Mobile Site Help

August 23, 2012 9:14 PM

I am sure this is covered somewhere, but I'm not finding it. How do I use the mobile site on my android phone while logged in?

I logged in to kill the ads, but now I can only see the full site, and that's a pain on my android phone.

posted by Irontom to MetaFilter-Related at 9:14 PM (19 comments total)

You probably clicked the Switch to Standard Site link at the bottom of the page. In that case if you just log out and then back in you'll be set. Logging out will remove the cookie that tells the site you don't want the mobile version.

If you have a custom user-agent set to fool sites into thinking you're a desktop browser (you'll know if you do), you can visit mobile.metafilter.com to tell MetaFilter to use the mobile site even though you're not a mobile device. And again, log out and back in to clear that setting at any time.
posted by pb (staff) at 9:18 PM on August 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

The log out / log thing is ok, sure, I mean you're pb and all, but I always just click the mobile link in the site's footer links to switch back to mobile version.
posted by ericost at 9:42 PM on August 23, 2012

Yeah, the Mobile link under the Links menu in the footer will work too. It's just a bit hard to find on a small screen.
posted by pb (staff) at 10:43 PM on August 23, 2012

Look, you're a mod, who am I? But I can find the link on a small screen no problem, with a little pinch and spread zooming. And my phone even has cracked front glass. I just think you're giving out some ... questionable advice, pb, and someone has to say something.
posted by ericost at 11:17 PM on August 23, 2012 [1 favorite]

Is pb the only real one?
posted by Kerasia at 3:51 AM on August 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

Speaking of unreal, there is no link for the mobile site at the bottom of the page on my iPad2.
Logging out switches me to the standard site, but logging in doesn't switch me back..
The mobile.metafilter.com works great though, so thanks for that, PB!
posted by SLC Mom at 5:57 AM on August 24, 2012

If you're using Chrome on Android, make sure the "request desktop site" in the menu is turned OFF. Mine works fine and I'm on the mobile site when that's not checked.
posted by deezil at 6:08 AM on August 24, 2012

SLC Mom, we don't serve the mobile version of the site to iPads because we feel like the standard version of the site looks great on that screen. So there's no reason to show the Mobile link there because there's no reason to switch back and forth. We don't show the Mobile link to desktop browsers and we consider Mobile Safari on an iPad a desktop browser. (With a few exceptions like the skip to menu link at the top of the page.)
posted by pb (staff) at 6:22 AM on August 24, 2012

Well, that makes sense. Thanks!
posted by SLC Mom at 6:27 AM on August 24, 2012

SLC Mom, just out of curiosity, why do you want the mobile version on your iPad?
posted by grouse at 8:12 AM on August 24, 2012

I just think you're giving out some ... questionable advice, pb, and someone has to say something.

I appreciate the feedback, that's what MetaTalk is for. Hey, if it was up to me I'd solve everything at the command line with a Perl one-liner. So while I know you have no problem finding the link on a cracked screen, I just try to convey the path of least resistance. After you've been through a few dozen MetaTalk threads where people complain about the extreme hassle of pinching and zooming, that option starts to sound less desirable than the login/logout process. So much like a city that paves diagonally over desire lines in the grass, I'm trying to give the route that it appears most people want to take. The more I know about the situation, the more I can tailor that advice.
posted by pb (staff) at 8:25 AM on August 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

pb, that's exactly the kind of thinking that leaves paved diagonal paths across our great nation's green spaces. I suggest you quit while you are ahead. Look, you sound like you are trying to be reasonable, why not just admit the superiority of the mobile link in the footer, and stop using the imagined inability of people to use their phones as an excuse for your bad advice? I'm starting to think maybe you get a bonus every time someone logs on to the site or something.
posted by ericost at 11:31 AM on August 24, 2012

Do you know who else claimed that their way of doing things was superior?
posted by pb (staff) at 11:42 AM on August 24, 2012 [2 favorites]

Modwind'd.
posted by radwolf76 at 1:20 PM on August 24, 2012

pb, I dunno, Jesus? So now your argument against using the mobile link is "Jesus"? Frankly this is getting ridiculous.
posted by ericost at 2:30 PM on August 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

That's a joke, son.
posted by grouse at 12:13 PM on August 25, 2012

"Do you know who else claimed that their way of doing things was superior?"
posted by pb (staff)

Some Mother?
posted by marienbad at 1:23 PM on August 25, 2012

Grouse: I don't really. But I am a button pusher on the computer. I check things out and then decide if I like them. And I went to check it out on the iPad and it wasn't there.

I am still internalizing the idea that a site can tell what kind of machine i'm on and customize itself to suit. Next on my check list: PC.MetaFilter vs Mac.MetaFilter.
posted by SLC Mom at 3:13 PM on August 25, 2012

something something window size something
posted by flabdablet at 11:10 PM on August 26, 2012