Trick Mobile Sites, View The Desktop Version Instead On Android!
Some sites try to force you to their “mobile optimized” site but that’s not what you always necessarily want. You can bypass this with just a few simple steps. It’s called changing your UAString or User Agent ID (But that wouldn’t make an exciting title now would it?)
- Enter “about:debug” into the browser’s address bar.
- Click your phone’s menu button.
- Click the More icon.
- Now Click Settings.
- Scroll all the way to the bottom, locate UAString and click it.
- From here you can pick Android, Desktop or even iPhone.
This worked for me on my Nexus One running stock 2.2 so your mileage may vary. The only issue with this method is that it’s not permanent and every once in a while you have to type in about:debug again to get your UAString back to what you picked.
One of my main uses for this has been Leo Laporte’s Twit Network. They have the most listened to netcasts/podcasts on the net and they run a video stream of live and re-run shows 24/7. But when you go to http://live.twit.tv/ on Android, you’re sent to the mobile website which has links for a live video stream, audio stream and app, all of which are only for the iPhone!
Since that page is basically a giant live flash stream, I guess they didn’t want to upset those iPhone users but guess what? I have Flash 10.1 on my Nexus One. Since they don’t provide an option to view the desktop site on the page, this is the method I use to bypass that.
Let me know if this works for you!