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iPad browser: forced to mobile version of websites

Is this a common annoyance with others? Websites forcing the iPad to a mobile (and sometimes malfunctioning) version of the site?

It has always been an mild annoyance for me, but it seems that just recently something changed with a lot of websites in the past few weeks. Browsing with the iPad is forced to a mobile version, and refuses to go back to desktop version even if that link is available at the bottom of the page. And some websites like Yahoo mail even come up completely blank, even though they show up fine on a PC or even the iPhone browser! Only the iPad browser shows the site blank.

This makes me think that some common update to web server software may be the culprit?(Apache?) Maybe it was updated to "help" by making iPad browser go to mobile site by default, but is actually causing problems instead.
Is there a way to change the default browser from identifying itself as iPad or mobile browser?

iPad

Posted on Mar 4, 2011 7:49 AM

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83 replies

Mar 4, 2011 8:44 AM in response to igmackenzie

I've never found either of those to be especially annoying. When required, I simply use another browser. But different things rub different people the wrong way. 😉 As the OP noted, this is an increasing trend. When I first bought my iPad, it rarely got redirected. For reasons beyond my ken, more and more websites are forcing me to the mobile site.

Mar 5, 2011 9:16 AM in response to igmackenzie

I like that solution of having a selectable option for the default browser. I'll submit a request/feedback to Apple.

It is a shame that as more and more websites become iPad aware, that the browsing experience actually degrades. Such is progess... I was perfectly fine and happy before, at least most of the time, with the default browser. Tried Atomic Lite but miss some of the familiar look and feel of Safari, and the auto-fill suggestions.

I hope the ultimate solution to the forced mobile website issue for iPad browsing is not just to abandon the default browser.

Mar 6, 2011 7:30 PM in response to jenhi

This is one aspest of the iPad that infuriates me- the iPad being re-directed to dumbed down "mobile" sites. I wish Apple would make an option in the preferences that allowed the iPad/Safari to browse as a computer, rather than a mobile device. This isn't an iPhone. I got the iPad to be able to use the web and it isn't allowing me to do that.

iPad browser: forced to mobile version of websites

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