Feat(browser): Add WhatsApp in-app browser detection for iOS & Android - #841
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Detect the WA4A/<version> (Android) and WAiOS/<version> (iOS) tokens appended by the WhatsApp in-app browser, reported as an `inapp` type.
Revert the build output (dist bundles, .mjs and .d.ts) so the branch contains only hand-edited sources. These files are produced by `npm run build` at release time.
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It is now updated, please review |
faisalman
approved these changes
Aug 22, 2026
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Prerequisites
Type of Change
Feature: new browser detection rule.
Description
Links opened inside WhatsApp are rendered by its in-app browser, which appends a vendor token to the user-agent string:
WA4A/<version>on Android and[WAiOS/<version>]on iOS.Current behavior: The token is ignored, so the in-app browser is misreported as the underlying engine browser:
Android Browser 4.0(from the webview'sVersion/4.0token)Mobile Safari 26.6New behavior: Reported as WhatsApp with
type: "inapp", consistent with the other in-app browsers already supported:WhatsApp 2.26.30.97,type: inappWhatsApp 2.26.31,type: inappChanges
src/main/ua-parser.js: one rule added to the WebView section:\bprevents matching mid-token, and the separator class[\/ ]keeps it anchored to the version delimiter.src/enums/ua-parser-enums.js: addedWHATSAPP: 'WhatsApp'toBrowserName, per the contributing guide.test/data/ua/browser/browser-all.json: added the two user-agent samples below..mjs/.d.tsanddist/bundles vianpm run build.Note on prior art
This is unrelated to the WhatsApp link-preview fetcher (
WhatsApp/2.23.20.0) requested in #412, which is already detected throughua-parser-extensions. That one is a crawler, but this is the user-facing in-app browser. Both can now be identified independently.Test
Two real cases added to
test/data/ua/browser/browser-all.json:Ran
npm run build+test, all passingImpact
No breaking changes, but it is a behavior change for these user agents, the code that currently sees
ChromeorMobile Safarifor WhatsApp webview traffic will now seeWhatsApp. Consumers keying on browser name for those sessions may want to checktype === 'inapp'. This matches how the library already treats every other in-app browser.No new dependencies. The rule is appended after the existing Bing entry and does not alter the ordering or matching of any other pattern.