Question

Is there a way to detect with JavaScript if the website runs inside the iPad’s Safari or inside an application WebView?

Answer 1

This uses a combination of window.navigator.userAgent and window.navigator.standalone. It can distinguish between all four states relating to an iOS web app: safari (browser), standalone (fullscreen), uiwebview, and not iOS.

Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/ThinkingStiff/6qrbn/

var standalone = window.navigator.standalone,
    userAgent = window.navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase(),
    safari = /safari/.test( userAgent ),
    ios = /iphone|ipod|ipad/.test( userAgent );

if( ios ) {
    if ( !standalone && safari ) {
        //browser
    } else if ( standalone && !safari ) {
        //standalone
    } else if ( !standalone && !safari ) {
        //uiwebview
    };
} else {
    //not iOS
};