Mobile Detection (or Mobile Browser Detection)

Using a script to differentiate between a mobile device and a desktop computer.

Mobile Detection (or Mobile Browser Detection)

Mobile detection, or mobile browser detection, is the process of using a server side script to recognize the difference between users visiting the web site with a mobile device or with a desktop or laptop computer.

Why Does This Matter to Me?

Mobile detection allows your web server to deliver different content layout or different content altogether to users depending on whether they are using a mobile device or not.

This means that for a user on a mobile device, you may reduce the number of images loaded due to possible bandwidth restrictions or data charges, or you may remove scripting or animations that may not work on mobile devices or may also run into excessive data charges to your visitor. On a mobile device you may also want the text to display larger to make it easier to read on the smaller screens, and you may need to make the clickable navigation buttons larger with more space between them to accommodate users trying to work withing a finger-tap interface without the precision of a mouse pointer.