
Google has added “unsupported browser” warnings for Edge Chromium on Google Docs - ilarum
https://twitter.com/tomwarren/status/1123066219165245440
======
ilarum
Personally, I think this could just be chalked up to UA string parsing issues.
Not worth the trouble for Google to kick up a storm over a marginal market
share browser.

~~~
ilmiont
But the bigger point is why are they even sniffing UA strings?

Google, who advocates for everybody else that you should use standards and
proper feature detection, still relies on UA whitelists for their own
products.

Then look at google.com homepage itself... not responsive, not in any way
modern... many of their own sites perform terribly by their own guidance to
other devs.

Google's hypocrisy is sickening and I'm tired of their "we own the web, do
what we say" attitude.

------
shaqbert
Why of course they do this. This is meant to boost market share and scare the
tech-illiterate into using Chrome. And it works.

Unsupported browser is a bit of a joke anyways in times of modern web
standards...

------
thisgoodlife
But how do you support a browser that hasn't been released yet? Give them some
time.

~~~
pavlov
That's... not how the web is supposed to work.

~~~
wqwh
Until the day 100% of browsers support 100% of features with 100% correct
implementations, or we have only one browser, it will keep working like this.

~~~
maracuja-juice
They could just use feature detection instead and will see that the browser
actually supports all the features they're using! ️

------
joesb
Why are people assuming that they don't use feature detection just because
they have a warning based on UA-sniffing?

Saying that an unknown browser is "unsupported browser" is not the same as
saying that "it will break. we will deliberately disable the feature". All it
means is "We don't know what this browser is. We have never tested on it. we
will not pay as much attention is this unknown browser break".

Just because a browser passes features detection doesn't mean they don't have
bugs or weird behaviors.

Why do people assume that Google doesn't both, using feature detection to
enable features and also display warning if the user is user some browser they
don't know and can't guarantee that they ever test on it.

------
kuschku
Firefox mobile already pretends to be Chrome for several Google websites.

Edge Chromium explicitly uses a new User-Agent string so websites see it as
Chromium, not as Edge (it does not even contain "Edge", only "Edg").

And yet, Google intentionally works against any browser except their own.

~~~
dTal
This sounds like a new chapter in [https://webaim.org/blog/user-agent-string-
history/](https://webaim.org/blog/user-agent-string-history/)

------
kyriakos
This came up a few days ago and it turns out Microsoft changed Edge's user
agent in the latest update which triggered the message in Google's apps. This
is likely a non-issue and will be corrected soon. Keep in mind that Edge is in
beta so mistakes will happen.

~~~
breakingcups
Still, why is Google of all companies sniffing User Agents instead of using
feature detection, like they preach?

------
keithnz
For me, I was using google docs with no warning, then I noticed Edge needed an
update, and after the update I got the warning.

Not sure if it was MS changing something or Google changing something?

------
petre
Microsoft also made a new version of Skype web app that only supports Chrome
and Edge. The browser wars are back.

------
dlahoda
waiting for plugin to edge chrome making google docs to be ms office or look
like

