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Forum Discussion
Force link to open in same browser instead of app
This is regarding a link on my site to my public dropbox folder. Is there a way to format the URL to open in the browser that the URL was opened from, rather than the DropBox app? For example, currently if a user taps on a link to a public DropBox folder within Safari iOS and the user already has DropBox installed on their phone, the DropBox app will open and direct them to the folder, instead of Safari doing this. Long-tapping on the link in Safari and tapping Open in Background is an insufficient workaround as I want the link to open in the browser by default.
- Walter
Dropbox Staff
Hey connorhawke - how are you today?
As you're probably doing this on a mobile device, your best bet would be to request the desktop version of the web page you're on when accessing the mentioned shared link(s) so as to preview the files within the browser itself.
That being said, note that you can also force a shared link to download if you'd like anyone accessing it download the file(s) it links to and open them natively on their device:
In addition, I was wondering if you get the same results on other browsers other than Safari so if you ge the chance to try it out on another browser and let me know the results that'd be awesome.
Thanks in advance Connor!
- Hi Walter, I know how to force my public folder to open in the browser for myself, but I want to rewrite the URL (or implement another fix) to force it to open in the browser without requiring a workaround such as requesting the desktop site etc, so anyone tapping the link normally will just be directed to the public folder on the browser instead of the dropbox app if they have that installed. I want them to be directed to the folder, not any specific file in the folder. Tried both dl=0 and dl=1; neither resolve this. Same issue on Chrome iOS as on Safari iOS.
- Walter
I understand now - thanks for the clarifications and additional information Connor.
As this isn't the default behavior for shared links when people have the mobile app installed, I'll log this with the team as a feature request. I can't comment if or when it's going to be implemented though.
Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback and use-case on this; it's most appreciated!
- Hi did you find a solution to this? I have same issue .
- Lusil
Hi Tim H.37, thanks for nudging us on this thread.
When tapping to open shared links on a mobile device, you'll get a prompt asking you to choose how you'd like to preview them.
Nonetheless, you can post this here, where other like-minded users can comment and upvote your idea.
Hope this helps to some extent!
