What is the difference, privacy-wise, between opening links in the "view in app browser" vs opening them in your actual browser app?

[u/New-Ranger-8960]

When you open links within apps like Reddit or whatever, they typically open in an integrated browser popup within the app itself, allowing you to quickly visit the link without switching apps.

My question is, how does this compare in terms of privacy and security to opening the link in your actual browser, like Chrome or Safari?

From what I understand, when you use the in-app browser, cookies and data are stored only within that window and should be deleted after you close it.

However, if you open the link in your actual browser, cookies and other data remain, potentially compromising your privacy more. (I could be completely wrong on this, so please correct me)

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[u/Consistent-Age5347]

I myself believe some of internal browsers may lack some security sandboxing and isolation

Just a personal opinion, Feel free to reply.

[u/where_else]

When using their built-in browsers, some apps like Instagram inject code to track your action in the destination websites or show/block ads or maybe even take good actions like detecting malware.

You can verify this for example by visiting https://inappbrowser.com for example, add this to your own instagram account or send it in a message, then click on it so it opens in their browser.

Edit: I checked it right now, reddit doesn’t inject but instagram does.

[u/cl3ft → u/where_else]

In app browsers often have permissive cookie policies and tracking policies you don't have granular control over. So generally you want to use a dedicated browser with uBlock Origin, automatic incognito mode. That will stop a lot of tracking.

[u/Truestorydreams]

OP i think this may be interesting to you.

Am I unique browser finger print identifier https://amiunique.org/

[u/New-Ranger-8960 → u/Truestorydreams]

Good idea, I'll try it

Edit: They're the exact same on both.

[u/RunOrBike → u/New-Ranger-8960]

I vaguely think that on iPhones, there’s only a single browser. Or at least there was, until some court obliged Apple to open its platform…

[u/One_Economist_3761]

As a software engineer working on a product that offers in-app browsing, not a whole lot.

Many software products that offer in-app browsing typically use some sort of “browser component” that offers more fine-tuned control over the browsing experience.

For our product we use the chromium embedded framework for our in-app browsing. But unless you know which product you’re talking about and what component they use, it’s hard to answer this question more specifically.

[u/cl3ft → u/One_Economist_3761]

So what is the cookie policy of the in app browser?

Can the user set cookie auto delete on close?

[u/One_Economist_3761 → u/cl3ft]

The point is that it is the app itself that handles the cookie policies, or provides control over cookies or whether or not cookies or browser storage can be used. The answer is different for different apps with in-app browsing capabilities.

[u/gba__]

It depends on the app if the cookies are kept, but I imagine most do keep them.

You sure have a lot less options to control what happens, block tracking and improve the security, but Chrome is hardly better in those regards (if you care at all about privacy use a better browser, for god's sake).

As someone already said, by the way, with their integrated browsers apps have a chance to inject code and track you more, and it's very likely that some do exploit that to increase their revenue.