[Android] Feature Request: Add an option to toggle "open links in their associated apps" function on/off

[Brave-Matt]

Description

Users often ask or comment that they're unable to open website links in their associated apps (on device) when available. Most notably reported when opening/browsing YouTube and Twitter links.

Notes/considerations:

• This functionality is already present in Brave, but messaging/available information on this seems to (understandably) cause confusion about the way this feature works.
• As it is, opening links on sites with an app-associated URL only opens the external app if the link clicked is hosted by a 3rd party source.
• This means that if I visit reddit.com/ and click on a link to a YouTube video (assuming that Video playback in Brave option is disabled - otherwise it'll open in Brave regardless), the I will be prompted to open the link in the app or in-browser (depending on the permissions settings). But if I visit YouTube.com in Brave and select a video to stream, the video will stream on the YouTube mobile website in-browser.

☝️ This method seems backwards to me - especially if you consider that we don't really offer an explanation or documentation on the above facts. Users should not be required/forced to view content on the [relevant] mobile website - if a site has an associated app, it should be launched when a link is opened with a [relevant/app-associated] URL regardless of where that link is hosted .

In this situation I think Occam's razor theory works best; if the URL points to a domain with an associated app, launch the app (if desired, obviously).

For example, visiting reddit.com/r/videos and clicking a YT link pointing to m.youtube.com/, youtube.com/, https://youtube.com/, youtube.be, etc should launch (or offer to, permissions dependent) the external Youtube app and play the content linked-to. Furthermore, navigating to Youtube.com in Brave and clicking a video to stream should also launch the external app and play the video content.

Example Solution

Kiwi web browser addresses this by providing a checkbox in their Accessibility settings. When checked, any link with an app-associated URL - whether hosted 3p or 1p - will launch the appropriate external app and display linked content:

[Brave-Matt]

+1 from Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/c15t7q/plans_to_block_web_pages_from_prompting_you_to/erb2tvo?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

[Brave-Matt]

+1 from Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/brave_browser/comments/c15t7q/plans_to_block_web_pages_from_prompting_you_to/erbpgox?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

[Brave-Matt]

@anthonypkeane @SergeyZhukovsky
What kind of workload would this entail? This a fairly common "minor" complaint I see users lodge and I'm wondering how feasible it would be to implement a solution similar to what Kiwi has done (as noted in OP above)?

[SergeyZhukovsky]

Should be fast. As we have it for YT already Settings->Site Settings->Media->Video playback in Brave

[anthonypkeane]

@jumde can you please do a review on this and decide if it works from security standpoint?

[lorenzo-w]

This feature would be really important to work-around this rather critical bug: brave/browser-android-tabs#2312

[francoism90]

Bit old ticket, any news on this? :)

[eturk1]

Would be nice if Brave opened Facebook links in Facebook app! Or at least ask what app to use

Broken for me in all current Android apps from release to nightly