User-Agent
The user-agent is a string the browser or device sends with every request, identifying the browser type and version, the OS, and the device model. Servers use it to spot bots, choose the right content, and decide whether the device even supports installing a PWA.
Its role in cloaking and anti-fraud
Cloaking systems read the user-agent alongside other signals to catch suspicious patterns — outdated or obviously spoofed strings, headless browsers, an OS/device mismatch, or agents typical of servers and datacenters. Taken together with those other signals, a visit like that gets routed to a safe page instead of the offer.
User-agent and PWA compatibility
The user-agent decides which install flow to show: Chrome on Android can trigger a native Install prompt, while iOS Safari needs a manual Add to Home Screen instruction through the share menu. A lander's logic has to branch on UA/platform, or part of the audience never sees a working install prompt at all. APEX's cloaking reads the user-agent alongside IP and behavioral signals as part of one combined filter, not as the sole basis for a decision.
FAQ
- Can a user-agent be spoofed?
- Yes, the string is trivial to fake, which is why solid protection always cross-checks it against other signals — IP, behavior, fingerprint — instead of trusting UA alone.
- Is showing a different flow on iOS vs Android a problem?
- No, that's normal — the PWA install process is genuinely different on iOS and Android, so branching the lander logic by UA/platform is a requirement, not a bug.
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