Jerboa @lemmy.ml a new sad me @lemmy.world 1y ago

feature request: when clicking on a link to a community, open it in Jerboa

Or maybe it is only me?

When I'm clicking a link to a community on the instance I'm logged into (Lemmy.world), the community opens in my web browser rather than in jerboa. Given, this is annoying especially when I want to subscribe to that community.

I should note that I'm using a url checker app so this might be the reason for such behavior.

26 comments

IIRC the Android OS requires the app to define which URL handlers it should be able to intercepts at compile time as a security measure so that an app can't decide to intercepts URL it shouldn't after being installed without your knowledge or consent.

The nature of the Fediverse makes it difficult to achieve that without hardcoding and maintaining a list of instances URLs in the app.
- Only for external links opened through intents. Within the app, you are free to intercept all link opens.
  
  Which is what OP is inquiring about, redirecting external links through intent (clicking link in a web browser and having them open in Jerboa).
  
  would this be able to be bypassed if you add a link to open by default that redirects to the actual link?
- I see, it makes sense. I wonder if there is a way to bypass that. For example, long pressing a link inorder to open an option such as "search for community". The inability to switch between communities in efficient way in the app (any app) is a major annoyance.
I think they might have a more general feature in mind. Basically when you click a link, it will check if it is a fediverse link that it can display, so it will not be limited to the instance you have logged in or hardcoded instances.

Tusky does something similar. The downside is that it is not so responsive when opening a link, as it needed time to figure out whether it is a fediverse link. But the nature of fediverse makes link opening in app hard to implement.
I see this behaviour too, without a URL checker app
Oh, ha ha, I just asked more or less the same question.
So, while the experience certainly isn't terribly smooth, there are changes you can make, to somewhat alleviate this.

see here

tl;dr:
Open Androids App Info of Jerboa -> Open by Default -> Check all available links

it's very imperfect, as android apparently needs this list specified at compile-time. Not sure why it's currently disabled by default, devs may have missed something, idk.
So this list will never include every instance, especially regarding new ones, but it's a start.
lemmy.ml beehaw.org, feddit.de feddit.it lemmygrad.ml are there. lemmy.world unfortunately isn't (yet)
- That's a great start. Thanks!
  
  Maybe we should add a bug report on that?

26 comments