Re: WebPlatform Browser Support Info

Niels,

I noticed you sent this reply only to me. Could you elaborate and give 
examples of different browsers that use the same UA-string? And how do 
tests currently identify those browsers?


Ronald



Niels Leenheer schreef op 2013-10-19 07:20:
> On Oct 18, 2013, at 6:40 PM, Ronald Mansveld 
> <ronald@ronaldmansveld.nl> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> 
>> Maximiliano Firtman schreef op 2013-10-18 16:09:
>>> Hi! I'm not dutch, but the Queen (consorte) Máxima of the 
>>> Netherlands
>>> was born in Argentina, my home country ;)
>>> About browser identification, on mobile it's usually a mess. Some 
>>> examples:
>>> 1) Chrome on iOS (in terms of compatibility) is the iOS Web View,
>>> that is 99.9% the same as Safari - it doesn't deserve a mention by
>>> itself but it's clearly not the same as Chrome on Android
>>> 2) Android default browser is not even the same on different devices
>>> with the same Android OS -such as the browser in Samsung devices, or
>>> some Sony devices with WebGL support-
>>> 3) Naming is complicated as it was stated before in this thread. For
>>> example, "BlackBerry Browser" is basically a different browser in 
>>> 6.x,
>>> 7.x, BB10 and the PlayBook tablet. The same problem applies to 
>>> "Nokia
>>> Browser"
>>> I think WURFL already has a clever way to identify a combination of
>>> browser/device based on the user agent and it uses a hierarchy
>>> mechanism to provide default values for properties while some 
>>> specific
>>> devices can override them. WURFL also has an identifier per
>>> browser/platform. Look at it may be a good idea.
>> 
>> I've checked WURFL, but their licensing seems to be completely 
>> incompatible. As in: we're not allowed to use it, unless we get a 
>> license for one of their tools to access the data.
>> But wouldn't UA-strings suffice for mobile as well? Cause I've got a 
>> hunch that that's exactly what they base their data on.
> 
> A UA string is not a proper way to identify a browser. And that is
> only more true on mobile.
> 
> The problem is that:
> - Different browsers use the same UA string.
> - One browser can use multiple UA strings.
> 
> Unfortunately these are not exceptions. That makes a UA string a
> pretty lousy unique identifier.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Niels
> html5test.com

Received on Wednesday, 23 October 2013 21:15:07 UTC