to force mobile browsers to show desktop versions of sites, just the opposite of what I am doing. I just feel that with the functionality of the NST what it is, for sites that are reading-based (like a newspaper) the mobile version of the site is often much easier to deal with. And if you find it's not working for you, just go back to the settings and hit the "default" button next to where you entered the custom UAString.
There are, of course, all kinds of other UAStrings out there. I actually like the stock browser--except that it doesn't really work. So I thought it might be a place to start. You get the much better functionality of Opera Mobile but with a (perhaps) better-suited display.
Of course, it could just be my stupid local rag's website......