Finding If User Is On Smartphone Or Desktop

[Duke 1]

Do any of your books(Larrry) contain information on how to checki if a user is accessing a webpage on a desktop or smartphone?  I want to create seperate web pages and css files for each type- desktop and smartphone.  Would it be better to use PHP or Java? Thank you

[Larry 422]

No, none of my books do that, but you're getting into a serious debate here: separate sites for mobile vs. desktop or just one responsive site. If you do want to do one responsive site, you'd use PHP on the server to detect and redirect mobile devices. http://detectmobilebrowsers.com/

[abigail 16]

I also want to have different sites for desktop and mobile.
But I want to detect the screen width so tablet and larger get the full website and smaller gets the moble website.
But I haven't researched how to do it because I'm working on something else right now.

[margaux 171]

I use this code on some of my sites. It serves up a different page for phones. You would need to amend it for tablets.

 

function mobilePhone() {
	$type = $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'];
	if  ((strpos((string)$type, "Windows Phone") != false) || (strpos((string)$type, "iPhone") != false) || (strpos((string)$type, "Android") != false) )
		{ return true; }
	else 
		{ return false; }
}

if (mobilePhone() == true) {
	header('Location: http://www.example.com/mobile.html'); }
?>

 

 

[Larry 422]

Margaux, I think that's pretty dangerous code. It gives a very false sense of handling the problem, when it really doesn't. Compare your code with that used by detectmobilebrowsers.com:

 

 

<?php
$useragent=$_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'];
if(preg_match('/(android|bb\d+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada\/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)\/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up\.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows (ce|phone)|xda|xiino/i',$useragent)||preg_match('/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s\-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|\-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw\-(n|u)|c55\/|capi|ccwa|cdm\-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd\-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc\-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|\-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(\-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf\-5|g\-mo|go(\.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd\-(m|p|t)|hei\-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs\-c|ht(c(\-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i\-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |\-|\/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |\/)|klon|kpt |kwc\-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|\/(k|l|u)|50|54|\-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1\-w|m3ga|m50\/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m\-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(\-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)\-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|\-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn\-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt\-g|qa\-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|\-[2-7]|i\-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55\/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h\-|oo|p\-)|sdk\/|se(c(\-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh\-|shar|sie(\-|m)|sk\-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h\-|v\-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl\-|tdg\-|tel(i|m)|tim\-|t\-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m\-|m3|m5)|tx\-9|up(\.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|\-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(\-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas\-|your|zeto|zte\-/i',substr($useragent,0,4)))
header('Location: http://detectmobilebrowser.com/mobile');
?> 

[Edward 108]

Larry i love you!

[Larry 422]

I'm blushing! Glad that was helpful. Although I should say again that there are downsides to creating separate sites and a strong argument to creating one site that works regardless of the device.

[margaux 171]

Thanks Larry for pointing out another useful resource.

 

Abigail and I are looking for detection of mobile phones only  - tablets are served the same site as desktops. Unfortunately the code you've referred to would mean tablet users would be served the mobile site.

 

What do you think of the Mobile_Detect class which allows you to target tablets specifically thereby excluding them from the redirect?

 

I agree that there are big downsides to creating different sites for different devices, but sometimes there are strong arguments to do so.

[Larry 422]

I've not used that other class but it looks okay. 

 

Just for my own benefit of understanding your reasoning, a 7" Nexus tablet or a small Kindle will be served the same content as someone using a desktop computer with a 27" screen? And what would you do with an iPod? It's not a mobile phone technically but it's the same user experience (except for downloading data) as an iPhone. 

 

Yes, to be clear, there are arguments to both approaches (separate sites and redirection or one responsive site). It's a lot of work either way and I wouldn't want anyone to make that decision casually. 

[Edward 108]

I'm blushing! Glad that was helpful. Although I should say again that there are downsides to creating separate sites and a strong argument to creating one site that works regardless of the device.

Cannot thank you enough for what I have learned.

[Larry 422]

I'm glad to hear it. That's my goal, after all.

[HartleySan 826]

This might be a worthwhile video to watch in which the creator of responsive design (Ethan Marcotte) talks a bit about when to use responsive design and when to create a separate site:

[Larry 422]

Thanks for sharing that.

[margaux 171]

Just for my own benefit of understanding your reasoning, a 7" Nexus

tablet or a small Kindle will be served the same content as someone

using a desktop computer with a 27" screen? And what would you do with

an iPod? It's not a mobile phone technically but it's the same user

experience (except for downloading data) as an iPhone.

Good questions which highlight the decisions a web designer, developer and indeed the owner are required to make.They also highlight how increasingly complex web development is becoming. What are we going to do when google glass comes online?

 

I always start with the users (e.g.what device they will be using to access the site and where from ) and what the objective of the page is e.g. selling, dissemination of information etc. Obviously, cost and time constraints have to be factored in. These considerations determine what devices need to be targeted with separate sites, responsive design or not at all.

 

[abigail 16]

Does my mobile detection work?

Maybe someone could test it for me, using your mobile device.
I have tested it at mobiletest.me and I can see it looks good.
But what I don't know is if it will detect the devices.
Of course, if you see anything wrong that I didn't notice, you can tell me about that too.

http://adviceofthequeen.com

[Antonio Conte 426]

Works fine in Safari and Chrome on my iPhone 4S.

[abigail 16]

Great. Thanks for letting me know.