Detect if iOS is using webapp

Question

I was wondering if it's possible to detect if an iOS user is using the webapp, or just visiting the normal way with safari browser.

The reason I want to achieve is that on a iOS webapp when a user click on a link, he will get redirected to the Safari browser. So I'm using the following workaround to make him stay in the webapp(prevent the switching to safari browser).

$( document ).on("click",".nav ul li a",
        function( event ){

        // Stop the default behavior of the browser, which
        // is to change the URL of the page.
        event.preventDefault();

        // Manually change the location of the page to stay in
        // "Standalone" mode and change the URL at the same time.
        location.href = $( event.target ).attr( "href" );

        }
    );

But I want this workaround only to happen when the user is using the webapp, I want it to be conditional for webapp users. So not on the default safari browser.

Answer 1

You have to detect this by using some javascript:

<script>
if (("standalone" in window.navigator) &&       // Check if "standalone" property exists
    window.navigator.standalone){               // Test if using standalone navigator

    // Web page is loaded via app mode (full-screen mode)
    // (window.navigator.standalone is TRUE if user accesses website via App Mode)

} else {

    // Web page is loaded via standard Safari mode
    // (window.navigator.standalone is FALSE if user accesses website in standard safari)
}
</script>
</head> 

Now the extra check "standalone" in window.navigator is needed because some browsers do not have the standalone property and you don't want your code to crash for those browsers.