How long does Browscap typically take to update itself with new user agent strings?

[Jason H]

I'm using Browscap to identify users' devices/browsers for analytical purposes. Since I'm not using it in real time, I figure I can afford to have a delay between when the user-agent string comes in and when I run it through browscap. That way, if we start getting new UAs that Browscap doesn't already have, we have some buffer time to allow Browscap to update. I was wondering, what is a good buffer time? I was thinking two weeks, but maybe that's overkill? It doesn't have to 100%, I'm just wondering if there's a sweet spot where waiting longer isn't really going to be worth it.

[James Titcumb]

We try to update at least once a month, but sometimes goes a little longer. We don't have a strict schedule release.

I'd suggest if a UA returns unidentified, keep it until the next update, which you can check by pinging the version/date URLs listed on browscap.org.

Thanks
James

[Jason H]

Awesome, thanks for the reply.

Follow-up question; is there a sure-fire way to tell that BC wasn't able to find a match?

[James Titcumb]

Yup, the "fallback" is when the browser identified is "Default Browser"

:)

[Jason H]

Awesome, thank you