Use Chrome Custom Tab in url_launcher, instead of custom WebView activity #18589

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1. alanrussian

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   customer: mulligan (g3)

   on Jun 19, 2018
2. zoechi

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   c: new featureNothing broken; request for a new capabilityNothing broken; request for a new capability

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4. thedejifab commented on Feb 13, 2019

   

   thedejifab

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5. zoechi

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   p: url_launcherPlugin to launch external applicationsPlugin to launch external applications

   on Feb 14, 2019
6. estevez-dev commented on Feb 20, 2019

   

   estevez-dev

   on Feb 20, 2019

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   This can help: https://pub.dartlang.org/packages/flutter_custom_tabs

   👍React with 👍3Reacted by Ayodeji Fabusuyi, Clifton Labrum and Alessandro Rossi
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   P2Important issues not at the top of the work listImportant issues not at the top of the work list

   on May 29, 2020
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   customer: crowdAffects or could affect many people, though not necessarily a specific customer.Affects or could affect many people, though not necessarily a specific customer.

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12. florian-obernberger commented on Dec 10, 2022

    

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14. reidbaker

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    P3Issues that are less important to the Flutter projectIssues that are less important to the Flutter project

    triaged-androidTriaged by Android platform teamTriaged by Android platform team

    and removed

    P2Important issues not at the top of the work listImportant issues not at the top of the work list

    on Jul 13, 2023
15. reidbaker commented on Jul 13, 2023

    

    reidbaker

    on Jul 13, 2023

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    @mariamhas to confirm priority is correct.
16. gnprice commented on Aug 17, 2023

    

    gnprice

    on Aug 17, 2023

    Last edited by gnprice

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    It would be great to fix this, because the current behavior (that hand-rolled webview window) is a very odd UX for when the user wanted to open a web page.

    Specifically:

    • The system status bar is hidden. That would be appropriate for playing a game, or for a lightbox-style display of a photo. It's not normal for simply viewing a web page.
    • There's no app bar — so no title orienting the user with "yep, this is a web page, here's the website you're on"; no close button; no share button; no overflow menu for other features like "refresh" or "go forward" or "open in a browser app".

    Here's a screen recording showing the current UX:

    device-2023-08-16-204847.mp4

    All told, as a user this UX doesn't feel like I'm getting a web browser. Or it feels like there's something wrong and broken — it's like how sometimes on a desktop OS if the system window manager crashes then all the applications appear without their title bars and close/maximize buttons.

    ---

    This odd UX has led to a couple of reports in addition to this thread:

    • [url_launcher] Android status bar hidden with inAppWebView mode (without Custom Tabs) #120883 is about the hidden status bar.
    • The lack of a close button has been reported as a comment on that other issue.

    A Chrome custom tab would resolve those, and provide all of the other browser-style features mentioned above. It's the UX I'm accustomed to seeing in a wide range of Android apps when I follow a link from some content in the app out to an arbitrary web page, and it works nicely.

    (And mentioning partly for the sake of search: the behavior we're talking about in this thread is that of LaunchMode.inAppWebView on Android, where it's also our default behavior.)

    👍React with 👍1Reacted by Philipp Bauer
17. gnprice commented on Aug 17, 2023

    

    gnprice

    on Aug 17, 2023

    Last edited by gnprice

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    Another issue which would also get resolved automatically if we switched to a Chrome custom tab:

    • [url_launcher] Opening PDF URLs on Android with in-app mode (without Custom Tabs) shows a white screen #105205

    When a Chrome custom tab is opened at a URL that turns out to provide a PDF, it goes ahead and starts downloading the file and then offers it for the user to open in an appropriate app. (At least that's what I see when I try following a link to such a URL in a non-Flutter app that uses Chrome custom tabs.)

    ---

    Another such issue:

    • [url_launcher_android] doesn't open intent hyperlinks from in-app webview (without Custom Tabs) #106331

    (I've reproduced that issue, and then gone and opened the same web page in a Chrome custom tab in a non-Flutter app and the same mailto: link successfully opened a mail client ready to compose a message to the given recipient.)

    👍React with 👍1Reacted by Philipp Bauer
18. gnprice

    changed the title [-]Support Chrome Custom Tabs in UrlLauncher plugin[/-] [+]Use Chrome Custom Tab in url_launcher, instead of custom WebView activity[/+] on Aug 17, 2023
19. cachapa commented on Aug 17, 2023

    

    cachapa

    on Aug 17, 2023

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    I want to add that many OAuth terms of service explicitly forbid using webviews to limit exposure of the user's login credentials.

    Here's a relevant Google recommendation.

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20. auto-submit

    closed this as completedin packages#4739on Aug 31, 2023
21. auto-submit

    added a commit that references this issue on Aug 31, 2023

    [url_launcher_android] Add support for Custom Tabs (#4739)

    ...

    This issue will close once commit e668c43 is merged into the 'main' branch.

    e668c43
22. stuartmorgan-g commented on Aug 31, 2023

    

    stuartmorgan-g

    on Aug 31, 2023

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    This new mode will be supported for devices with Custom Tabs support (which will depend on installed browsers), and when not explicitly passing headers that aren't supported.

    If for some reason someone wants to force the old webview behavior, you can do so by passing an arbitrary header in the launch request (e.g., 'prevent-custom-tabs': true)

    👍React with 👍1Reacted by hongquang198
23. github-actions commented on Sep 14, 2023

    

    github-actionsbot

    on Sep 14, 2023

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    This thread has been automatically locked since there has not been any recent activity after it was closed. If you are still experiencing a similar issue, please open a new bug, including the output of flutter doctor -v and a minimal reproduction of the issue.
24. github-actions

    locked as resolved and limited conversation to collaborators on Sep 14, 2023
25. creatorpiyush

    added a commit that references this issue on Jun 10, 2026

    [url_launcher_android] Add support for Custom Tabs (flutter#4739)

    ...

    This issue will close once commit 5da8d44 is merged into the 'main' branch.

    5da8d44
26. bisor0627

    added a commit that references this issue on Jun 19, 2026

    [url_launcher_android] Add support for Custom Tabs (flutter#4739)

    ...

    This issue will close once commit 61f1022 is merged into the 'main' branch.

    61f1022