In-App Browser PWA Demo

Interactive Demo

1. Install the app on your device, and launch it from your Home Screen, Desktop or Dock.

2. Tap the button below to navigate to an external website.

3. Now you know what an in-app browser looks like!

What's an in-app browser?

Safari, Firefox, and Chrome are browsers — apps dedicated to browsing the web. An in-app browser (also called an "embedded browser," "integrated browser," or "web view") uses similar technologies to browsers, allowing any app (native or PWA) to navigate to external domains.

When do PWAs use in-app browsers?

PWAs open external domains using an in-app browser. A domain is considered external if it's outside the PWA's installation scope. Note that a PWA can only have one unique domain in its scope, and subdomains aren’t included. For example, if your PWA is installed from example.com, a link hosted at subdomain.example.com will open in an in-app browser, rather than in the main PWA context.

Which rendering engines do in-app browsers use?

On iOS, all in-app browsers in PWAs use Apple's WebKit browser engine. On Android, they use Chromium. On macOS and Windows, the rendering engine depends on the browser used for installation.

Is it possible to break out of an in-app browser?

Native apps can allow users to break out of their in-app browsers (although many deliberately choose not to). However, PWAs lack this flexibility. As of now, there’s no way to force a link to open in Safari or Chrome rather than the PWA's in-app browser.

Why do in-app browsers exist?

In-app browsers exist to keep users from being redirected to other apps during their browsing experience. They also help notify users when they’re navigating a website that doesn’t belong to the app. Some argue that external links should open in the user's preferred browser instead of an in-app browser, but currently, only PWAs installed with Safari on macOS allow this.

What do I need to do to integrate an in-app browser into my PWA?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. All PWAs natively open in-app browsers when navigating to third-party domains.