What is the best User Agent editor for Firefox?

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Hello

What would be the best addon that would allow me to edit the user agent in Firefox ESR? Or even Waterfox Classic for that matter? I must admit to be nervous about getting a bad addon. I have seen too many options at Mozilla addon and I don’t even know if they are any good.

Thank you for your consideration

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Both Firefox and Waterfox Classic include a “built-in” setting to override the default user agent string.

• How to change your user agent in Firefox (also works for Waterfox Classic)

Notes:

This changes the user agent for all websites, if you want to control it on a “per-site-basis“, you’ll need an add-on like User-Agent Switcher and Manager.

Due to a bug in the S/W, privacy.resistFingerprinting must be set to “false” for the override to work properly.

 

2 users thanked author for this post.

Lars220, GoneToPlaid

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As alejr has indicated, User-Agent Switcher and Manager is the best. I use it in Firefox and in Chrome.

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Thank you for your replies!

I am curious, how is the User-Agent Switcher and Manager differs from two other addons I see in Mozilla, User-Agent Switcher (both of them named the same but have different authors)?

Do you have any advice on what to do with these addons? I don’t want to accidently goof things up.

Thank you

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Actually, there’s a 4th one called User Agent Switcher (without the -) but User-Agent Switcher and Manager is the only one that actually received Mozilla’s tag.

• Recommended Extensions program

1 user thanked author for this post.

Lars220

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anonymous wrote:

I am curious, how is the User-Agent Switcher and Manager differs from two other addons I see in Mozilla, User-Agent Switcher (both of them named the same but have different authors)?

Changing the User Agent string is not a hard thing for a browser to do, so all of them should be able to do it equally well. The differences are in the UI.

I was in the position of recommending just such an extension about 6 mos. ago, so I looked at about half a dozen of those in the Mozilla repository to compare their UIs.

I found some merely enabled you to set a custom User Agent string in your browser, but you had to determine what string you wanted and construct it yourself.

Some of the others had predefined lists from which you could pick and choose with a click, but the lists were woefully out of date — e.g., only mimicking up to Firefox 78 or Chrome 82, for instance, or only up to Windows 8.1. If you wanted your browser to mimic a more recent browser or OS, you were back to constructing it yourself.

The AddOn by author “Ray” is the most up to date, by far — and even that one only mimics up to Firefox 97 (as of this writing).

Once you see a few of the strings it offers, it’s not too hard to figure out for yourself how to tweak the proposed string for a later Firefox, so it’s not that big a deal, but it points out how this type of extension necessitates constant updates to keep up with the constantly changing browser versions, and Ray’s seems to have the best chance of doing that.

Stick with Ray’s.

 

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I use “User Agent Switcher and Manager.”  It’s a Mozilla “recommended” extension, which means they have verified it is safe to use. While there are no guarantees in life, if you stick to recommended extensions, you can be reasonably sure they are safe.

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Thank you very much for your help!

I do one last question. I promise    The question is about what the User-Agent Switcher and Manager required permissions for (on left side of screen of site, you can see it there).  I am wondering if that is legit?  I am asking because it asks to access my data for website, browser navigating and browser tabs.  Does that mean it will telephone home for every single action I do online?

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anonymous wrote:

The question is about what the User-Agent Switcher and Manager required permissions for (on left side of screen of site, you can see it there).  I am wondering if that is legit?

Yes, those permissions are required for the extension to do its job.

When your browser sends a request to visit a website, it sends along a lot of environmental information — such as your browser name, version, underlying OS and version, CPU architecture, etc.  This is called your “User Agent” data. The extension needs access to modify this outgoing traffic in order to mimic another browser, browser version, or OS. Without these permissions, the webserver on the other end will see your real browser and OS instead.

 

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I am now trying it out.

Thank you very much for your help!   I appreciate it very much

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Okay, I have tried it out. I think I have figured out the Custom mode. However, I am still confused (dumb of me, I know) as to what Black List Mode and White List Mode do exactly? How do I configure them?

I assume that Black List Mode means the Switcher is off unless I go to a specific site? White List Mode means All website will be served with spoof except for the ones I cleared beforehand in the setting correct? If I wanted a specific user agent, do I simply paste in into black or white section as I do with the custom?

Custom Mode seemed to work just fine Thank you!

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anonymous wrote:

I am still confused (dumb of me, I know) as to what Black List Mode and White List Mode do exactly? How do I configure them? I assume that Black List Mode means the Switcher is off unless I go to a specific site? White List Mode means All website will be served with spoof except for the ones I cleared beforehand in the setting correct? If I wanted a specific user agent, do I simply paste in into black or white section as I do with the custom?

Ha ha! No, you’re not dumb. This extension really needs a tutorial or help file, or at least a decent FAQ. That’s why I went looking for something better last year. Sadly, the competition was so far out of date that Ray’s extension is still better, despite its poor documentation.

I don’t use lists, but I think your blacklist/whitelist understanding is opposite of mine. You set a userAgent string in the first drop-down (when you click the extension) to replace the browser’s default. That will be applied to (1) all websites, or (2) to all websites except those on a blacklist, or (3) to no websites except those on a whitelist.

You do not specify userAgent strings in the optional black/white lists, you specify only website domains. They will get or not get the global replacement userAgent string specified in the first drop-down. Websites that do not get the replacement string will get the browser’s normal default.

If you want to specify three or more different userAgent strings to use at various sites, that’s where “Custom Mode” comes into play. In Custom you specify both the web domain and the custom userAgent string you want for that particular domain. But that’s well beyond anything I would ever have a need for, so I have no experience with that.

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Thank you for your reply! That was helpful

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