Switch To iPad Interface In Chrome & Firefox By Changing User Agent String
Youâve heard about the iPad, havenât you. And chances are you want to get one soon. Well, why not check out how your favorite sites would look on an iPad before you get to lay your hands on the actual device. It could be done by changing the user agent string of your browser to that of iPad.
You can change user agent string of your browser and enjoy the iPad interface right inside it. Changing user agent string in Firefox and Safari is easy. But Chrome doesnât offer a direct method to do it.
Guide for Google Chrome Browser
Hereâs a step by step guide to change user string in Chrome and get the iPad interface.
1. Right click on the chrome shortcut and select Properties.
![[IMG]](proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guidingtech.com%2Fassets%2Fpostimages%2F2010%2F04%2Fchromeproperties2.png&hash=4d086fe1da6bf5a0f068ee6f84d0abd5)
2. Now go to âShortcutâ tab.
![[IMG]](proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guidingtech.com%2Fassets%2Fpostimages%2F2010%2F04%2Fchromepropertiesshortcut.png&hash=aaa6597529e5f187708557aeb70a8b02)
3. In Target field, you will find this text written (where âusernameâ is your windows username):
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exeReplace the text with the text shown below by copying the text and pasting it inside target field (make sure you have your actual windows username after C:\Users\.. ).
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe -user-agent="Mozilla/5.0(iPad; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/531.21.10 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.4 Mobile/7B314 Safari/531.21.10"4. Press OK.
Now open your Chrome browser. Open sites like Gmail, Twitter, YouTube that have released their iPad versions. Hereâs a screenshot of Gmail in Chrome, which now is exactly like youâll find it in an iPad.
![[IMG]](proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guidingtech.com%2Fassets%2Fpostimages%2F2010%2F04%2FgmailiniPad.png&hash=b86a0d7ad85e2789c7d24b868f801062)
Hereâs YouTubeâs iPad interface in Chrome.
![[IMG]](proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.guidingtech.com%2Fassets%2Fpostimages%2F2010%2F04%2FYouTubeiniPad_2.jpg&hash=01a200e6258fb6377dc3c977459dcddd)
Enjoy all the websites designed for iPad. You could also check how your own website looks on iPad (if you have one that is).
If you want to revert back to the original browser then you need to replace the user agent string with target location. Go to Chrome properties panel as mentioned in Step 1 and 2 and replace the user agent string with this text.
C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exeIf you are still getting the same iPad interface, clear the cache of your browser and it should be ok.
So, have you got the iPad yet? Howâs the experience of using it?
Guide for Mozilla Firefox Browser
For the Firefox users, follow this simple instruction.
Go to about:config and it says âThis might void your warranty!â. Click on âIâll be careful, I promise!â and you will find a list of options.
On the list, right click on any item. Click on New » String.
On the âEnter the preference nameâ textbox, type general.useragent.override and on the general.useragent.override, type Mozilla/5.0(iPad; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/531.21.10 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.4 Mobile/7B314 Safari/531.21.10.
Once done, close all the instances of Firefox (all open windows) and start Firefox and enjoy the new iPad interface.
PS: If you want to reset, go to about:config and in the Filter, type general.useragent.override, right click on it and click on Reset. Close all the instances of Firefox and open again to restore the previous view.
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