Question

I’m developing a Facebook app that has a responsive layout. Sometimes my app has to generate a link for the user. Whenever possible, the links will send the user to a Page Tab (when the user is on a desktop) and other times it will link directly to the app (when the user is on a mobile phone).

What is the default behavior for Facebook on tablets? Does it show the mobile site or the desktop site?

Should I use the mobile or desktop version of my app on tablets?

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Update: In response to BBog’s question in the comments:
My app prefers the desktop version because it includes a Like-gate. If the user experience is good for a tablet to view the app in a page tab (which is only available on http://www.facebook.com ie non-mobile), then that is preferred because the like button will be displayed at the top of the page, above the app’s iframe. In contrast, the mobile version of the app requires that the user click a link that takes them to the (mobile) facebook page which they must like to un-gate the app. It adds an extra step for the user and requires that they navigate away from the app for a moment. Users might be discouraged by this extra step and decide not to enter the gate.

Answer 1

Unable to find a concrete answer, I ended up detected the user’s referral on the first page access. Then if www.facebook.com is in the url, I go to desktop. Otherwise I go to mobile..

 if ($detect->isTablet()) {
  session_start();

  if (!isset($_SESSION["tabletAsMobile"]))
    $_SESSION["tabletAsMobile"] = (stripos($_SERVER["HTTP_REFERER"], 'www.facebook.com')===true):'0':'1';
  }

  $useMobileLinks = ($detect->isMobile() || ($detect->isTablet() && $_SESSION["tabletAsMobile"]));
}