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I’m a developer and I remember turning off in-app browsers whenever I could and I absolutely hated it My browser would get littered with old tabs and coming ba

I’m a developer and I remember turning off in-app browsers whenever I could and I absolutely hated it My browser would get littered with old tabs and coming back to the app for a small click became a hassle On the off-chance I do want to save a link, I know I can just open it in my browser anyway So I much prefer in-app browsers as a user and a developer

modeless 4y ago
I'm the opposite, I hate in app browsers as a user. It's like having a bunch of extra poorly made web browsers that can only have one tab, and block me from using one of my apps. When I'm trying to find a tab I had open now I have to search both my browser tabs and every app in my app switcher. And if I want to keep using an app but it's showing an in-app browser I have to either throw away my tab, or navigate a menu to migrate it to my real browser to save for later, then switch back to the app and close the in app browser, and only then can I continue to use the app. It's a constant pain.
shawnz 4y ago
I think Android's "custom tabs" functionality is a great compromise. Apps can open a separate instance of the user's default browser which becomes part of the app's activity stack and doesn't share tabs with the main browser instance. However the UI and navigation are controlled by the browser, not the app. Cookies and local storage are also shared with the main browser instance, allowing seamless SSO without the app being able to intercept the secrets. AFAIK iOS supports something similar, but only for authentication use cases.
- brianslp 4y ago
  iOS has essentially the same: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/sfsafariviewcontroller https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/sfs...
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
conductr 4y ago
I feel like half the time I encounter them is when I’m already in my browser, click a link (probably search results), it opens the app, the app proceeds to display content in an in app browser.. and I’m just left think why, WhY, WHY?

modeless 4y ago

I'm the opposite, I hate in app browsers as a user. It's like having a bunch of extra poorly made web browsers that can only have one tab, and block me from using one of my apps. When I'm trying to find a tab I had open now I have to search both my browser tabs and every app in my app switcher. And if I want to keep using an app but it's showing an in-app browser I have to either throw away my tab, or navigate a menu to migrate it to my real browser to save for later, then switch back to the app and close the in app browser, and only then can I continue to use the app. It's a constant pain.

shawnz 4y ago

I think Android's "custom tabs" functionality is a great compromise. Apps can open a separate instance of the user's default browser which becomes part of the app's activity stack and doesn't share tabs with the main browser instance. However the UI and navigation are controlled by the browser, not the app. Cookies and local storage are also shared with the main browser instance, allowing seamless SSO without the app being able to intercept the secrets. AFAIK iOS supports something similar, but only for authentication use cases.

brianslp 4y ago
iOS has essentially the same: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/sfsafariviewcontroller https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/sfs...
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

conductr 4y ago

I feel like half the time I encounter them is when I’m already in my browser, click a link (probably search results), it opens the app, the app proceeds to display content in an in app browser.. and I’m just left think why, WhY, WHY?