Device channels in SharePoint 2013

Introduction

Now a days we all using mobile phones to browse things. To render the SharePoint site easily to smart phone and devices, we need a help from Device channels. We can use multiple design for multiple devices. Here i an going to give an idea about Device Channel usage in SharePoint.

Device Channels

It is the part of publishing infrastructure feature in SharePoint. That enables you to render site content, style, images (with same URL) in different devices. HTTP GET  request will send when we accessing the SharePoint site from Smartphones and other devices. This HTTP GET request includes user agent string. This string is having type of device. The device browser will redirect to specific master page based on device substring. For example, if you have a collection of Windows Phone and iPad devices, you can provide each pool with a unique rendering of the SharePoint publishing site by using device channels. Each device channels can be given a different master page and  CSS file to give users a more optimal viewing experience.

Create Device Channel

Here is the steps to create device channel

• Site Settings --> Look and Feel --> Design Manager
• Click Create Channel
• Give required fields like Name, Alias, Device inclusion rules
• Device Inclusion Rules contains substring of devices like iPhone, iPad, Android

• We will get master page selection page when channel has been created
• We can choose the master page for our device

Device Channel will be ordered and listed after the creation. It supports upto 10 devices per site in SharePoint 2013.