The Death of User-Agent: Introduction to Client Hints (CH)

For 30 years, we parsed the User-Agent string to detect if a user is on Mobile or Desktop. That string is now frozen. Google Chrome (and Edge) will soon stop updating the version number in the standard header.

1. Why? Fingerprinting.

The UA string revealed too much: exact OS version, device model, and CPU architecture. This allowed ad trackers to identify users without cookies.

2. The Solution: Sec-CH-UA

Instead of sending everything by default, the browser now sends only the brand ("Google Chrome"). If you want the OS version or Model, the server must explicitly request it via a specific header:

Accept-CH: Sec-CH-UA-Model, Sec-CH-UA-Platform-Version

Check the "Your Browser" section on our homepage. We use this new API to detect your device.