HomeGuidesReferenceLearn

Reference version

ArchiveExpo SnackDiscord and ForumsNewsletter

Expo WebBrowser iconExpo WebBrowser

GitHub

npm

A library that provides access to the system's web browser and supports handling redirects.

Android
iOS
Web

expo-web-browser provides access to the system's web browser and supports handling redirects. On Android, it uses ChromeCustomTabs and on iOS, it uses SFSafariViewController or ASWebAuthenticationSession, depending on the method you call. As of iOS 11, SFSafariViewController no longer shares cookies with Safari, so if you are using WebBrowser for authentication you will want to use WebBrowser.openAuthSessionAsync, and if you just want to open a webpage (such as your app privacy policy), then use WebBrowser.openBrowserAsync.

Installation

Terminal
- npx expo install expo-web-browser

If you are installing this in an existing React Native app, start by installing expo in your project. Then, follow the additional instructions as mentioned by the library's README under "Installation in bare React Native projects" section.

Usage

Basic WebBrowser usage
import { useState } from 'react';
import { Button, Text, View, StyleSheet } from 'react-native';
import * as WebBrowser from 'expo-web-browser';
%%placeholder-start%%%%placeholder-end%%import Constants from 'expo-constants';

export default function App() {
  const [result, setResult] = useState(null);

  const _handlePressButtonAsync = async () => {
    let result = await WebBrowser.openBrowserAsync('https://expo.dev');
    setResult(result);
  };
  return (
    <View style={styles.container}>
      <Button title="Open WebBrowser" onPress={_handlePressButtonAsync} />
      <Text>{result && JSON.stringify(result)}</Text>
    </View>
  );
}

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
    alignItems: 'center',
    justifyContent: 'center',
    paddingTop: Constants.statusBarHeight,
    backgroundColor: '#ecf0f1',
  },
});

Handling deep links from the WebBrowser

If your project uses Expo Router, deep links are handled automatically.

If you use the WebBrowser window for authentication or another use case where you want to pass information back into your app through a deep link, add a handler with Linking.addEventListener before opening the browser. When the listener fires, you should call dismissBrowser. It will not automatically be dismissed when a deep link is handled. Aside from that, redirects from WebBrowser work the same as other deep links. Read more about it in Linking.

API

import * as WebBrowser from 'expo-web-browser';

Methods

Android

WebBrowser.coolDownAsync(browserPackage)

ParameterTypeDescription
browserPackage
(optional)		string

Package of browser to be cooled. If not set, preferred browser will be used.


This methods removes all bindings to services created by warmUpAsync or mayInitWithUrlAsync. You should call this method once you don't need them to avoid potential memory leaks. However, those binding would be cleared once your application is destroyed, which might be sufficient in most cases.

Returns:

Promise<WebBrowserCoolDownResult>

The promise which fulfils with WebBrowserCoolDownResult when cooling is performed, or an empty object when there was no connection to be dismissed.

iOS
Web

WebBrowser.dismissAuthSession()

Dismisses the current authentication session. On web, it will close the popup window associated with auth process.

Returns:

void

The void on the successful attempt or throws an error if dismiss functionality is not available.

iOS

WebBrowser.dismissBrowser()

Dismisses the presented web browser.

Returns:

Promise<{ type: WebBrowserResultType.DISMISS }>

The promise that resolves with { type: 'dismiss' } on the successful attempt or throws an error if dismiss functionality is not available.

Android

WebBrowser.getCustomTabsSupportingBrowsersAsync()

Returns a list of applications package names supporting Custom Tabs, Custom Tabs service, user chosen and preferred one. This may not be fully reliable, since it uses PackageManager.getResolvingActivities under the hood. (For example, some browsers might not be present in browserPackages list once another browser is set to default.)

Returns:

Promise<WebBrowserCustomTabsResults>

The promise which fulfils with WebBrowserCustomTabsResults object.

Web

WebBrowser.maybeCompleteAuthSession(options)

ParameterType
options
(optional)		WebBrowserCompleteAuthSessionOptions

Possibly completes an authentication session on web in a window popup. The method should be invoked on the page that the window redirects to.

Returns:

WebBrowserCompleteAuthSessionResult

Returns an object with message about why the redirect failed or succeeded:

If type is set to failed, the reason depends on the message:

  • Not supported on this platform: If the platform doesn't support this method (Android, iOS).
  • Cannot use expo-web-browser in a non-browser environment: If the code was executed in an SSR or node environment.
  • No auth session is currently in progress: (the cached state wasn't found in local storage). This can happen if the window redirects to an origin (website) that is different to the initial website origin. If this happens in development, it may be because the auth started on localhost and finished on your computer port (Ex: 128.0.0.*). This is controlled by the redirectUrl and returnUrl.
  • Current URL "<URL>" and original redirect URL "<URL>" do not match: This can occur when the redirect URL doesn't match what was initial defined as the returnUrl. You can skip this test in development by passing { skipRedirectCheck: true } to the function.

If type is set to success, the parent window will attempt to close the child window immediately.

If the error ERR_WEB_BROWSER_REDIRECT was thrown, it may mean that the parent window was reloaded before the auth was completed. In this case you'll need to close the child window manually.

Android

WebBrowser.mayInitWithUrlAsync(url, browserPackage)

ParameterTypeDescription
urlstring

The url of page that is likely to be loaded first when opening browser.

browserPackage
(optional)		string

Package of browser to be informed. If not set, preferred browser will be used.


This method initiates (if needed) CustomTabsSession and calls its mayLaunchUrl method for browser specified by the package.

Returns:

Promise<WebBrowserMayInitWithUrlResult>

A promise which fulfils with WebBrowserMayInitWithUrlResult object.

Android
iOS
Web

WebBrowser.openAuthSessionAsync(url, redirectUrl, options)

ParameterTypeDescription
urlstring

The url to open in the web browser. This should be a login page.

redirectUrl
(optional)		null | string

Optional - The url to deep link back into your app. On web, this defaults to the output of Linking.createURL("").

options
(optional)		AuthSessionOpenOptions

Optional - An object extending the WebBrowserOpenOptions. If there is no native AuthSession implementation available (which is the case on Android) these params will be used in the browser polyfill. If there is a native AuthSession implementation, these params will be ignored.

Default:{}

On Android:

This will be done using a "custom Chrome tabs" browser, AppState, and Linking APIs.

On iOS:

Opens the url with Safari in a modal using ASWebAuthenticationSession. The user will be asked whether to allow the app to authenticate using the given url. To handle redirection back to the mobile application, the redirect URI set in the authentication server has to use the protocol provided as the scheme in app.json expo.scheme. For example, demo:// not https:// protocol. Using Linking.addEventListener is not needed and can have side effects.

On web:

This API can only be used in a secure environment (localhost/https). to test this. Otherwise, an error with code ERR_WEB_BROWSER_CRYPTO will be thrown. This will use the browser's window.open() API.

  • Desktop: This will create a new web popup window in the browser that can be closed later using WebBrowser.maybeCompleteAuthSession().
  • Mobile: This will open a new tab in the browser which can be closed using WebBrowser.maybeCompleteAuthSession().

How this works on web:

  • A crypto state will be created for verifying the redirect.
    • This means you need to run with npx expo start --https
  • The state will be added to the window's localstorage. This ensures that auth cannot complete unless it's done from a page running with the same origin as it was started. Ex: if openAuthSessionAsync is invoked on https://localhost:19006, then maybeCompleteAuthSession must be invoked on a page hosted from the origin https://localhost:19006. Using a different website, or even a different host like https://128.0.0.*:19006 for example will not work.
  • A timer will be started to check for every 1000 milliseconds (1 second) to detect if the window has been closed by the user. If this happens then a promise will resolve with { type: 'dismiss' }.

On mobile web, Chrome and Safari will block any call to window.open() which takes too long to fire after a user interaction. This method must be invoked immediately after a user interaction. If the event is blocked, an error with code ERR_WEB_BROWSER_BLOCKED will be thrown.

Returns:

Promise<WebBrowserAuthSessionResult>

  • If the user does not permit the application to authenticate with the given url, the Promise fulfills with { type: 'cancel' } object.
  • If the user closed the web browser, the Promise fulfills with { type: 'cancel' } object.
  • If the browser is closed using dismissBrowser, the Promise fulfills with { type: 'dismiss' } object.
Android
iOS
Web

WebBrowser.openBrowserAsync(url, browserParams)

ParameterTypeDescription
urlstring

The url to open in the web browser.

browserParams
(optional)		WebBrowserOpenOptions

A dictionary of key-value pairs.

Default:{}

Opens the url with Safari in a modal on iOS using SFSafariViewController, and Chrome in a new custom tab on Android. On iOS, the modal Safari will not share cookies with the system Safari. If you need this, use openAuthSessionAsync.

Returns:

Promise<WebBrowserResult>

The promise behaves differently based on the platform. On Android promise resolves with { type: 'opened' } if we were able to open browser. On iOS:

  • If the user closed the web browser, the Promise resolves with { type: 'cancel' }.
  • If the browser is closed using dismissBrowser, the Promise resolves with { type: 'dismiss' }.
Android

WebBrowser.warmUpAsync(browserPackage)

ParameterTypeDescription
browserPackage
(optional)		string

Package of browser to be warmed up. If not set, preferred browser will be warmed.


This method calls warmUp method on CustomTabsClient for specified package.

Returns:

Promise<WebBrowserWarmUpResult>

A promise which fulfils with WebBrowserWarmUpResult object.

Types

Android
iOS
Web

AuthSessionOpenOptions

If there is no native AuthSession implementation available (which is the case on Android) the params inherited from WebBrowserOpenOptions will be used in the browser polyfill. Otherwise, the browser parameters will be ignored.

Type: WebBrowserOpenOptions extended by:


NameTypeDescription
preferEphemeralSession
(optional)		boolean
Only for: 
iOS

Determines whether the session should ask the browser for a private authentication session. Set this to true to request that the browser doesn’t share cookies or other browsing data between the authentication session and the user’s normal browser session. Whether the request is honored depends on the user’s default web browser.

Default:false
Android
iOS
Web

WebBrowserAuthSessionResult

Literal Type: multiple types

Acceptable values are: WebBrowserRedirectResult | WebBrowserResult

Android
iOS
Web

WebBrowserCompleteAuthSessionOptions

NameTypeDescription
skipRedirectCheck
(optional)		boolean

Attempt to close the window without checking to see if the auth redirect matches the cached redirect URL.

Android
iOS
Web

WebBrowserCompleteAuthSessionResult

NameTypeDescription
messagestring

Additional description or reasoning of the result.

type'success' | 'failed'

Type of the result.

Android
iOS
Web

WebBrowserCoolDownResult

Type: ServiceActionResult

Android
iOS
Web

WebBrowserCustomTabsResults

NameTypeDescription
browserPackagesstring[]

All packages recognized by PackageManager as capable of handling Custom Tabs. Empty array means there is no supporting browsers on device.

defaultBrowserPackage
(optional)		string

Default package chosen by user, null if there is no such packages. Also null usually means, that user will be prompted to choose from available packages.

preferredBrowserPackage
(optional)		string

Package preferred by CustomTabsClient to be used to handle Custom Tabs. It favors browser chosen by user as default, as long as it is present on both browserPackages and servicePackages lists. Only such browsers are considered as fully supporting Custom Tabs. It might be null when there is no such browser installed or when default browser is not in servicePackages list.

servicePackagesstring[]

All packages recognized by PackageManager as capable of handling Custom Tabs Service. This service is used by warmUpAsync, mayInitWithUrlAsync and coolDownAsync.

Android
iOS
Web

WebBrowserMayInitWithUrlResult

Type: ServiceActionResult

Android
iOS
Web

WebBrowserOpenOptions

NameTypeDescription
browserPackage
(optional)		string
Only for: 
Android

Package name of a browser to be used to handle Custom Tabs. List of available packages is to be queried by getCustomTabsSupportingBrowsers method.

controlsColor
(optional)		string
Only for: 
iOS

Tint color for controls in SKSafariViewController. Supports React Native color formats.

createTask
(optional)		boolean
Only for: 
Android

A boolean determining whether the browser should open in a new task or in the same task as your app.

Default:true
dismissButtonStyle
(optional)		'done' | 'close' | 'cancel'
Only for: 
iOS

The style of the dismiss button. Should be one of: done, close, or cancel.

enableBarCollapsing
(optional)		boolean

A boolean determining whether the toolbar should be hiding when a user scrolls the website.

enableDefaultShareMenuItem
(optional)		boolean
Only for: 
Android

A boolean determining whether a default share item should be added to the menu.

presentationStyle
(optional)		WebBrowserPresentationStyle
Only for: 
iOS

The presentation style of the browser window.

Default:WebBrowser.WebBrowserPresentationStyle.OverFullScreen
readerMode
(optional)		boolean
Only for: 
iOS

A boolean determining whether Safari should enter Reader mode, if it is available.

secondaryToolbarColor
(optional)		string
Only for: 
Android

Color of the secondary toolbar. Supports React Native color formats.

showInRecents
(optional)		boolean
Only for: 
Android

A boolean determining whether browsed website should be shown as separate entry in Android recents/multitasking view. Requires createTask to be true (default).

Default:false
showTitle
(optional)		boolean
Only for: 
Android

A boolean determining whether the browser should show the title of website on the toolbar.

toolbarColor
(optional)		string

Color of the toolbar. Supports React Native color formats.

windowFeatures
(optional)		string | WebBrowserWindowFeatures
Only for: 
Web

Features to use with window.open().

windowName
(optional)		string
Only for: 
Web

Name to assign to the popup window.

Android
iOS
Web

WebBrowserRedirectResult

NameTypeDescription
type'success'

Type of the result.

urlstring-
Android
iOS
Web

WebBrowserResult

NameTypeDescription
typeWebBrowserResultType

Type of the result.

Android
iOS
Web

WebBrowserWarmUpResult

Type: ServiceActionResult

Android
iOS
Web

WebBrowserWindowFeatures

Type: Record<string, number | boolean | string>

Enums

iOS

WebBrowserPresentationStyle

A browser presentation style. Its values are directly mapped to the UIModalPresentationStyle.

WebBrowserPresentationStyle Values

Only for: 
iOS

AUTOMATIC

WebBrowserPresentationStyle.AUTOMATIC ＝ "automatic"

The default presentation style chosen by the system. On older iOS versions, falls back to WebBrowserPresentationStyle.FullScreen.

CURRENT_CONTEXT

WebBrowserPresentationStyle.CURRENT_CONTEXT ＝ "currentContext"

A presentation style where the browser is displayed over the app's content.

FORM_SHEET

WebBrowserPresentationStyle.FORM_SHEET ＝ "formSheet"

A presentation style that displays the browser centered in the screen.

FULL_SCREEN

WebBrowserPresentationStyle.FULL_SCREEN ＝ "fullScreen"

A presentation style in which the presented browser covers the screen.

OVER_CURRENT_CONTEXT

WebBrowserPresentationStyle.OVER_CURRENT_CONTEXT ＝ "overCurrentContext"

A presentation style where the browser is displayed over the app's content.

OVER_FULL_SCREEN

WebBrowserPresentationStyle.OVER_FULL_SCREEN ＝ "overFullScreen"

A presentation style in which the browser view covers the screen.

PAGE_SHEET

WebBrowserPresentationStyle.PAGE_SHEET ＝ "pageSheet"

A presentation style that partially covers the underlying content.

POPOVER

WebBrowserPresentationStyle.POPOVER ＝ "popover"

A presentation style where the browser is displayed in a popover view.

Android
iOS
Web

WebBrowserResultType

WebBrowserResultType Values

Only for: 
iOS

CANCEL

WebBrowserResultType.CANCEL ＝ "cancel"
Only for: 
iOS

DISMISS

WebBrowserResultType.DISMISS ＝ "dismiss"

LOCKED

WebBrowserResultType.LOCKED ＝ "locked"
Only for: 
Android

OPENED

WebBrowserResultType.OPENED ＝ "opened"

Error codes

ERR_WEB_BROWSER_REDIRECT

Web only: The window cannot complete the redirect request because the invoking window doesn't have a reference to its parent. This can happen if the parent window was reloaded.

ERR_WEB_BROWSER_BLOCKED

Web only: The popup window was blocked by the browser or failed to open. This can happen in mobile browsers when the window.open() method was invoked too long after a user input was fired.

Mobile browsers do this to prevent malicious websites from opening many unwanted popups on mobile.

You're method can still run in an async function but there cannot be any long running tasks before it. You can use hooks to disable user-inputs until any other processes have finished loading.

ERR_WEB_BROWSER_CRYPTO

Web only: The current environment doesn't support crypto. Ensure you are running from a secure origin (localhost/https).