# Facebook's in-app broswer(s)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 31, 2016, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebooks-in-app-broswer-s/770306 "2016-10-31T22:02:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebooks-in-app-broswer-s/770306/1 "2016-10-31T22:02:47Z")
So, long ago I turned off Facebook’s annoying in-app browser on my phone, but I noticed some sites (like The Chive) still opened in Facebook, but with a different, apparently more streamlined browser, with black header bars, no menu button and only the option of “sharing” (the regular Facebook browser gave you more options, like refresh and a back button). Now I’m seeing, on some links, yet a third browser (but maybe it’s an updated version of the first, that ignores my set preferences, not sure yet). Does anyone know of a way to _force_ Facebook to open links in Firefox? Not just the check-box for “open links externally”, because that’s already checked in my settings, and still I contend with various in-app browsers. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebooks-in-app-broswer-s/770306/2 "2016-10-31T22:12:02Z")
Helps if you mention what your phone is. I don’t do Facebook, but assuming you’re on Android, you should go to Android’s app settings and under the Facebook entry, click “Clear Defaults” then try again. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebooks-in-app-broswer-s/770306/3 "2016-11-01T13:53:59Z")
Oh, I’m on Cyanogenmod 13, on my Nexus 6. I went so far as to uninstall Facebook and reinstall it. I can see that with some websites, they open in Facebook until I change the setting, and then they’ll open in Firefox. But for other websites, Chive and Jezebel I know just from recent experience, open in a different kind of Facebook in-app browser that ignores my preferences. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebooks-in-app-broswer-s/770306/4 "2016-11-02T02:17:05Z")
Did you check this setting? > **[How to turn off Facebook's in-app browser for external links](https://www.androidcentral.com/how-turn-facebooks-app-browser-external-links)** > > In August of last year, Facebook started rolling out an in-app browser that let you view links completely in the app without being thrown out to your own installed browser of choice. That's all fi ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebooks-in-app-broswer-s/770306/5 "2016-11-02T02:47:31Z")
Yes I did. I’m wondering if anyone else experiences this. With the setting off, most links open in a Facebook browser that has a white bar on the top, with a menu button where you can go back, refresh, copy the address or share the link. But some sites open in a Facebook browser that has a black bar on top with only an option to “share”. If I turn on the setting, the first kind of website starts opening in Firefox, but the second type still opens in the same black-bar browser in Facebook. It’s annoying, but I’m more concerned about my sanity – certainly I can’t be the only one experiencing this? Usually google helps me find other people online who have the same problem, even if I can’t find the solution. But when I google this problem, all I get are links about the “open links externally” setting which I already know about. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebooks-in-app-broswer-s/770306/6 "2016-11-02T05:43:40Z")
Are you running into these? > **[Log in or sign up to view](https://www.facebook.com/facebookmedia/solutions/instant-articles)** > > See posts, photos and more on Facebook. If it’s got a lightning bolt next to the link, it’s an “instant article” that’s preloaded into the Facebook app and shows up immediately in its internal browser. Much faster than opening another browser, but you also don’t have any control over it. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebooks-in-app-broswer-s/770306/7 "2016-11-02T05:54:40Z")
Like I said, I don’t do Facebook, but now that you described it more, it sounded a lot like what Google does with AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages), so I looked it up. AMP was Google’s answer to Facebook’s Instant Articles. Both use a similar lighting bolt in a circle symbol to identify them. The reason you can’t open them in your preferred browser is because they’re optimized for speed and advertising/analytics. Ads have to conform to certain specs, so not only do they load quicker, but they’re generally less persistently annoying than using a regular browser without an ad-blocker. Here’s[an article](http://venturebeat.com/2016/08/14/google-amp-vs-facebook-instant-articles/) comparing the two from a user perspective. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebooks-in-app-broswer-s/770306/8 "2016-11-02T06:02:38Z")
Damnit ninja’ed! I shouldn’t have taken the time to find and read the whole article leisurely before posting.