The Pitfalls of In-App Browsers

This is a very good look at the various things that make in-app browsers terrible.

Personally, they are a pet peeve of mine (whether we're talking smartphone apps or desktop apps). I think they're a plague.

I was even unpleasantly surprised when I discovered the other day that FreeCAD uses one. I clicked a help link and was left wondering why my browser didn't pop up. So I ran the browser and did a web search to find the help page I was looking for. After I went back to FreeCAD I noticed that it had opened a new tab in the application and brought that page up there.

Right where I didn't want it. It's a small thing in the big picture, but irritating nonetheless. At least I know now to just go straight to a web search instead of using the built-in help system.

Google and Apple should put an end to it. Not only does it create a mess for authentication across sites, it also deceptively modifies and tracks interactions outside of an app's boundaries, sending that activity back to app makers that should not be permitted for privacy and security issues alone, much less ethical ones. If there is already a browser on the device, that instance should override all in-app browsers... Even the configuration option is buried deep in config menus.

Almost seems as if it's collaboratively colluded to allow the browser experience to be disjointed, especially in social media apps.

Author here. It was an interesting and fun article to write—a bunch of research and testing went on behind the scenes.