The trick to make Android open a link in the browser and not with the default app

The trick to make Android open a link in the browser and not with the default app

Of all the apps available on a mobile, the browser is the most versatile of all of them. It allows access to most services and, in many cases, in a more agile way than with the corresponding app and with benefits, depending on which one is used, such as ad blocking. It is also true that the web versions of some apps, such as instagram either WhatsAppthey lack some functionalities that they do offer in their native application, which is why It was ideal for Android to offer the option to choose between one or the other when a link was opened.

That changed in 2021with Android 12. The operating system stopped offering this option to the user and moved to always open the app by default. Is better? It depends on apps and tastes, but in the case of one as popular as YouTube, for example, the experience in a lightweight and ad-blocking browser like braveit is infinitely better. Vivaldi is another browser that, in addition to blocking advertising, also allows playback in the background and with the screen off, something that on YouTube is only available through the YouTube Premium subscription.

There are two ways to change this default Android behavior. One depends on how to manage each application the links and the second modifying operating system settingsso that a link opens with the browser and not with the default app.

In the first case, let's say opening one from YouTube that has arrived by WhatsApp, you have to keep it pressed. This will display a pop-up menu with the option to Share and in which you can select a browser so that the link opens in it instead of in the app.

But for Android to do it automatically, you have to go to System Settings and follow these steps:

  • Opens Settings on Android.
  • Choose Applications and then the one in which you want to modify the default behavior. In this example, Youtube.
Steps to have YouTube links open in the browser instead of with the app.Alfredo Biurrun.
  • In Open by default, you will see which are the domains of the links associated with the app that activate it. Tap the slider Open compatible links to disable the app as the default application and have your browser open it instead.