Safari is one of the fast and optimized browsers when it comes to mobile devices. That is usually a good thing when there are dedicated and optimized browsers for smartphones. Often, the mobile versions of these websites make drastic compromises to facilitate much smoother navigation on our smartphone screens.
Even though several years passed, but there are still a few websites that refuse to adapt to the mobile Safari or still provide an inferior experience on their mobile site over the desktop version. In situations like these, you guys can switch to the desktop version of the website, where you guys want to access web elements that aren’t present on their mobile counterparts. Most of the websites trims down a lot of features when they are optimizing it for smartphones. Now let us look at how you guys can switch to desktop version in Safari. This has been pretty tricky since the iOS 13.
How to View Desktop Site in Safari
We will deal with this article in two parts, i.e. for people using iOS 12 or below and for people using iOS 13. Like many of the iOS features, the ones which are dedicated for Safari, like the Request Desktop Site feature is hidden from iOS 13. With this new iOS 13, Apple has changed the placement of this option, which makes it a bit easier for someone and little tricky for others. By default the iPadOS 13 automatically loads desktop websites, so the iPad users won’t need to look for this feature after updating. Here is how this feature works on devices running iOS 12 and iOS 13 explained separately.
For the ones using iOS 12 and Below versions
There is nothing tricky here, all you need to do is just follow our instructions properly.
- For this first, open the Safari app on your iPhone or iPad running on iOS 12 or below and load any website of your choice. When the site loads, now tap and hold on the “Refresh” button that is placed next to the URL bar.
- After this, you will see a popup menu at the bottom of the screen. From here, select the option “Request Desktop Site.”
That’s it, you guys are done with this. That is, the website will reload, and you guys will now see the desktop version of the site. Further, if you need to go back to the mobile version, just tap and hold on the “Refresh” button again and select on “Request Mobile Site.” This will reload your site and show the Mobile version.
All the users who had updated their phone into iOS 13 or using iOs 13!
I know that some of you guys have updated your iPhone to iOS 13. Now by default, the Safari won’t show the option for launching sites in desktop mode in its usual location any longer. That isn’t surprising since the various features which have been moved around in other native apps by the brand Apple. For instance, i.e. if one asks an example for this, I would say that the missing of Updates tab in the App Store that will be coming to our mind first other than anything else.
The brand has messed up this, i.e. instead of simply having its Request Desktop Website option relocated, Safari has also undergone a whole lot of better in terms of flexibility. Further, you guys can actually now configure a site, or all sites in general, i.e. to always launch in desktop mode, which should come in quite useful. As you know, sometimes the brand comes with handy features like these. Okay guys, I think that you have got an idea about the same, and without any further delays, let us directly jump for checking out how you guys can go around doing all of those features we just explained. Let us start with where the missing option is now located.
How to enable desktop mode for temporarily in Safari?
If you guys want to enable desktop mode i.e. rather than using the Share Sheet or by long-pressing the Refresh icon to access the option to launch a site in its desktop version. For this just, simply press on the aA icon that is located to the upper left corner of the screen instead.
And now in the menu that shows up, tap on Request Desktop Website, and Safari will reload and show the desktop version immediately. Do note that, this setting will only get applied to the tab that is currently active. This also means that, if you open content in other tabs, it will not be in the desktop version. However, if you guys open any links within the tab, i.e. in the earlier one that you choose to open the site in the desktop version. This will also open the links in the desktop mode as well, instead of the mobile version.
Further, this tab will continue to load sites in desktop mode unless and either, by manually you guys close the tab or specify it to load in the mobile versions of websites again.
How to enable desktop mode for a site permanently
If you guys would prefer to have a specific site to load in desktop mode at all times. You don’t have to go around doing that manually anymore. This means that there will be some websites that will only work in desktop mode. So here instead of switching it every time, the new iOS 13 now will allow you guys to configure Safari to automatically show the desktop version of any site can be done quite easily.
For this first, visit the site that you want to load in the desktop mode. After this, now tap on the aA icon, and then tap on the Website Settings. Next up, a menu will pop-up in front of you guys. From here turn on the switch next to Request Desktop Website.
After this, just tap on “Done”, and you guys are done with it. The site will now load in desktop mode all the time, and this will open in every tab, not just the tab that you used for configuring. If you want to stop that from happening in the future. Just go and open the Website Settings pane while you guys having the site loaded. And from here turn off the switch next to the Request Desktop Website option.
How to enable desktop mode for all sites permanently
Apple has always been improving things better with each and every iOS version. That is, to make things even better, iOS 13 has introduced a new feature in Safari. This feature can load each and every site in desktop mode by default. Previously, you guys need to install and use a third-party web browser to gain access like these to such functionality. Hence, for this reason, Apple was forced to provide native support for desktop mode everywhere finally. Apple doesn’t like third party apps doing this. They always needed them to do all these kinds of stuff.
However, you can’t enable desktop mode for all the websites via the Safari itself. Instead, you guys need to dive into the Settings app of your iPhone to do that. For this just follow the steps that I have mentioned below.
- Step 1: For this just tap on the Settings icon on the Home screen. Apparently you can access the settings menu by entering into the quick toolbar. After this i.e. when the Settings app shows up, scroll down and tap on the option Safari.
- Step 2: From here, i.e. on the Safari Settings screen, scroll down and tap on the Request Desktop Website option. Next up, turn on the switch next to the Request On All Websites option.
Once you are done with these things, exit the Settings app, and then launch the Safari. From now all the sites will now load in desktop mode. Unless and until you decide to turn the option off via the Settings app. Just like how you guys enabled this.
Further, if you want certain websites to exclude from loading in desktop mode. For this just bring up the aA menu, and then tap on the Website Settings. After this, select on the turn off the switch next to the Request Desktop Website.
A bit more about the desktop website like experience on your smartphone.
Till this, you guys learned how to load a website in the desktop mode while using the common web browser i.e. with the Safari. You also learned to configure it, that whether all of the sites should load on desktop or not. To be honest, the desktop sites doesn’t really look good at all on the iPhone when compared to other smartphones. Further, there are also a lot of interaction challenges involved with this. Anyway thumbs up to Apple for bringing out lit features like these. That is you guys can actually select which websites to load by default in desktop or mobile version. Correct me if I am wrong, that Google Chrome on Android doesn’t support a feature like these. Do let us know your thoughts and queries on this in the comments section.
