How to change web browser user agent on Dell Streak
One of my biggest pet peeves of web browsing on the Dell Streak is when I'm automatically redirected to a mobile version of a website. Mobile versions of websites irk me in general, but it's particularly grating on the nerves when I see them on the Streak. I'm using a WebKit-based browser on a 5-inch WVGA screen, not some text-only WAP browser on a 3-inch QVGA screen. I don't want to see a mobile version unless I specifically ask for it in the URL bar!
That's why one of the first things I did in the Streak's stock browser is change the user-agent string, which servers use to identify the browser and various system details so they can give you content designed for it.
Some third-party web browsers have a UA string option easily accessible in their settings menus, but the stock browser preinstalled on the Streak doesn't.
No problem. This is how to change the stock browser's user agent on the Dell Streak:
- Type about:debug in the URL bar and press Go.
- It will look as though nothing has happened but press the Menu key on the Streak anyway.
- Scroll down to the bottom and tap Settings.
- A new selection of settings under a Debug header (shown above) will appear at what was formerly the end of the regular list. Tap UAString at the bottom.
- Choose from Android (default selection already enabled), Desktop, or iPhone from the pop-up menu that appears.
And that's it.
Sometimes the new setting doesn't stick (grr!), so you may need to clear the browser's cache and history if you've previously visited sites that redirected you to their mobile versions, close the browser and relaunch it, or repeat the process outlined above again.
