Post #2418279
2023-03-13 15:00 UTC
Replies (32)
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@IzzyOnDroid@floss.social 2023-03-13 15:30
@downey@floss.social Especially "fun" if you update your router to the latest firmware – and it comes back online with such a "friendly hint" without any chance for you to get in again. Just tested for you… (luckily I use a 5-browser-concept so I was able to get in with one of the others) What can be so difficult with a simple web interface that it needs a specific browser?
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@avolkov@floss.social 2023-03-13 16:08
I too, saw one of these warnings recently. I hoped the whole “best viewed with Internet Explorer” thing would die forever, but it keeps coming back.
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@aperezdc@oldbytes.space 2023-07-21 14:04
@downey@floss.social there was at some point a proposal to completely remove User-Agent strings from HTTP requests, but it was planned after UA Client Hints would ship... Which is kind of the same crap, but structured, so easier to fingerprint and abuse. Now guess which entity with monopolistic practices made the proposal. A lawful good proposal would be to freeze UA strings, without putting the information elsewhere.
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@Pokaia@techhub.social 2023-07-21 15:26
@downey@floss.social I recently installed an extension that can spoof multiple browser and OS user agent strings. Recently switched to a Mac and it got worse with some sites showing different features because I am on a Mac.
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@dirk@d-64.social 2023-07-21 16:07
@downey@floss.social What is your suggestion if you want to have an app that uses modern browser features? Maintain a legacy version? That leads to much higher costs, slower development and less motivated devs. Maintaining legacy code and trying to solve already solved problems is not the most wanted ticket on a board.
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@dirk@d-64.social 2023-07-21 16:17
@downey@floss.social I believe you have to find a compromise between accessibility and efficiency. And it highly depends on the user group you target. I think it is OK to lock out browsers older than 4+ years. Showing hints for limited functionality is likely to fail bc users don't read them.
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@Bright5park@kind.social 2023-07-21 18:25
@downey@floss.social Even more "fun" if they check the browser version number... by looking at the first two digits, and then deny you entry because that browser just jumped from 99.something to 100.something.
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@oclsc@mstdn.ca 2023-07-21 22:26
@downey@floss.social Also, if you ever ever ever check the User-Agent rather than just conforming to the HTML standard, you're either a controlling jerk or an incompetent jerk. Either way we shouldn't do business with jerks.
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@ucblockhead@hulvr.com 2023-07-22 01:26
@downey@floss.social I browse a lot on an iPad and it is infuriating how often sites force me into some stupid mobile version, or want to force me into an app that does the same despite being on. a machine that is perfectly capable of showing the full browser UI
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@ZahmbieND@hachyderm.io 2023-07-22 16:17
@downey@floss.social Occasionally there's a browser feature that is required for basic functionality of a web app, but you can almost always detect if it's missing from a few lines of javascript code, and only show the warning then.
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@bblfish@w3c.social 2023-07-23 09:41
@downey@floss.social That is the problem I have with folks wanting #SolidProject access control rules to be able to specify the user agent. I agree there will be use cases for it, but some people feel it important enough to put it in even before deep needs are felt.
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@Wolf@seafoam.space 2023-07-23 12:00
@downey@floss.social Next your going to tell me it's unfair that they don't support #Netscape
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@cooopsspace@infosec.exchange 2023-07-23 13:20
@downey@floss.social What browser are you using? Are you using one that isn't on the list or one that's genuinely out of date?
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@jornane@ipv6.social 2023-07-23 14:11
@downey@floss.social A lot of sites break when you set your browser to not send a user agent. Wonderous how on one hand, #AdTech can fingerprint you basically no matter what you do, and on the other hand, setting a non-default string in a nonconsequential header makes hordes of websites explode.
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@jezra@pleroma.jezra.net 2023-07-23 16:12
@downey@floss.social don't blame the devs for doing what the incompetent management told them to do! :D
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@mister914@masto.ai 2023-07-23 17:12
@downey@floss.social when using edge, I often get a message telling me to use chrome.
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@kylebaker@mastodon.social 2023-07-23 17:13
@downey@floss.social adding to this, I use a custom domain email address a lot of times they’ll let me use it to login, but one day it’ll suddenly not work because their email regex pattern changed to not like it and I’m stuck.
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@s@social.sd.ai 2023-07-24 08:06
@downey@floss.social Out of curiosity, are you using one of those browsers with its default user-agent, or have you changed it?
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@petterroea@infosec.exchange 2023-07-24 11:26
@downey@floss.social this is surprisingly common practice in Japan. Pretty dissapointing
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@lori@hackers.town 2023-09-04 19:49
@downey@floss.social It's extremely frustrating, I've had some services tell me my browser isn't supported when I'm using Vivaldi...trust me, if it works on Chrome, it works on Vivaldi. There's no reason to arbitrarily tell a user their browser doesn't work before...y'know...letting them try it. I hate sites that also want to force me into downloading a certain version of their software based on the OS it detects, or just tell me my OS isnt' supported without letting me download anyway. You aren't always downloading a file on the device you intend to run it on, and virtual machines and wine are also a thing...let me be the one to see if it'll work!
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@elonmuskismoron@sfba.social 2023-09-04 20:07
@downey@floss.social This usually is a sign that the developer of this website is unprofessional and lazy, and replacing such dev might be beneficial for the company. And I always share this opinion with the company support and/or management.
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@jduckles@monogram.org 2023-09-04 20:31
@downey@floss.social try connecting to CVS from overseas to help your dad out. BLOCKED. At every turn.
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@glaucus@dice.camp 2023-09-04 23:54
@downey@floss.social I had this problem the other day -- a telehealth webapp insisted I use Chrome on my Android phone, even though it allowed Firefox on a PC. I was in a hurry and since Chrome can't be uninstalled anyway I just gave in and used that. Though now I wonder what would happen if I sent a user agent string claiming I'm a Windows Phone or Symbian device? Even if also claimed to be using a compatible version of Chrome, it'll be interesting to see if the webapp blocks me.
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@wackyIdeas@mastodon.uno 2023-09-05 01:47
@downey@floss.social @samhainnight@mstdn.social one of the many reasons why I use a local pharmacist owned pharmacy.
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@al1r4d@ak.independen.top 2023-09-05 03:05
@downey@floss.social 😤 what is motivation behind this problem?
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@ilgaz@mastodon.social 2023-09-05 07:15
@downey@floss.social What a shame that Opera and even pre iPhone Apple were telling developers to detect capabilities instead of browser id 2 decades ago.
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@benitaplummer@mastodon.social 2023-09-07 14:43
@downey@floss.social sometimes I wish we could go back to using paper for records and talking to real people on the phone to get answers to questions and help with scheduling medical care, etc. The offices want us to do their jobs for them on their web pages!!! So Sorry for your difficulty!
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@thorsummoner@ibite.lol 2023-12-11 08:56
@downey@floss.social always been like this, Google Chrome has become the new IE. not even chromium based bruises are safe. interoperability has always been dead on arrival, it was in 2007, it will be in 2027
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@crablab@chaos.social 2023-12-11 09:34
@downey@floss.social I think the exception for this is IE User Agents, but not in relation to medical ofc. IE is now deprecated. 5 years ago it was common to explicitly show errors for IE UAs if you knew your site did not support IE, rather than the user being unable to load the site properly at all. And sometimes that was really difficult to do and required lots of polyfills and other trade offs. For sites that involve public services, I agree those should work irrespective. https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-frontend/blob/main/docs/contributing/browser-support.md
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@ahto@tiggi.es 2023-12-11 13:27
@downey@floss.social this shit is just user accessibility hostile. They should go fuck themselves.
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@masukomi@dice.camp 2023-12-13 14:10
@downey@floss.social Long ago, in the days of ie6 we learned the very important lesson of NEVER testing for user agent string. It's WAY too likely to go wrong. Instead, test if the current browser supports the specific feature(s) you need. There are (or at least were) many articles about how to go about this.
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@ianp5a@social.vivaldi.net 2023-12-15 06:52
@downey@floss.social "Testing for browsers" itself is a Fail! It's a symptom of a messed up industry. It's not OK. Test for 'web standards' is the right way to do it. Internet Explorer broke a lot of that. And it's been a mess ever since. With Google not helping at all. Greedy businesses at it again.