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Any way to view an Internet Explorer only site on Android?

ScorpDX

ScorpDX

Android Expert
I've searched and searched and can't find a solution. I need to access http://www.pfmlogin.com via my EVO but it won't let me login. It's restricted to Internet Explorer only. I've tried every browser available on the market. I've search IE Spoofing apps. I found a few. One didn't work at all, another was just an IE logo for the shortcut but opened the stock browser. I've tried everything I can think of. I've even gone so far as to email the companies IT and ask them to drop the browser requirement. They refused citing security risks...blah!

Anyone have any ideas?

Using Firefox here, but any other browser comes up with this.
firefox.png


If you use Internet Explored this is what it comes up with (image from pc)
IEworks.png
 
sitlet said:
have you tried switching the browser to desktop view? Menu-settings in the browser.
Click to expand...

I believe you have to get the debug menu to to that first

in the address bar input about:debug and push enter. it will appear nothing has happened. Then go into menu>settings>uastring - change to desktop
 
sitlet said:
have you tried switching the browser to desktop view? Menu-settings in the browser.
Click to expand...
Knewz said:
I believe you have to get the debug menu to to that first

in the address bar input about:debug and push enter. it will appear nothing has happened. Then go into menu>settings>uastring - change to desktop
Click to expand...
Just gave that a try. Still showing invalid browser when viewing the page
 
You might want to try cyanogenmod, I believe you can change your browser default to IE, safari, etc.

I was able to do this with my Mytouch3G when I needed to view a certain page.
 
There is no way to change the browser agent for Android's browser. You might try one of the alternative browsers available in the market like Dolphin (I seem to recall seeing a user agent feature in Dolphin). Note however that if IE is being required, it's probably for good reason, more standards compliant browsers like the Android Browser or Dolphin probably won't render the webpage correctly so it's possible you'll still have trouble.
 
ari-free said:
IE only sites in this day and age? Whoever designed that site should be fired.
Click to expand...
I just chalked that up to a sub-par webdesign employee who doesn't understand cross-browser coding.

bennypole said:
There is no way to change the browser agent for Android's browser. You might try one of the alternative browsers available in the market like Dolphin (I seem to recall seeing a user agent feature in Dolphin). Note however that if IE is being required, it's probably for good reason, more standards compliant browsers like the Android Browser or Dolphin probably won't render the webpage correctly so it's possible you'll still have trouble.
Click to expand...
I've used dolphin, FireFox, opera, and one other i cant remember the name of. All the same result. Even if i change the agent to desktop it still won't work. I tried the custom agent too and no luck.
 
Any more info on this? Did you try out cyanogenmod? I also need to view ie only websites on my phone ... (whoever designed the things should be fired, honestly). Its important enough that I'm considering switching to a windows 7 phone ... bah.
 
zarzak said:
Any more info on this? Did you try out cyanogenmod? I also need to view ie only websites on my phone ... (whoever designed the things should be fired, honestly). Its important enough that I'm considering switching to a windows 7 phone ... bah.
Click to expand...

That may not work either. Often pages like the OP's fleet tracking site use ActiveX controls. Which AFAIK is PC(Windows) only.

BTW there are still sites out there which only render correctly with Internet Explorer 6.
 
mikedt said:
BTW there are still sites out there which only render correctly with Internet Explorer 6.
Click to expand...

We've got a client out there in a medical field that needs X-Rays from a 3rd party vendor. Those x-rays can be viewed online, but only from IE 6. Consequently, they must have IE 6 on their computers or they can't make money. Then they have other viewers who post X-Rays that can not be read on IE 6 because it's an insecure POS. Pain to deal with.
 
OK, so I went to the Sprint store and tried out the new windows 7 phone ... and the site worked on it!

So that tells me that its just a browser thing, at least in my case.

I learned that the opera browser has an internet explorer mask option, but when I use that I get an xml parsing fail error, and the html reparsing option renders some critical components useless. So are there any other browsers out there that have an internet explorer mask option? Dolphin doesn't, I know ... :(
 
Lot of misinformation in this thread, which I will now correct:

You CAN spoof the user-agent of the stock browser by typing in about:config into the address bar. nothing will happen once you submit. That is normal. But now, if you go into settings and scroll way down, there's a UAString setting that let's you change how your browser appears to web sites. I don't think IE is an option though.

As someone else said, the CyanogenMod 7 (CM7) custom ROM is running Gingerbread, and the stock browser DOES let you change the user-agent without all the above about:config nonsense. And IE is an option.

Just a warning: if a site was designed to use IE, it's not simply to inconvenience you. It's likely using code that only IE can understand, so even if you trick it into thinking your Android browser is IE, your browser still won't be able to interpret the code properly.

The browser on WP7 phones is naturally IE-based, being a Microsoft phone, so that site will work. Android's browser engine is based on webkit, not IE, so it's not surprising you got xml parsing errors trying to view a site intended for IE to parse. Until an IE app is made for Android, that site will be restricted to a real IE browser.
 
novox77 said:
Lot of misinformation in this thread, which I will now correct:

You CAN spoof the user-agent of the stock browser by typing in about:config into the address bar. nothing will happen once you submit. That is normal. But now, if you go into settings and scroll way down, there's a UAString setting that let's you change how your browser appears to web sites. I don't think IE is an option though.

As someone else said, the CyanogenMod 7 (CM7) custom ROM is running Gingerbread, and the stock browser DOES let you change the user-agent without all the above about:config nonsense. And IE is an option.

Just a warning: if a site was designed to use IE, it's not simply to inconvenience you. It's likely using code that only IE can understand, so even if you trick it into thinking your Android browser is IE, your browser still won't be able to interpret the code properly.

The browser on WP7 phones is naturally IE-based, being a Microsoft phone, so that site will work. Android's browser engine is based on webkit, not IE, so it's not surprising you got xml parsing errors trying to view a site intended for IE to parse. Until an IE app is made for Android, that site will be restricted to a real IE browser.
Click to expand...

Thats depressing, but sounds right ... thanks for the info. :( Guess I will have to buy the windows 7 phone.
 
about:config has always worked for me on any ROM. about:debug has been hit or miss for me.

I suspect the HTC stock browser might have gotten an update in 3.70 that accepts both now.
 
You will need a browser that lets you set a custom agent like dolphin dont know about the others but in dolphin go to settings user agent then custom then settings custom user agent and enter the follow script. Mozilla/4.0 ( compatible; MSIE 5.5; Windows98)
Works fine on acer iconiatab
i havent tried to download logs but I have reviewed logs on driver login page
 
Just to clarify something though logging in as a driver doesnt pose a security risk I would not use this trick to log into the company side dashboard if somehow you had a hitchhiker follow you in it will be hell to pay
 
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