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So Vivaldi lets you set your own User-Agent string? How is this notable? Doesn't every modern browser let you do this in some form or another? > Many websites

So Vivaldi lets you set your own User-Agent string? How is this notable? Doesn't every modern browser let you do this in some form or another? > Many websites worked perfectly in Vivaldi but were blocked when not included on the site’s allowed list of leading browsers. To combat this, back in 2019, we were forced to change Vivaldi’s User-Agent strings. This is a poor characterization, and attributes as malice what is actually just technical debt. Did Vivaldi forget that every major browser's User-Agent basically masquerades as all the others? Chrome's default User-Agent string advertises Chrome, AppleWebKit, Gecko (Firefox), and Safari. Go figure.

causi 3y ago
There is no way to change useragent in Android Chrome or even Android Firefox. There is just a crippled "desktop mode" button that still tells the site you're on a mobile browser.
- lopkeny12ko 3y ago
  I don't know about Chrome, but you certainly can set your User-Agent on Android Firefox. I have it set right now to Linux desktop, so all websites render as desktop by default. Just set general.useragent.override in about:config.
  - robotnikman 3y ago
    Are you sure you can open about:config on android firefox? When I try I just get a blank page. Are you stable or nightly?
    - alvarezbjm-hn 3y ago
      True for me, too. I have never been able to access an about:config for firefox in android. We are supposed to use extensions to configure firefox, too bad that the extensions for android firefox are few. I use vivaldi as a "javascript disabled" browser, since I can't disable javascript in firefox.
iforgotpassword 3y ago
> So Vivaldi lets you set your own User-Agent string? How is this notable? Doesn't every modern browser let you do this in some form or another? No and no. I think neither Chrome nor Firefox have that feature built-in in the settings UI, and the blog post is about how Vivaldi doesn't just masquerade as Edge, but completely identifies as it when visiting bing, to get over the fence. All other sites still get the normal UA string. > This is a poor characterization, and attributes as malice what is actually just technical debt. Did Vivaldi forget that every major browser's User-Agent basically masquerades as all the others? Err what... The cluttered UA string we have today is the result of exactly that kind of practice, blocking browsers because they're not X. If companies still decide to block browsers in new products today because of their UA string, this is the opposite of technical debt.

causi 3y ago

There is no way to change useragent in Android Chrome or even Android Firefox. There is just a crippled "desktop mode" button that still tells the site you're on a mobile browser.

lopkeny12ko 3y ago
I don't know about Chrome, but you certainly can set your User-Agent on Android Firefox. I have it set right now to Linux desktop, so all websites render as desktop by default. Just set general.useragent.override in about:config.
- robotnikman 3y ago
  Are you sure you can open about:config on android firefox? When I try I just get a blank page. Are you stable or nightly?
  - alvarezbjm-hn 3y ago
    True for me, too. I have never been able to access an about:config for firefox in android. We are supposed to use extensions to configure firefox, too bad that the extensions for android firefox are few. I use vivaldi as a "javascript disabled" browser, since I can't disable javascript in firefox.

iforgotpassword 3y ago

> So Vivaldi lets you set your own User-Agent string? How is this notable? Doesn't every modern browser let you do this in some form or another? No and no. I think neither Chrome nor Firefox have that feature built-in in the settings UI, and the blog post is about how Vivaldi doesn't just masquerade as Edge, but completely identifies as it when visiting bing, to get over the fence. All other sites still get the normal UA string. > This is a poor characterization, and attributes as malice what is actually just technical debt. Did Vivaldi forget that every major browser's User-Agent basically masquerades as all the others? Err what... The cluttered UA string we have today is the result of exactly that kind of practice, blocking browsers because they're not X. If companies still decide to block browsers in new products today because of their UA string, this is the opposite of technical debt.