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Why doesn't Safari let you turn off mobile sites?

Rogifan

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Original poster
Nov 14, 2011
25,297
33,721
There's nothing I hate more than going to a website and being re-directed to the mobile or tablet version of the site. Sure some of them allow you to switch to desktop mode but not all. Plus it's an extra click I'd rather not have to do. Some mobile websites are OK but most don't have all the festures the desktop version does. How difficult would it be for Apple to allow users to turn off mobile sites in Safari settings/preferences? Other browsers like Atomic Web don't re-direct you. So why does Safari?
 
Yeah, this is probably the thing I dislike the most about my iPhone. When the original iPhone came out, it didn't seem to be as bad, but at some point it became a problem. It's tolerable if the website has a button to show the full desktop website, but not all of them have that button. What's even worse, some have the button but it doesn't work, it effectively just keeps refreshing the mobile site. I've actually started to use the Dolphin browser, which I actually like quite a lot, and it has a nice, simple desktop setting that avoids this problem altogether. I really wish they'd add that to Safari, I guess I should send in some feedback about that.
 
I believe it's the same with most of the stock browsers on Android phones also, but the Android version of Chrome however lets you choose between mobile och desktop.

I can't find that setting in the iOS version of Chrome, so it's probably something that Apple don't want use to be able to do. Perhaps because this will make the browsing slower on larger/heavier sites and don't want us to blame Apple for making slow phones?

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WishIWasHere said:
Yeah, this is probably the thing I dislike the most about my iPhone. When the original iPhone came out, it didn't seem to be as bad, but at some point it became a problem. It's tolerable if the website has a button to show the full desktop website, but not all of them have that button. What's even worse, some have the button but it doesn't work, it effectively just keeps refreshing the mobile site. I've actually started to use the Dolphin browser, which I actually like quite a lot, and it has a nice, simple desktop setting that avoids this problem altogether. I really wish they'd add that to Safari, I guess I should send in some feedback about that.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip, jumped past your post when I wrote the above...
 
The worst issue with this (imo) is poorly coded redirects. Sometimes when you do a Google search and tap on a result, it will redirect you to their mobile site ... except that the redirect throws you to their homepage and not to the original article/page. And often the "view full site" link does the same thing.
 
I agree, it's something I really wish would get fixed/improved. I'm fairly easy to please, and I don't have many iPhone complaints, but this is one that has bugged me for years now.
 
Nale72 said:
I believe it's the same with most of the stock browsers on Android phones also, but the Android version of Chrome however lets you choose between mobile och desktop.

I can't find that setting in the iOS version of Chrome, so it's probably something that Apple don't want use to be able to do. Perhaps because this will make the browsing slower on larger/heavier sites and don't want us to blame Apple for making slow phones?

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Thanks for the tip, jumped past your post when I wrote the above...
Click to expand...

Chrome for iOS has an option to request the desktop site in the menu.
 
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