Tell me more ×
Ask Different is a question and answer site for power users of Apple hardware and software. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 1 down vote favorite

Angry Birds is available online as HTML5 at http://chrome.angrybirds.com/. Can someone look at the source code and tell me how I can fool it into thinking I am accessing the page through desktop instead of mobile? (I can't install apps onto my iPad, so I want to play the game online, but they don't let mobile users play the HTML5 version.)

share|improve this question
If you read closely, I'm asking different questions. I'm no longer trying to download it; I'm trying to play it on the site. – Anthony Newman Aug 18 '12 at 1:54
I do apologize for that then... – daviesgeek Aug 18 '12 at 2:32
"exact duplicate"? Seriously? – Anthony Newman Aug 18 '12 at 4:10
You're correct that this isn't a duplicate - but programming also is off topic so unless the question gets edited to relate to how safari works (as opposed to a request to analyze source code to bypass restrictions by the authors which A) is programming related and B) crosses into pirated software territory). Note - we haven't deleted this since it's still possible some good edits could refine this to be more squarely on topic for this site.) – bmike♦ Aug 18 '12 at 21:02

closed as off topic by bmike♦ Aug 18 '12 at 21:03

Questions on Ask Different are expected to relate to Apple hardware or software within the scope defined in the FAQ. Consider editing the question or leaving comments for improvement if you believe the question can be reworded to fit within the scope. Read more about closed questions here.

1 Answer

up vote 0 down vote

That's a good question. The culprit here is actually your browser -- the device you are using is actually reported to the website by means of your browser's "user string". The user string tells the website what device and browser you are using. So, it makes sense that the only way to fool the Angry Birds website is to send a different user string.

I'm assuming you can't jailbreak your iPad and modify the browser, but there is a method to modify the Safari user string without jailbreaking. However, you do need to be able to sync the iPad with your computer. Here is a link with instructions. Aside from that, you might be able to find a web proxy to change your user sting, but I don't know of any that will do that. Hope that helps.

share|improve this answer
Ok great. I'll check that out. – Anthony Newman Aug 18 '12 at 1:55
1  
There is nothing worse than websites that make you use their mobile version. Let us know if it worked. – user1457323 Aug 18 '12 at 2:03

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.