With the use of the developer options in Safari, it is possible to change the user agent of the web browser. The Safari browser is capable of identifying itself as another browser. A handy feature if you want to test browser dependent options on a website.

To get access to the list of different user agents, you will first need to activate the developers menu: Safari ▸ Preferences ▸ Advanced ▸ Select the option ‘Show Develop menu in menu bar’.

After activating the extra menu option ‘Develop’, it will appear in the top menu bar of Safari. You now should be able to choose a different user agent for Safari; choose older versions of Safari, Mobile Safari 4.3.3 (iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad), Opera, Firefox and Internet Explorer 7,8 and 9. You can even ‘define’ your own user agent if you would like to.

Safari ▸ Develop ▸ User agent

By selecting a specific user agent, the website will be based on the selected user agent. For example, if you select the ‘Mobile Safari 4.3.3’ and visit our site, you will see that it will open the mobile version.