How to detect iPad and iPad OS version in iOS 13 and Up?

Question

I can detect iOS 13 on iPhone but in iPad OS 13 navigator.platform comes as MacIntel. So it is not possible to get iPad identified using below code, but it works perfectly on iPhone.

    if (/iP(hone|od|ad)/.test(navigator.platform)) {
            var v = (navigator.appVersion).match(/OS (\d+)_(\d+)_?(\d+)?/);
            var version = [parseInt(v[1], 10), parseInt(v[2], 10), parseInt(v[3] || 0, 10)];
            return version;
    }

When we request for mobile website using the browser on iPad navigator.platform returns as iPad and works perfectly.

Can anyone suggest a way to identify iPad running on iOS 13 and up using Javascript?

Answer 1

I was able to get iPad detection working by checking for navigator.maxTouchPoints as well as navigator.platform. It's not perfect (as discussed in the comments below) but it's the best solution I've come across so far so I wanted to share.

const iPad = (userAgent.match(/(iPad)/) /* iOS pre 13 */ || 
  (navigator.platform === 'MacIntel' && navigator.maxTouchPoints > 1) /* iPad OS 13 */);

Answer 2

TL;DR

const iPad = !!(navigator.userAgent.match(/(iPad)/)
  || (navigator.platform === "MacIntel" && typeof navigator.standalone !== "undefined"))

We can use the navigator.standalone param. It's non-standard and used only on iOS Safari at present:

Navigator.standalone

Returns a boolean indicating whether the browser is running in standalone mode. Available on Apple's iOS Safari only.

When combined with navigator.platform === "MacIntel" iPad's are the only devices that define this property, therefore typeof navigator.standalone !== "undefined" filters out Macs running Safari (touchscreen or not).

I set up a CodeSandbox and manually tested on Browserstack, seems to work as expected: https://bc89h.csb.app/

Version Detection (iOS only)

I haven't tested this too extensively but should give anyone else looking a good place to start:

const version = navigator.userAgent.match(/Version\/(\d+)\.(\d+)\.?(\d+)?/);
const major = version && version[1] ? version[1] : "";
const minor = version && version[2] ? version[2] : "";
const patch = version && version[3] ? version[3] : "";

The above takes the version and breaks it down into major, minor and patch elements. This seems to work for iOS 12 & 13 which I ran a quick test against. The above SandBox link shows the output.

Answer 3

You can use WURFL.js, which is free if you just want to know what device is in use: https://web.wurfl.io/#wurfl-js

Full disclosure, I'm the COO of the company behind WURFL and ImageEngine, but I'm also an open-source developer :)

WURFL.js can tell you what OS is in use and if it's an iPhone or iPad.

To use it, just add this to the head of your page:

<script type="text/javascript" src="//wurfl.io/wurfl.js"></script>

Then you can use the device information in javascript:

console.log(WURFL.complete_device_name);

Note: With the paid version you can get more accurate results (ex: Apple iPhone XS Max, Apple iPad Pro 11) as well as a many other device characteristics.

If you don't need the device information for the initial paint, you can also run this asynchronously so it doesn't block rendering. Stick it at the end of the body and use async or defer:

<script type="text/javascript">
window.addEventListener('WurflJSDetectionComplete', () => {
   console.log(`Device: ${WURFL.complete_device_name}`);
});
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="//wurfl.io/wurfl.js" async></script>

While you're at it, you might as well use this improved device information to enhance Google Analytics: https://www.scientiamobile.com/wurfljs-google-analytics-iphone/

Note that unlike the other answers, this one requires no ongoing maintenance on the part of the developer.

Answer 4

It's simple - you can't. You can only use hacks like this one

let isIOS = /iPad|iPhone|iPod/.test(navigator.platform)
|| (navigator.platform === 'MacIntel' && navigator.maxTouchPoints > 1)

The first condition for "mobile", second for iPad mimicking Macintosh Safari. It works reliably for me, but who knows what will change in the future. If there are to be macs with touch screen, this will detect not only iPads in Desktop mode, but also regular Macs.

The other way is feature detection - you can, but probably shouldn't rely on browser features support. For example, Safari on Mac doesn't support date picker, but the mobile one does.

Anyway, I suggest you try not to rely on platform detection (which will be broken in future anyway) and use feature detection (but not to distinct platforms) as Modernizr instead - if you want to use Date picker, you can check if it is available and if it's not, use an HTML solution instead. Don't lock out users just because they use some other browser. You may notify them but give them the option to hide the notification and use your site anyway.

As a user, I hate it when someone tells me to go and use another browser

Just remember - platform detection indicates a bad code smell since all these are hacks.