The handle_links manifest entry aims to allow registration of installed web applications as link handlers, to grant them the possibility of opening links like their native counterparts. This feature allows developers to opt-in/opt-out of link handling behavior for their applications.

Motivation

When clicking on a link, the default behavior is that the browser will open and navigate to the specified URL. However, if a compatible application is installed, a user might prefer to have that application launch and "open" said link. This is the case for native apps that range from media consumption to productivity, where if installed, will open when clicking on a link with related content. This is generally the preferred way to interact with the referenced content.

Status in Chromium

UI>Browser>WebAppInstalls


No active development (tracking bug)

Consensus & Standardization

After a feature ships in Chrome, the values listed here are not guaranteed to be up to date.

  • No signal
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Owners

Last updated on 2021-09-29