Version: v8

@capacitor/inappbrowser

The InAppBrowser Plugin provides a web browser view that allows you to load any web page externally. It behaves as a standard web browser and is useful to load untrusted content without risking your application's security. It offers three different ways to open URLs; in a WebView, in an in-app system browser (Custom Tabs for Android and SFSafariViewController for iOS), and in the device's default browser.

Install

npm install @capacitor/inappbrowser
npx cap sync

Supported Platforms

iOS
Android

Android

The InAppBrowser plugin requires a minimum Android SDK target of 26. This is higher than the default that comes with your Capacitor application. You can update this value in your android/variables.gradle file.

ext {
    minSdkVersion = 26
}

LocalStorage Isolation

The openInWebView option provides isolation for localStorage and cookies to ensure that content loaded in the InAppBrowser does not interfere with the main application's storage.

iOS: Storage is isolated by default.
Android (API 28+): Storage is isolated by default by running the InAppBrowser in a separate process (:OSInAppBrowser) with a dedicated data directory suffix.
Android (API < 28): Storage is shared with the main application due to platform limitations.

Opting-out of Isolation (Android)

If your use case requires sharing localStorage or cookies between the main app and the InAppBrowser on Android, you can opt-out of isolation by setting isIsolated: false in the android options.

caution

Disabling isolation reduces the security of your app by allowing potentially untrusted web content to access your application's private storage (Cookies, LocalStorage, etc.). Use this only if absolutely necessary.

warning

Breaking Change (Android): Apps upgrading to this version will lose any existing localStorage or cookies previously stored by the InAppBrowser on the first run. This is because the WebView now runs in a separate process with its own data directory. Users may need to re-authenticate with websites that relied on persisted session data.

Usage Example

Open In External Browser

import { InAppBrowser } from '@capacitor/inappbrowser';
await InAppBrowser.openInExternalBrowser({
    url: "https://www.google.com"
});

Open In System Browser (Custom Tabs for Android, SFSafariViewController for iOS)

import { InAppBrowser, DefaultSystemBrowserOptions } from '@capacitor/inappbrowser';
await InAppBrowser.openInSystemBrowser({
    url: "https://www.google.com",
    options: DefaultSystemBrowserOptions
});

Open In Web View

import { InAppBrowser, DefaultWebViewOptions } from '@capacitor/inappbrowser';
await InAppBrowser.openInWebView({
    url: "https://www.google.com",
    options: DefaultWebViewOptions
});

Close (Web View or System Browser)

import { InAppBrowser } from '@capacitor/inappbrowser';
await InAppBrowser.close();

Add Listeners

import { InAppBrowser } from '@capacitor/inappbrowser';
await InAppBrowser.addListener('browserClosed', () => {
    console.log("browser was closed.");
});

await InAppBrowser.addListener('browserPageNavigationCompleted', (data) => {
    console.log("browser page navigation was completed. " + data.url);
});

await InAppBrowser.addListener('browserPageLoaded', () => {
    console.log("browser was loaded.");
});

Remove All Listeners

import { InAppBrowser } from '@capacitor/inappbrowser';
InAppBrowser.removeAllListeners();

API

openInWebView(...)
openInSystemBrowser(...)
openInExternalBrowser(...)
close()
addListener('browserClosed' | 'browserPageLoaded', ...)
addListener('browserPageNavigationCompleted', ...)
removeAllListeners()
Interfaces
Enums

openInWebView(...)

openInWebView(model: OpenInWebViewParameterModel) => Promise<void>

Opens the web content of the given URL in your mobile app using a custom web view within your application.

Param	Type	Description
`model`	`OpenInWebViewParameterModel`	The parameters to open the URL in the web view

openInSystemBrowser(...)

openInSystemBrowser(model: OpenInSystemBrowserParameterModel) => Promise<void>

Opens the web content of the given URL in your mobile app, using SafariViewController for iOS and Custom Tabs for Android.

Param	Type	Description
`model`	`OpenInSystemBrowserParameterModel`	The parameters to open the URL in the system browser

openInExternalBrowser(...)

openInExternalBrowser(model: OpenInDefaultParameterModel) => Promise<void>

Opens the web content of the given URL in a separate browser, outside of your mobile application.

Param	Type	Description
`model`	`OpenInDefaultParameterModel`	The parameters to open the URL in the external browser

close()

close() => Promise<void>

Closes the currently active browser. It can be used to close browsers launched through the openInSystemBrowser or openInWebView actions.

addListener('browserClosed' | 'browserPageLoaded', ...)

addListener(eventName: "browserClosed" | "browserPageLoaded", listenerFunc: () => void) => Promise<PluginListenerHandle>

Adds a listener for the specified browser events, with no data being returned.

Param	Type	Description
`eventName`	`'browserClosed' \| 'browserPageLoaded'`	The name of the browser event to listen for: 'browserClosed' or 'browserPageLoaded'.
`listenerFunc`	`() => void`	The function to be called when the event occurs.

Returns:

Promise<PluginListenerHandle>

addListener('browserPageNavigationCompleted', ...)

addListener(eventName: "browserPageNavigationCompleted", listenerFunc: (data: BrowserPageNavigationCompletedEventData) => void) => Promise<PluginListenerHandle>

Adds a listener for the specified browser event, which receives data.

Param	Type	Description
`eventName`	`'browserPageNavigationCompleted'`	The name of the browser event to listen for: 'browserPageNavigationCompleted'. Applies only to openInWebView.
`listenerFunc`	`(data: BrowserPageNavigationCompletedEventData) => void`	The function to be called when the event occurs.

Returns:

Promise<PluginListenerHandle>

removeAllListeners()

removeAllListeners() => void

Removes all listeners for the browser events.

Interfaces

OpenInWebViewParameterModel

Defines the options for opening a URL in the web view.

Prop	Type	Description
`options`	`WebViewOptions`	A structure containing some configurations to apply to the Web View.
`customHeaders`	`{ [key: string]: string; }`	A map of custom headers to be sent with the request.

WebViewOptions

Prop	Type	Description
`showURL`	`boolean`	Displays the URL on the Web View.
`showToolbar`	`boolean`	Displays the toolbar on the Web View.
`clearCache`	`boolean`	Clears the Web View's cookie cache before a new window is opened.
`clearSessionCache`	`boolean`	Clears the session cookie cache before a new window is opened.
`mediaPlaybackRequiresUserAction`	`boolean`	Prevents HTML5 audio or video from auto-playing.
`closeButtonText`	`string`	Sets the text to display on the Close button on the Web View.
`toolbarPosition`	`ToolbarPosition`	Sets the position to display the Toolbar on the Web View.
`showNavigationButtons`	`boolean`	Displays the navigation buttons.
`leftToRight`	`boolean`	Swaps the positions of the navigation buttons and the close button.
`customWebViewUserAgent`	`string \| null`	Sets a custom user agent to open the Web View with. If empty or not set, the parameter will be ignored.
`android`	`AndroidWebViewOptions`	Android-specific Web View options.
`iOS`	`iOSWebViewOptions`	iOS-specific Web View options.

AndroidWebViewOptions

Prop	Type	Description
`allowZoom`	`boolean`	Shows the Android browser's zoom controls.
`hardwareBack`	`boolean`	Uses the hardware back button to navigate backwards through the Web View's history. If there is no previous page, the Web View will close.
`pauseMedia`	`boolean`	Makes the Web View pause/resume with the app to stop background audio.
`isIsolated`	`boolean`	Whether to run the InAppBrowser in an isolated process. Android only. Defaults to true.

iOSWebViewOptions

Prop	Type	Description
`allowOverScroll`	`boolean`	Turns on the Web View bounce property.
`enableViewportScale`	`boolean`	Prevents viewport scaling through a meta tag.
`allowInLineMediaPlayback`	`boolean`	Allows in-line HTML5 media playback, displaying within the browser window rather than a device-specific playback interface. Note: The HTML's video element must also include the webkit-playsinline attribute.
`surpressIncrementalRendering`	`boolean`	Waits until all new view content is received before being rendered.
`viewStyle`	`iOSViewStyle`	Sets the presentation style of the Web View.
`animationEffect`	`iOSAnimation`	Sets the transition style of the Web View.
`allowsBackForwardNavigationGestures`	`boolean`	Enables back and forward swipe gestures in the Web View.

OpenInSystemBrowserParameterModel

Defines the options for opening a URL in the system browser.

Prop	Type	Description
`options`	`SystemBrowserOptions`	A structure containing some configurations to apply to the System Browser.

SystemBrowserOptions

Prop	Type	Description
`android`	`AndroidSystemBrowserOptions`	Android-specific System Browser options.
`iOS`	`iOSSystemBrowserOptions`	iOS-specific System Browser options.

AndroidSystemBrowserOptions

Prop	Type	Description
`showTitle`	`boolean`	Enables the title display.
`hideToolbarOnScroll`	`boolean`	Hides the toolbar when scrolling.
`viewStyle`	`AndroidViewStyle`	Sets the presentation style of CustomTabs.
`bottomSheetOptions`	`AndroidBottomSheet`	Sets the options for the bottom sheet when this is selected as the viewStyle. If viewStyle is FULL_SCREEN, this will be ignored.
`startAnimation`	`AndroidAnimation`	Sets the start animation for when the browser appears.
`exitAnimation`	`AndroidAnimation`	Sets the exit animation for when the browser disappears.

AndroidBottomSheet

Prop	Type	Description
`height`	`number`	Sets the height of the bottom sheet, in pixels. Custom tabs will set the bottom height to at least 50% of the screen. If no value is passed, it will default to the minimum value.
`isFixed`	`boolean`	Sets whether the bottom sheet is fixed.

iOSSystemBrowserOptions

Prop	Type	Description
`closeButtonText`	`DismissStyle`	Sets a text to use as the close button's caption.
`viewStyle`	`iOSViewStyle`	Sets the presentation style of SafariViewController.
`animationEffect`	`iOSAnimation`	Sets the transition style of SafariViewController.
`enableBarsCollapsing`	`boolean`	Enables bars to collapse on scrolling down.
`enableReadersMode`	`boolean`	Enables readers mode.

OpenInDefaultParameterModel

Defines the options for opening a URL in the external browser and used by the others.

Prop	Type	Description
`url`	`string`	The URL to be opened. It must contain either 'http' or 'https' as the protocol prefix.

PluginListenerHandle

Prop	Type
`remove`	`() => Promise<void>`

BrowserPageNavigationCompletedEventData

Defines the data for the 'browserPageNavigationCompleted' event.

Prop	Type	Description
`url`	`string`	The URL of the page that was loaded.

Enums

ToolbarPosition

Members
`TOP`
`BOTTOM`

iOSViewStyle

Members
`PAGE_SHEET`
`FORM_SHEET`
`FULL_SCREEN`

iOSAnimation

Members
`FLIP_HORIZONTAL`
`CROSS_DISSOLVE`
`COVER_VERTICAL`

AndroidViewStyle

Members
`BOTTOM_SHEET`
`FULL_SCREEN`

AndroidAnimation

Members
`FADE_IN`
`FADE_OUT`
`SLIDE_IN_LEFT`
`SLIDE_OUT_RIGHT`

DismissStyle

Members
`CLOSE`
`CANCEL`
`DONE`

Install​

Supported Platforms​

Android​

LocalStorage Isolation​

Opting-out of Isolation (Android)​

Usage Example​

Open In External Browser​

Open In System Browser (Custom Tabs for Android, SFSafariViewController for iOS)​

Open In Web View​

Close (Web View or System Browser)​

Add Listeners​

Remove All Listeners​

API​

openInWebView(...)​

openInSystemBrowser(...)​

openInExternalBrowser(...)​

close()​

addListener('browserClosed' | 'browserPageLoaded', ...)​

addListener('browserPageNavigationCompleted', ...)​

removeAllListeners()​

Interfaces​

OpenInWebViewParameterModel​

WebViewOptions​

AndroidWebViewOptions​

iOSWebViewOptions​

OpenInSystemBrowserParameterModel​

SystemBrowserOptions​

AndroidSystemBrowserOptions​

AndroidBottomSheet​

iOSSystemBrowserOptions​

OpenInDefaultParameterModel​

PluginListenerHandle​

BrowserPageNavigationCompletedEventData​

Enums​

ToolbarPosition​

iOSViewStyle​

iOSAnimation​

AndroidViewStyle​

AndroidAnimation​

DismissStyle​

Contents