Posted by Mike Taylor (Privateness Sandbox), and Mihai Cîrlănaru (Internet on Android)
The Person-Agent string has been diminished in Chrome on Desktop and Chrome on Android platforms since Chrome 107. Starting in Android 16, the default Person-Agent string in Android WebView will likely be equally diminished.
Up to date Person-Agent string
The default, diminished WebView Person-Agent string is as follows:
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 10; Ok; wv) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Model/4.0 Chrome/125.000 Cellular Safari/537.36
As seen within the diagram, the OS, CPU, and Construct info will likely be diminished to the static “Linux; Android 10; Ok” string. Minor/construct/patch model info can also be diminished to “0.0.0” The remainder of the default Person-Agent stays unchanged (and is unchanging).
How can I detect WebView by way of the Person-Agent string?
Websites can proceed to search for the wv token within the Person-Agent string, until an software has determined to override the Person-Agent string.
Does WebView help Person-Agent Shopper Hints?
Android WebView has supported Person-Agent Shopper Hints since model 116, however just for purposes that ship the default Person-Agent string.
Will a customized WebView Person-Agent string be affected?
The flexibility to set a customized Person-Agent by way of setUserAgentString() received’t be affected – and purposes that select to take action received’t ship the diminished Person-Agent string.