Tips for preventing mixed/insecure content alerts while using deep links for non-http schemes in mobile applications

Question

Tips for preventing mixed/insecure content alerts while using deep links for non-http schemes in mobile applications

Imagine having a mobile application that is designed to handle all links with the "myawesomeapp" scheme, allowing them to be opened within the app itself. Now consider you also have a corresponding website. In this scenario, when a page like https://myawesomeapp.com/home/ is accessed on a web browser, an iframe is dynamically generated and added to the document with the source set as

myawesomeapp://myawesomeapp.com/home/

. This enables the app to attempt to display that specific page internally. However, many modern browsers will issue a warning about insecure or mixed content when encountering such a link originating from a page served over HTTPS. Is there a workaround to bypass this precautionary behavior?

javascript android mobile https

Answer 1

Answer №1

When using the protocol myawesomeapp, browsers cannot guarantee its security like they do with https. Therefore, as a precautionary measure, users must be alerted when insecure content is loaded onto an otherwise secure page.

To address this issue, you can set up a server-side service that redirects to a different scheme. For example,

https://website.com/deeplink/appscheme/path

will redirect the browser to appscheme://path.

Answer 2

When using the protocol myawesomeapp, browsers cannot guarantee its security like they do with https. Therefore, as a precautionary measure, users must be alerted when insecure content is loaded onto an otherwise secure page.

To address this issue, you can set up a server-side service that redirects to a different scheme. For example,

https://website.com/deeplink/appscheme/path

will redirect the browser to appscheme://path.

Answer 3

Answer №2

As per the information provided here, it seems that the method of using the iframe src trick is no longer effective.

If you are looking to have your app automatically launch when a user lands on a specific web page, one approach I discovered is adding the following line to the <head> section of that webpage:

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0; url=myprotocol:/path1" />

In this case, replace myprotocol with the designated "scheme" in your intent filter.

However, there is uncertainty regarding whether this technique may be obstructed in upcoming browser updates. The previously mentioned link suggests:

it is advised to incorporate a user gesture for initiating the app through a customized scheme or utilize the “intent:” syntax

It appears that the preference is for intents to be activated solely by user-triggered actions like button clicks or link selections. Allowing a webpage to autonomously trigger intents could potentially pose security risks.

Answer 4

As per the information provided here, it seems that the method of using the iframe src trick is no longer effective.

If you are looking to have your app automatically launch when a user lands on a specific web page, one approach I discovered is adding the following line to the <head> section of that webpage:

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0; url=myprotocol:/path1" />

In this case, replace myprotocol with the designated "scheme" in your intent filter.

However, there is uncertainty regarding whether this technique may be obstructed in upcoming browser updates. The previously mentioned link suggests:

it is advised to incorporate a user gesture for initiating the app through a customized scheme or utilize the “intent:” syntax

It appears that the preference is for intents to be activated solely by user-triggered actions like button clicks or link selections. Allowing a webpage to autonomously trigger intents could potentially pose security risks.

Answer 5

Answer №3

If you're looking to redirect users to your app instead of the browser when they click a link to your site, the solution lies in registering an intent filter in Android. This way, clicking on a link with your domain name will automatically launch your app.

Take a look at this example intent filter:

https://developer.android.com/guide/components/intents-common.html#Browser

Using intent filters is more efficient than relying on custom schemes, as it directs users straight to the app rather than first loading the site in a browser and then opening the app.

It's worth noting that this approach differs from iOS. To ensure compatibility for both platforms, you could detect the useragent and display the iframe with the custom scheme only on iOS browsers.

Answer 6

If you're looking to redirect users to your app instead of the browser when they click a link to your site, the solution lies in registering an intent filter in Android. This way, clicking on a link with your domain name will automatically launch your app.

Take a look at this example intent filter:

https://developer.android.com/guide/components/intents-common.html#Browser

Using intent filters is more efficient than relying on custom schemes, as it directs users straight to the app rather than first loading the site in a browser and then opening the app.

It's worth noting that this approach differs from iOS. To ensure compatibility for both platforms, you could detect the useragent and display the iframe with the custom scheme only on iOS browsers.

Answer 7

Answer №4

Would you mind giving this code a test run? Invoke it when the page is fully loaded and provide your app's URL as an argument.

var initiateRedirect = function ( website ) 
{
    var iframeElement = $('<iframe></iframe>').attr( 'src', website ).css({
        width: 1,
        height: 1
    });
    $( 'body' ).append( iframeElement );
    iframeElement.remove();
    iframeElement = null;
};

Answer 8

Would you mind giving this code a test run? Invoke it when the page is fully loaded and provide your app's URL as an argument.

var initiateRedirect = function ( website ) 
{
    var iframeElement = $('<iframe></iframe>').attr( 'src', website ).css({
        width: 1,
        height: 1
    });
    $( 'body' ).append( iframeElement );
    iframeElement.remove();
    iframeElement = null;
};

Tips for preventing mixed/insecure content alerts while using deep links for non-http schemes in mobile applications

Answer №1

Answer №2

Answer №3

Answer №4

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