Firefox OS Identification

Firefox OS is a new mobile phone operating system. which is open source and Linux based.

The ZTE Open is the first Firefox OS based phone from a major producer, and this is what I tested to see how different counters reported a visit to this website.



The user agent string is:

Mozilla/5.0 (Mobile; rv:18.0) Gecko/18.0 Firefox/18.0

which should identify as Firefox 18 / Firefox OS


Firefox / Unknown:

BraveNet
GoStats
24Log
SiteMeter


Firefox 18 / Unknown:

ExtremeTracking
ShinyStats  


Firefox 18 / Firefox OS:

Statcounter
W3

Thus, currently, only two counters correctly identify Firefox OS ~ Statcounter, and W3.

Statcounter Now Identifies Jolla.

Recently I  checked out the response of Traffic Analysis Tools to my new Jolla phone. Alas, none correctly identified Jolla, and some results were completely wide of the mark. However, today I playing around with Opera 19 and I then noticed:

Click for finer detail.

Jolla Browser: Sailfish 1.0 Jolla Jolla 360x640

Opera 19: Opera 19.0 on Android Jolla Jolla 360x592

This is progress!

Sailfish OS and Browser Identification.

Today my Jolla phone arrived. I see Jolla as hopefully creating an alternative to Apple and Google hogging the mobile OS market.
I had intended to make an un-boxing video, but just had to rush into the very attractively packaged boxes, to get my phone!

I have not had a lot of time to play with the phone, although first impressions are good, but I have had the opportunity to see how stat counters are counting visits by Jolla.

Jolla uses Sailfish OS, its own Linux operating system ~ derived from the Nokia MeeGo OS. The default browser is based on the Firefox Gecko rendering engine, and has the browser sting:

Mozilla/5.0 (Maemo; Linux; U; Jolla; Sailfish; Mobile; rv:26.0) Gecko/26.0 Firefox/26.0 SailfishBrowser/1.0 like Safari/538.1

Unfortunately none of the counters identified Sailfish, but this is a newly released product, and so this may change as Sailfish establishes itself.

Onestat: Internet Explorer 6 / Windows XP
(Update 27/12/13 ~ Onestat now giving Apple Safari Mobile Browser / Linux)

Bravenet: No browser identified / Linux

ExtremeTracking: Safari / Linux

GoStats & Sitemeter: Firefox / Linux

W3: Firefox Mobile 26 / Linux

Statcounter & ShinyStats: Firefox 26 / Linux.



PS  Google Analytics comes up with Firefox / Maemo, which is closer to identifying Sailfish than those that gave Linux!


Screen shot of StevesStats, on Jolla Sailfish OS browser. Tool bar automatically pops out of the way to allow a full screen view when not in use.

Update 04/02/2014: Statcounter now correctly identifies Jolla.

Dillo Browser Identification

Dillo is a multi-platform graphical web browser known for its speed and small footprint, which despite its "minimalist rendering" I have enjoyed using occasionally for a number of years.

Steves Stats using Dillo Browser and PC-BSD

Recently I installed Dillo on my PC-BSD running laptop; which, prompted me to check what stat counters accurately log Dillo. I knew that AWStats registered Dillo, because I sometimes used Dillo on Northamptonshire County Council website, and noted that Dillo appeared on their stats log. However, I had not noticed it on any other counter.

Dillo has a very brief browser string:

Dillo/3.0.3

The counters should record Dillo / FreeBSD, but only one, GoStats, did ~ although a few did get the browser alone right:

ShinyStat: visit not recorded at all.

OneStat & ExtremeTracking: Other (Unknown) / Other (Unknown).

Motigo: Unknown / FreeBSD

W3: Dillo 3 / Other

StatCounter: Dillo 3 / Linux

GoStats: Dillo / FreeBSD

RISC OS Identification.

I have been intending to try RISC OS for many years. It is one of the few operating systems I have not tried. Recently, I bought a Rasberry Pi, a simple and inexpensive single board computer. The biggest push to buying a Pi was there being a an "open" version of RISC OS released for the Pi - I have enough Linux computers arround ther house already!

When my Pi arrived, I booted up with RISC OS Open, and was pleased to find a simple and straight forward operating system.

I have always wondered why when I look at user stats on any site I get the oppertunity I have never seen RISC OS present, except with AWStats traffic counter. I soon found out why!

The browser on RISC OS Open is NetSurf, with user string:

NetSurf/2.9 (RISC OS; arm)

I checked every tracker on Steves Stats and found that:

Visit Not Registered:

BraveNet
24Log

Other/Various/Unknown

ShinyStat
OneStat
Site Meter
Extreme Tracking
W3 Counter
Motigo

If fact only two counters identified anything!

StatCounter identified the NetSurf browser, but not the OS (given as Unknown).

Which leaves just GoStats as the only tracker to identify RISC OS (although it gave the broswer as "other"):-




Please can we have this OS identified on counters soon, and hopefully we can see it becoming a popular Pi operating system.

Use a Google Alterntive and... Support Google

If I wanted to support Google Chrome in creating a two browser world, I would use Google Chrome. I use Opera because I cherish diversity, and choice; plus its a superb browser too. Thus I was concerned to hear that Opera intends to change to Webkit. Webkit is the rendering engine used by Apple Safari, Google Chrome, and many others.

Recently a Beta version of the Webkit Opera was released for Android, which I had wished to try for identification purposes, but had been unable to because i do not own any Android devices. Today I was able to view this blog using Opera Beta, and the identification results were.....

Statcounter: Chrome for Android.

Shiny Stats Chrome 25 / Andoid 4x.

ExtremeTracking Android Webkit / Android 4x.

W3 Safari 0.0 / Linux.

24Log, GoStats, SiteMeter and Motigo also identified Opera as Chrome!

When I first read that Opera was moving to WebKit I feared that Opera would be misidentified. If Opera is identified as Google Chrome, or another webkit browser, Opera will just fade into obscurity.....

BlackBerry Z10 Identification

The BlackBerry Z10 was resleased in the UK a few weeks ago. It is hoped it will turn arround BlackBerries fortunes in the smartphone market, with an all new BlackBerry 10 OS. I looked in several shops, but only a demo mode version was available, but eventally I found a working phone.

I visited this site to see how the counters viewd the visit. Whilst this phone may raise Blackberries profile in the shops, it does little to raise the profile much in the world of counters; which should hopefully show BlackBerries increasing in popularity. Hopefully, the counters will improve as the Z10 becomes established, but, alas, at present, the BlackBerry WebKit browser is prodominately counting for the opposition!

Identified as:

Apple Safari Browser / Other OS ~

ShinyStat GoStats

Apple Safari Browser / Macintosh OS ~

OneStat

Unknown Browser / Unknown OS ~

W3

Blackberry Browser / Blackberry OS ~

StatCounter (Only identified as generic Blackberry, and not the new Z10)

Lets hope the counters will sort out BlackBerry 10 identification, otherwise it it little more than a case of Apples web market share being elevated by other browsers and phones.

Loyal BlackBerry fans may well not like apperaring to have switched to Apple!

Update, 14/03/13: When I did the above I got no response from ExTreme tracker, but I have just had a visit from a Z10 in Dubai. Extreme tracker records the Z10 as Unknown OS with Opera 10 browser!