I have a link in my website that redirects to instagram login to fetch some photos, but that page doesn't work on the in app browser from instagram, on an ios device. My idea is to put a link so the user can click it and be redirected to a page in safari or the default browser, is that possible?

<a id="link" href="">Google</a>

I have a link in my website that redirects to instagram login to fetch some photos, but that page doesn't work on the in app browser from instagram, on an ios device. My idea is to put a link so the user can click it and be redirected to a page in safari or the default browser, is that possible?

<a id="link" href="http://www.google.">Google</a>

• javascript
• html
• ios
• safari
• instagram

• you can put link in App, when user will click, that will redirects to instagram . – Ratnesh Shukla Commented Feb 17, 2017 at 19:28
• Instagram login page doesn't work on In app instagram browser, on ios. – Agu V Commented Feb 17, 2017 at 19:29
• Did you find solution? – kizoso Commented May 18, 2017 at 11:32
• @kizoso no, sorry. – Agu V Commented May 18, 2017 at 19:08
• There's no way to do this AFAIK. – Matthew Dean Commented Jul 18, 2023 at 20:16

2 Answers 2

After many experiments, I found a solution that works to open a URL in Safari from embedded browsers on iOS/macOS:

function openInSafari(url) {
  // Try both Safari URL schemes for maximum patibility
  const xSafariScheme = `x-safari-https://${url.replace(/^https?:\/\//, '')}`;
  const legacyScheme = `-apple-mobilesafari-tab:${url}`;
  
  // Try newer scheme first (works on iOS 15/17/18, macOS)
  setTimeout(() => { location.href = xSafariScheme; }, 100);
  
  // Then try legacy scheme (works on older iOS, iOS 16)
  setTimeout(() => { location.href = legacyScheme; }, 600);
  
  // Fallback to normal URL if neither works
  setTimeout(() => { location.href = url; }, 1500);
}

// Usage example - call this when you detect an embedded browser
openInSafari("https://example.");

This will attempt to break out of the in-app browser and open your link in Safari instead.

Credit: I found information about the Safari URL schemes from Christian Tietze's blog where he documents that x-safari-https: works on iOS 15/17/18 and macOS, while the legacy -apple-mobilesafari-tab: scheme works better on older iOS versions and iOS 16.

Not a plete answer, but could be a clue. Just put some blocking js code in the beginning of a html body.

<script>
    var str = navigator.userAgent;
    var i = str.indexOf("Instagram");
    if (i != -1) {
      document.write("<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://instagram./?nibrowser=no\">Proceed to Sfari</a>");
      window.stop();
    }
</script>

Some info about Instagram user agent: https://mpulp.mobi/2016/07/12/instagram-user-agent/

On forcing in app browsers to open Safari: https://support.interact.technology/support/solutions/articles/17000003729-how-to-force-a-link-to-open-in-safari-ios-only-

And window.stop() just prevents page load almost in all browsers. Hope it'll help.