Since yesterday, Safari on most iPads requests desktop websites and identifies itself as a Mac. Sites that choose a layout by detecting the device now serve iPads the desktop version, which has to work with fingers.

An iPad that says it is a Mac

Apple released iPadOS yesterday, the first version of its operating system made specifically for the iPad.

One change matters to every website. Safari on the iPad now asks for the desktop version of each site, and it introduces itself exactly as Safari on a Mac does. Few owners will change that.

Every browser sends a short description of itself with each request, and websites can read it. From yesterday, most iPads describe themselves as Mac computers.

Apple's reasoning is that the iPad's screen is large enough for full desktop sites, which suit it better than stretched phone layouts.

For most well-built sites, nothing visible changes. For sites that decide what to show by asking which device is visiting, the answer is now wrong.

Two ways a site chooses a layout

A responsive site uses one set of pages that rearrange themselves to fit the width of the screen. It never asks what the device is; it measures the space and fills it.

An older approach, common on sites built several years ago, reads the browser's description of itself and chooses: the full site for computers, a separate mobile site or mobile theme for phones and tablets.

Under iPadOS, the first approach carries on as before, laying itself out for the iPad's real width. The second now takes every iPad for a desktop computer.

Where device detection hides

The second is the one owners least often know they have. A plugin installed years ago to give phones a simpler layout may still be deciding what iPads see, and since yesterday it decides that they are computers.

What iPad visitors now get

On a site that detects devices, the iPad now receives whatever computers receive. If that is a modern layout, little harm is done.

If it is an older desktop site built for a mouse, the iPad gets its fixed width, its small links and its menus that open on hover.

Safari scales such pages to fit the screen and keeps the text readable, but every link and menu is still sized for a pointer. Forms suffer most, with small fields and fiddly date pickers.

Visitors can ask for the mobile version from the aA menu in Safari's address bar, but few will know it is there.

Responsive sites and the desktop layout

A responsive site serves the iPad the layout that fits its width, as before. On many sites that is already the desktop layout, at least with the iPad turned on its side.

So the question for a responsive site is the one it has always had: whether its widest layout works with fingers.

Menus that open only on hover, information that appears only when a pointer rests on something, and links too small or too close together all fail on a touch screen, whatever the device calls itself.

None of that is new. But Apple treating the iPad as a computer in its own browser is a good prompt to check.

A worked example

A piano and keyboard store with a showroom in Kelowna uses iPads on the sales floor, and its salespeople show customers models, finishes and prices on the store's own website.

The site was built in 2013 with a separate mobile version, chosen by a script that read each browser's description of itself. Phones and tablets got the mobile version: large buttons, short pages, one column.

When the showroom iPads updated yesterday, the site on them switched overnight to the desktop version: a fixed-width layout, a menu that opened on hover, and a digital piano comparison table full of tiny links.

A salesperson found that tapping the menu sometimes opened it and sometimes jumped straight to the first page in it.

The immediate fix was asking for the mobile site on each showroom iPad.

The lasting one, now being planned, is a responsive rebuild, so the layout follows the screen rather than the device's name, and the comparison table works with a fingertip.

Fewer tablets in your analytics

Analytics tools read the same description to sort visits by device. From yesterday, iPad visits in Safari will be recorded as desktop visits from Macs.

Reports will show tablet traffic falling and desktop traffic rising from this week. Nothing about your visitors has changed, only the label.

Add an annotation for September 24 so nobody reads the shift as a trend, and take care comparing device figures across that date for the next year. Any other report that splits visitors by device will move the same way.

Testing on a real iPad

A narrow browser window on a computer cannot show how your site treats an iPad, because it still introduces itself as a computer and still has a mouse.

Test on an updated iPad, using fingers only. Open the menu, send every form, go through the booking or quote process, and try any table or gallery.

Check it upright and turned on its side, since the two often get different layouts.

The counter-case

A responsive site that already works well with touch has nothing to do but check. That covers most sites built in the last few years.

On many small business sites, iPads are a modest share of visits, and the analytics from before this week will say how modest. Anybody who switches the setting back to mobile versions is unaffected.

But a site that picks its layout by device should move to responsive design, and any responsive site needs a desktop layout that works with fingers.

Before the weekend

  1. Open your site on an updated iPad.
  2. Use only fingers on every menu.
  3. Try it upright and on its side.
  4. Ask whether your site detects devices.
  5. Annotate September 24 in Analytics.
  6. Fix hover-only menus and small links.
  7. Plan a responsive rebuild if detection is used.

Step four is the question to put to whoever built the site. Detection is invisible from the outside, and a site that relies on it will make the wrong choice for every iPad until it is replaced.

Menus and links that fail under a finger are covered in sites that still assume a mouse.

Frequently asked questions

What changed for iPads yesterday?

With iPadOS, Safari on most iPads asks for the desktop version of every site and describes itself exactly as Safari on a Mac does. Few owners will change that setting.

Will my responsive site look different on iPads?

Usually not. A responsive site lays itself out for the iPad's width, as before. The question is whether its widest layout works with fingers rather than a mouse.

Which sites are affected?

Sites that choose a layout by detecting the device, such as those with a separate mobile site or a mobile theme plugin. They now treat every iPad as a computer.

Why are tablets disappearing from my analytics?

Analytics sorts visits by the browser's description of itself, and iPads now describe themselves as Macs. Tablet visits will be counted as desktop visits from this week.

Can iPad users still get the mobile version?

Yes, from the aA menu in Safari's address bar, by choosing to request the mobile website. Few visitors will know it is there, so the site should not rely on it.

How should I test my site?

On an updated iPad, using fingers only, upright and on its side. A narrow browser window on a computer cannot show it, because it still identifies as a computer.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Site built with a separate mobile version?

Open it on an updated iPad today. We will tell you what iPad visitors now see, and plan the fix.

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