On: Show HN: A remote browser product, open-sourced

[ppf]

How is the user agent set? I'm trying out the free demo (free.cloudbrowser.xyz), and two different browsers (Chrome and Firefox) produce different and consistent user agents.

[slowenough → ppf]

Both the user agent and navigator platform strings are mirrored from the client.

[ppf → slowenough]

Could that cause any issues with browser-specific features? I'm not sure what browser/renderer you are actually using, but if I'm using something different, there could be a mismatch in advertised capabilities (through the user agent).

[slowenough → ppf]

Yes, but generally, web apps detect features not browser versions, because UAs are already an unreliable signal of features, from long before BG.

Things like privacy extensions, screen readers, crawlers have various user agents.

At the same time, you make a good point. I'll consider your reflection if I come to re-decide if this is a sensible default.