Today, more and more websites are implementing links that open inside an app instead of launching a browser. This is convenient, as it keeps users from leaving the app and going back to a home screen to access the link. However, this also means that if your website users want to view your content, they have to download and install your app. If you don’t want your website users to feel obligated (or forced) to download your app just so they can see some simple content on your site, you might want to offer them an option to open those links in their browser instead. By doing so, they’ll be able to read what you have to say without needing a separate app. Making these changes is not very difficult at all! Keep reading for details on how you can open links in the browser vs app on any of your future sites
How To Open Link In-App Instead Of Browser?
Step 1: Determining Which Links Need To Be Opened In The Browser
Before you can start opening links in the browser instead of the app, you first have to know which links you’d like to reroute. To do this, find the code where you are currently linking your website content to your app. You can find this either in your CMS (Content Management System) or in your HTML. Once you’ve found the code, you’ll need to open the link in your browser and find the event that’s causing the link to open in the app. The most common events that open a link in the app are: – “click” – This is the most basic event that can be used in almost any situation. You can use it for almost any link on your website, but keep in mind that it will open the link in the app even if the user has the app installed on their device. – “touchstart” – This event works in the same way as click, but it is only activated once the user’s finger has come in contact with the screen. – “mouse down” – This event is triggered when a user has pressed a mouse button on the screen. – “touched” – This event is the opposite of touchstart and is triggered when a user has lifted their finger from the screen.
Step 2: Adding In-Browser Linking Events
There are certain linking events that you can’t 100% prevent from happening because they’re built into the browser itself. For example, your browser’s link to open a new tab in the browser will always open in the browser, even if you have CSS preventing it from opening in the app. This is why it’s important to add some events at the end of your CSS linking code. For example, if you have a linking event to open a new browser tab in the browser, add the following code at the end of your CSS: @media screen { -WebKit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; } This will ensure that when someone clicks on the link for a new tab, the new tab won’t actually open until they release the link. This allows them to change their mind and click on the link again to open the link in the app.
Benefits Of Using An In-App Browser Over A Regular Web Browser
- Ads Are Blocked
Using a regular browser and ad-blocker, ads could be blocked from loading on your site. This makes it difficult for people to keep their web browsers in order, leading them to lose valuable information.
- The Experience Is Better For Your Users Since extra steps are taken for the user to load content into the app, it makes your users happier because they don’t have to re-download content from another source (noting that you are delivering the same content in a different format). With a regular browser and no ad-blocker installed, your users would have to wait their turn with other websites until they can get back to yours. It may cause them frustration which will result in them giving up on your site before giving you their valuable information.
- It Makes Your App More Accessible You can control traffic coming into the app by blocking unwanted content or making some parts of your app free or paid based on how much traffic is being sent in. If you take action when headers are downloaded, you can better control how many downloads come into the app and how much money comes out as profits. Additionally, you could make features free or charge more money for certain features if needed based on what kind of traffic is coming into the app from which countries and devices (see iOS developers guide ).
- It Attracts The Right People Using a normal browser, the people who are looking for your app will have to go through ads and different websites, as well as have to download all kinds of different applications before potentially landing on your site, which could deter them from ever seeing your app. With an in-app browser installed on their device, they could just see your content right away without the hassle of navigating or taking action through other websites. This causes them to be able to see what they are looking for much quicker than if they were using a normal browser and ad-blocker that blocks ads.
- It Makes Your App More Secure Because people downloading apps, in general, are less likely to do so if there is any type of security threat involved when installing apps on their phones or devices (see iOS developers guide ), it can be beneficial for you as a developer to make sure users aren’t getting their information from outside sources but rather from your website through an in-app browser instead of trying to download other potential unsafe applications (like malware).
- It Keeps Your Website In Focus As stated above, people may not want to check out other sites during this time because they want your content or service so much that they’ll stay on your website longer than they would if they were using an in-app browser and ad-blocker installed with the native browsers on their phone/device. This means more time is spent on your website by the user, which is good for you as a developer because you aren’t losing money on other potential traffic sources.
summing up
Opening links in the browser instead of the app is a convenient feature that many websites are now using. However, those links may not be beneficial to your website users if they don’t want to download your app just to see your content. By adding some CSS to your linking code, you can make those links open in the browser instead. Make sure to determine which links you want to change and add the appropriate CSS to your code.
