User-Agent Switcher for Chrome has been updated with new user agents. For those who don’t know about this extension, here’s a quick intro.
User Agent Switcher for Chrome is an evergreen extension developed by Google that allows you to switch between user agents in your browser. It helps you test how your site appears on different browsers, search bot spiders, and crawlers.
While checking the extension on Chrome Web Store, I saw the developer has not published any updates for this extension since 19 January 2021. I contacted Google’s developer to know if they’re working on any update release.
They said they don’t have a timeline for this plugin’s next release. So, I decided to update this extension with the latest settings by myself.
How I updated this extension?
I replaced all the outdated user agents and added new strings, including the new bingbot user agent and plugin user agents by ChatGPT. I would say, the new configuration settings are a significant update to the core functionality of this extension because it is super helpful for anyone to use in coming years.
In this post, I will explain how to update the extension User-Agent Switcher for Chrome With the Latest Settings.
The extension mentioned in the blog post will work on Chrome browser only. If you want to change the user agent in any other browser, consider visiting this blog post to learn how to do it manually.
User Agent Switcher? Is it needed?
The user agent switcher extension is inevitable if you are a developer or an SEO Consultant who is responsible for the website’s performance. This extension allows you to quickly toggle the user agent to any type, which helps you to see how your website will look when visiting as a different user type.
When you toggle the extension, the browser will send a different user string in the background, which lets your browser serve the content for that particular agent.
How to Update User-Agent Switcher With the Latest Settings?
As you’re here to update the extension with the latest settings, I’m assuming you’ve already installed it on your browser. If not, follow this guide to learn how to install this extension.
Once you downloaded the extension,
- Right-click on it and select “Options.”
- Delete all the existing user agents by clicking the trash can button.
- Select “Import/Export Settings” from the left sidebar.
- Click on “Choose file” and upload this JSON file.
That’s it! Now you’ve updated the extension with new user agent strings.
How to check the working of this extension?
To validate the authenticity of this extension, follow these steps:
- Visit the website WhatIsMyBrowser
- Click on the extension and select the user agent you want to access a webpage as.
- The website will be refreshed automatically with the new user strings applied and it will display the new user agent name.
That’s how you can verify whether the website is able to detect the new user agent or not.
Oh, that’s the end of this post. I’m glad you’ve read it till the end. 🙂