Browser
View detailed information about your browser — name, version, rendering engine, user agent string, and supported features — all from your browser.
Browser
View detailed information about your browser — name, version, rendering engine, user agent string, and supported features — all from your browser.
Privacy First browser Testing Tools on usbRecognized run entirely in your browser using secure Web APIs. No software download, no installation, no data upload — your privacy is 100% protected. Simply click on a tool above to start testing.
Some tools in this category are available now (marked with ✓). Others are coming soon — each coming soon page includes a detailed preview of what the tool will do and how you can test your hardware in the meantime.
Why Browser Information Matters for Debugging
Most hardware tests on the web depend on a browser API, and browser APIs are not uniformly implemented. A test that works perfectly in one browser can fail completely in another, not because the hardware changed but because the API it relies on is missing, disabled, or behaves differently. Knowing exactly which browser and version you are running is the first step in deciding whether a failure is a hardware problem or a platform one.
The second reason is support. When you report a fault to a developer or a vendor, the first question is almost always which browser and operating system you are using, because the answer narrows the possible causes enormously. Having that information ready, rather than having to look it up, turns a slow exchange into a fast one.
The third reason is verification. If you are checking whether a browser has actually updated, or whether a feature you rely on is present in the version you have, reading the reported version is more reliable than trusting an update notification that may have been deferred or ignored.
What a Browser Info Report Contains
A browser information report combines several independent facts that are easy to confuse with each other. It reports the user agent string, the rendering engine and its version, the operating system and its version, the screen and window dimensions, the device pixel ratio, the preferred language, and a set of capability flags for features such as WebGL, WebUSB and media capture.
The capability flags are the most practically useful part and the most frequently overlooked. A hardware test that silently does nothing is usually a capability failure rather than a hardware failure, and the flags show which capabilities are present. If a camera test fails and the capability report shows that media capture is unavailable, the problem is in the browser configuration rather than in the camera.
The reported values also let you distinguish between two browsers that present themselves almost identically. Several browsers deliberately reuse another browser user agent string for compatibility reasons, so the user agent alone does not identify the browser. The combination of engine version and capability flags is what actually separates them.
User Agent, Engine, and Platform Explained
The user agent string is a legacy mechanism that has accumulated a great deal of historical cruft. It was designed to let servers serve different content to different browsers, and it now contains tokens that browsers keep for compatibility rather than because they are accurate. A browser may claim to be several other browsers in sequence in order to pass feature checks written years ago.
The rendering engine is the component that actually determines how a page behaves. Two browsers built on the same engine will render the same page nearly identically, which is why engine and engine version are more informative than the product name. When a layout behaves differently between two browsers, checking whether they share an engine tells you immediately whether to expect a difference.
Platform reporting is the least reliable field in the set. Mobile browsers frequently report a desktop platform in order to receive the desktop version of a site, and desktop browsers on a tablet-mode device may report a mobile platform. Use it as a hint rather than as a fact, and prefer the capability flags when a decision depends on what the device can actually do.
When Browser Information Explains a Broken Tool
The most common scenario is a hardware test that silently fails on a browser which blocks the relevant API. Camera and USB tests are the usual cases, because both require a secure origin and an explicit permission, and both are unavailable in some embedded browsers and in private modes that isolate permissions. The capability report tells you which of these is in play rather than leaving you to guess.
A second scenario is a test that runs but reports impossible values. This usually happens when a browser reports a smaller viewport than expected, or when a device pixel ratio other than one is being applied, which changes measured dimensions without changing the underlying display. Reading the reported ratio alongside the dimensions resolves the confusion immediately.
A third scenario is intermittent behaviour that follows the browser rather than the hardware. If a fault reproduces in one browser and never in another on the same machine, the hardware has been cleared and the investigation belongs on the platform side. Testing the same device in a second browser is the cheapest possible way to make that determination.
Browser FAQ
What information does a browser info page show?
It reports the user agent string, the rendering engine and its version, the operating system, the screen and window dimensions, the device pixel ratio, the preferred language, and which browser capabilities are available. The capability flags are usually the most useful part, because they explain why a hardware test may be unavailable rather than merely failing.
Why do different sites report different browser versions?
Usually because they read different fields. Some sites parse the user agent string, which can be deliberately misleading, while others read the engine version or query the feature set directly. The user agent also contains frozen tokens that browsers keep for compatibility, so a site relying on that string alone can report a version that does not match reality.
What is a user agent string?
It is a line of text the browser sends with every request, originally intended to let servers tailor content to different browsers. It lists a product name, a version, and often a trail of compatibility tokens claiming to be other browsers. It is a legacy mechanism, and because browsers deliberately keep inaccurate tokens for compatibility, it should not be trusted as a precise identifier.
Why does a hardware test work in one browser but not another?
Because browsers do not implement every API, and some disable specific ones in private mode or refuse them on insecure origins. Camera and USB access are the usual examples. If a test works in one browser and fails in another on the same machine, the hardware is working and the difference is a permission or capability boundary in the browser.
Can I use browser info to check if my browser is up to date?
Yes, by comparing the reported version against the current release for that browser. Be aware that some browsers report a frozen compatibility version rather than their real build, and that an available update may have been downloaded but not yet applied. Restarting the browser is what actually completes an update in most cases.
Does checking browser info send anything to a server?
No. The values are read from the browser own interfaces on your machine and drawn into the page locally. Nothing is transmitted, since the page does not need a network connection to read them. Note that the same information is sent to every server you visit as part of a normal request, so it is not private in general, only in the context of this page.
Why does my browser report a mobile platform on a desktop?
This happens when the browser is deliberately presenting a mobile identity to receive a mobile layout, which is common on tablets and on desktop browsers with a responsive design mode enabled. Some embedded browsers do it by default. The platform field is best treated as a hint, and the capability flags are a more reliable guide to what the device can do.