When you open a website in a browser on your iPhone, it often displays a mobile version optimized for smaller screen real-estate. However, this version may lack features you need to interact with the site.
Thankfully, Apple’s built-in browser, Safari, can easily load desktop mode for any tab on your device. You can even configure it to always load sites in desktop mode on all open tabs.
How to Switch to Desktop Mode
There can be times when you’d like to view a Web page on your iPhone in full desktop mode. A number of Web browsers, including Google Chrome and Firefox, offer ways to do this.
Some even have the capability to always load a site in desktop mode by default. For example, Safari has a feature that allows you to configure your phone’s browser to load any given website in a desktop-friendly version.
Safari
Apple’s Safari is one of the most popular web browsers in use on both iOS and Mac. It has a minimalist interface and a handful of extensions that make it easy to navigate websites, bookmark favorites, and open multiple tabs in one window.
However, there are some things about Safari that can be frustrating for some users. For example, it doesn’t use favicons, which are icons that help distinguish browser tabs.
This can cause some confusion when you’re browsing with a content blocker on.
Luckily, there’s a way to automatically switch from mobile to desktop mode on iOS. To do so, open the website you want to view in desktop mode and tap the menu icon that looks like two capital letters A’s positioned before the address bar.
Chrome
If you’re using the Google Chrome web browser on your iPhone, you can use desktop mode to view websites on the device. This can be useful when viewing online forms, download sites, or other sites that don’t offer the best experience on mobile devices.
To activate desktop mode for a tab in Chrome, simply open the menu (tap the three dots button) and then select Request Desktop Site. This will automatically load the desktop version of any site on that tab.
While this works for most websites, some sites don’t display their content correctly in this way. In these cases, requesting the desktop site may not work.
Edge
Using a desktop browser on your iPhone can be a great way to see how a website looks on a larger screen. You can also use it to test web applications that require special functionality or features not available on mobile devices.
Edge computing is an emerging technology that uses data close to the source — such as a smart store, factory floor or even a telesurgery operation — rather than sending it to a distant server for analysis. The result is reduced latency, faster responses and better business insights based on real-time data.
Edge computing is a big part of Microsoft’s new reimagined browser, Edge. It has been designed to replace Internet Explorer, and runs fast and efficiently. You can download the browser for free on your PC, Mac, iPhone or Android device.
Opera
Opera is a Chromium-based browser that has a wide range of extensions and features. Its built-in ad-blocker and cryptojacking defender are strong, and it also offers a one-handed mode for quick browsing.
Another great feature is the PDF reader. The browser uses Chrome’s default PDF reader, which works well for reading web pages as PDFs.
It’s easy to use and doesn’t hog memory. However, it can be buggy and slow down performance if you don’t update it regularly.
Despite its limitations, Opera Mini is still a very capable browser that’s easy to use and focuses on data savings and faster page loading. It also supports syncing and voice commands, which makes it ideal for mobile browsing.