"Open in browser" does not recognize official YouTube app

[JBWalrider]

Checklist

• I am able to reproduce the bug with the latest version given here: CLICK THIS LINK.
• I made sure that there are no existing issues - open or closed - which I could contribute my information to.
• I have read the FAQ and my problem isn't listed.
• I have taken the time to fill in all the required details. I understand that the bug report will be dismissed otherwise.
• This issue contains only one bug.
• I have read and understood the contribution guidelines.
• I have read and understood the AI policy. The content of this bug report is not generated by AI.

Affected version

0.28.2, 0.28.1

Steps to reproduce the bug

1. Download official YouTube app (I am on 21.04.222)
2. Download NewPipe 0.28.2 or 0.28.1 (this bug appears in both versions)
3. Long press any video and select "Open in browser"

Expected behavior

List of compatible browsers appears for selection, in my case, Chrome, NYC Ferry app, Youtube

Actual behavior

Only Chrome and NYC Ferry appear. The official YouTube app does not appear in the list of selectable choices.

Screenshots/Screen recordings

Image is of "Gaming trends" feed but this problem appears on any feed.

Logs

No response

Affected Android/Custom ROM version

Android 16

Affected device model

Pixel 6

Additional information

I have checked that the YouTube app can open links I click on in other apps, for example Keep Notes.
If I go into the Youtube app settings, under "Open by default", I have set it to open links within the app.
This bug happens in 0.28.1 as well, and may be related to this pull request. I don't mind having to go through the selection screen every time, but the official YouTube app should be one of the options. Also, if I disable the NYC Ferry app, making Chrome the only option, the selection screen does not even pop up and it just opens in Chrome automatically.

[hollownights]

Well, the YouTube app is not a browser, so it really shouldn't appear in a list of browsers. The right place for the YouTube app to appear is in the "Share" menu.

Also, if I disable the NYC Ferry app, making Chrome the only option, the selection screen does not even pop up and it just opens in Chrome automatically.

Obviously. Is either that or "Do you want to open it with Chrome... or maybe... with Chrome... or maybe... with Chrome".

[JBWalrider]

Well, the YouTube app is not a browser, so it really shouldn't appear in a list of browsers. The right place for the YouTube app to appear is in the "Share" menu.

The YouTube app does not appear in the "Share" menu. As far as I know, it behaves like a browser when opening links per the "Open by default" page in Android settings. Also, based on the latest comment in this issue, the YouTube app is treated like a browser in that dialog. By the way, NYC Ferry isn't a browser either, and also behaves this same exact way.

The only time YouTube should appear in the "Share" menu is when uploading a video or a community post, which is the only time you are sharing content on that app. This is consistent with all other social media apps. "Sharing" something on Instagram means posting it under your own account, not opening someone else's post in the app.

Also, if I disable the NYC Ferry app, making Chrome the only option, the selection screen does not even pop up and it just opens in Chrome automatically.

Obviously. Is either that or "Do you want to open it with Chrome... or maybe... with Chrome... or maybe... with Chrome".

Based on the same issue linked above, the dialog should appear every time, even if there is only one choice.

[dftf-stu]

Just tested on my phone, and:

• In the "Share" option, YouTube does not appear
• In the "Open in browser" option, YouTube does not appear...
• ...and, if I go into the Android Settings, then search for "Default browser app", it doesn't appear to select there, either

So... unless the team could perhaps add an explicit "Open in YouTube app" option to the pop-up menu, not sure they can make it appear within the "Open in browser" panel, as I suspect only the Android OS itself can populate that? 🤔

As a workaround, assuming you're looking to like or comment on a video:

• Do "Open in browser", then choose Chrome. By-default, Chrome should have you signed-into YouTube

Then, once the video is loaded in Chrome, if you still want it open in the YouTube app:

• Tap the three-dots above the video (next to the 🔍 icon), then tap "Open App" in the card at the bottom

Or if you regularly need to like or comment on videos, look into the Grayjay or ReVanced apps instead.

[JBWalrider]

Thanks. I've been doing this Chrome workaround for now. The only times I need to do this are when I get the "confirm you're not a bot" error and need to use the official app instead, but thankfully this has been rare in 0.28.2 (at least for me).

...and, if I go into the Android Settings, then search for "Default browser app", it doesn't appear to select there, either

I just checked on my end, and NYC Ferry doesn't appear there either, but another app called "Web Video Caster" does, which is a browser, but which isn't the default browser. I think there are 2 separate settings for this.

1. Under "Default apps", you can select a default browser. Only the browser you select as default appears in the "Open in browser" dialog within external apps.
2. Under each app's settings, you can make it open links "in app" if they are of a certain format, e.g. the Youtube app has the following links: youtu.be, youtube.com, m.youtube.com, www.youtube.com, etc. And these apps are then added to the "Open in browser" dialog in external apps if the link happens to be of a format it can open.
   So the "Open in browser" dialog should show only 1 "real" browser, which is the default browser, along with any non-browser apps that can open those specific links.

[hollownights]

The YouTube app does not appear in the "Share" menu.

Just tested on my phone, and:
In the "Share" option, YouTube does not appear

@JBWalrider @dftf-stu I can confirm that it is not appearing in the Share menu, even though it should appear there. This is a bug...

... but I don't think that is necessarily a NewPipe bug. I've tried with other apps and YouTube is missing from every "Share" menu. Maybe YouTube's app last (?) update messed up with its capabilities of answering to intent calls ("Hey app, are you able to handle URLs?")

As far as I know, it behaves like a browser when opening links per the "Open by default" page in Android settings. Also, based on the latest comment in #9403, the YouTube app is treated like a browser in that dialog. By the way, NYC Ferry isn't a browser either, and also behaves this same exact way.

I just checked on my end, and NYC Ferry doesn't appear there either, but another app called "Web Video Caster" does, which is a browser, but which isn't the default browser. I think there are 2 separate settings for this.

@JBWalrider Any app in "Browser app" in the "Default apps" settings in Android should appear in a "Open link with" menu, but these apps are only the ones that say they can handle http: or https: schemes for any URL/domain, while an app like YouTube would only handle URLs like https://youtube.com. This way, the response you get when using a "Share link with" functionality changes depending on how the app (in this case, NewPipe) asks for apps capable of handling links: the app could ask "Who can handle 'http://example.com'?" BUT proceed to send an YouTube URL, which would trigger responses from browsers, but not from the YouTube app, even though the URL to be sent is a YouTube one.

The only time YouTube should appear in the "Share" menu is when uploading a video or a community post, which is the only time you are sharing content on that app. This is consistent with all other social media apps. "Sharing" something on Instagram means posting it under your own account, not opening someone else's post in the app.

No, just no. The "Sharing" functionality has absolutely nothing to do with the concept of "sharing" something on a social network.

I am not a developer, so I had to do a little AI cheating, but the code for sharing an URL with another app would look like this:

Uri webpage = Uri.parse("https://www.example.com");
Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW, webpage);

// Always wrap in a chooser so the user can pick the app
Intent chooser = Intent.createChooser(intent, "Open link with");
startActivity(chooser);

The same URL could be sent to another app as a string (so, just text, not a "real" URL), so that any app could pick it up and decide what to do with it, be it to treat it as text, or to treat it like a URL and open it:

String textToShare = "https://www.example.com";
Intent sendIntent = new Intent();
sendIntent.setAction(Intent.ACTION_SEND);
sendIntent.putExtra(Intent.EXTRA_TEXT, textToShare);
sendIntent.setType("text/plain");

// Wrap in chooser
Intent shareIntent = Intent.createChooser(sendIntent, "Share via");
startActivity(shareIntent);

[dftf-stu]

@hollownights has replied before I had chance to, but I'll post what I was going to say anyway...

@JBWalrider : yes, if you go into an app's settings screen within the Android OS, there is "Open by default", that lets you decide if you want particular URLs to be intercepted and opened in that app instead. But I feel things are getting a bit off-tangent...

You want to be able to directly open any video or Short you find in NewPipe in the YouTube app.

But the "Open in browser" and "Share" lists are not something NewPipe can add options to. When you install an app, it declares what it can open and what type of app it essentially is. So your NYC Ferry app must erroneously be coded to declare itself as a browser. As YouTube does not identify as such, it doesn't appear in the list of browsers, and NewPipe cannot add it to that list.

But, when you hold-down on a video and see this pop-up menu:

Start playing in the background
Start playing in a popup
Download
Add to playlist
Share
Open in browser
Mark as watched
Show channel details

It might be possible for the team to add Open in YouTube app , which would then send a video URL only to the YouTube app.

I'm sure that would be possible (and ChatGPT says it is, in ways like how hollownights mentioned).

[JBWalrider]

Thank you both for the replies.

... but I don't think that is necessarily a NewPipe bug. I've tried with other apps and YouTube is missing from every "Share" menu. Maybe YouTube's app last (?) update messed up with its capabilities of answering to intent calls ("Hey app, are you able to handle URLs?")

This is what I originally thought. I seem to remember the YouTube app being a choice in these dialogs in the past.

@JBWalrider Any app in "Browser app" in the "Default apps" settings in Android should appear in a "Open link with" menu, but these apps are only the ones that say they can handle http: or https: schemes for any URL/domain, while an app like YouTube would only handle URLs like https://youtube.com/. This way, the response you get when using a "Share link with" functionality changes depending on how the app (in this case, NewPipe) asks for apps capable of handling links: the app could ask "Who can handle 'http://example.com/'?" BUT proceed to send an YouTube URL, which would trigger responses from browsers, but not from the YouTube app, even though the URL to be sent is a YouTube one.

Right, I see what you're saying. I guess that's what's happening. Although Web Video Caster does appear in the list of browsers under "default apps" for me, but doesn't appear in the "open in browser" dialog. I'm wondering if this lack of appearance is NewPipe specific, as in NewPip can't find all valid apps for some reason, since I also remember Web Video Caster appearing in some "open link with" dialogs on other apps. Or it might just be that Wb Video Caster is coded weirdly.

The only time YouTube should appear in the "Share" menu is when uploading a video or a community post, which is the only time you are sharing content on that app. This is consistent with all other social media apps. "Sharing" something on Instagram means posting it under your own account, not opening someone else's post in the app.

No, just no. The "Sharing" functionality has absolutely nothing to do with the concept of "sharing" something on a social network.

I still stand by my opinion that opening a link in YouTube should not go into the "share" section. YouTube is a social media platform. And I take this stance because I myself was pissed off at the inability to go from browing Reddit on Chrome to opening in the app. Clicking "share" would only give me "post on reddit", which reposts the link on Reddit under my account page, intead of simply the actual link. This was extremely frustrating for me but the logic was that you're sharing a link, image, video, or whatever, as a new post on your account, not simply opening a link in app (which wouldn't be sharing). Anyway this is off-topic.

But the "Open in browser" and "Share" lists are not something NewPipe can add options to. When you install an app, it declares what it can open and what type of app it essentially is. So your NYC Ferry app must erroneously be coded to declare itself as a browser. As YouTube does not identify as such, it doesn't appear in the list of browsers, and NewPipe cannot add it to that list.

I see, that is also a possibility that would invalidate any data we can gather from that app's behavior. Honestly that is probably the case with something as buggy as the NYC Ferry app.

Anyway my current workaround that doesn't involve opening a tab in Chrome each time is to "share" the video to Keep Notes, which generates a preview but doesn't actually create a note until I confirm. From here I highlight the text and select "open in app" in the context meneu. This brings me to YouTube and the note doesn't get saved because I never confirmed. You can probably use any app that gives you the link in text and doesn't save anything.

Edit: I can confirm that downgrading to 0.28.0 makes it so that "Open in browser" directly takes me into the YouTube app (same YouTube app version, just different NewPipe version). I think it's important to note that this change ONLY started occurring after 0.28.1, where the "open in browser" handling was simplified, and I forgot that I said this in my original post, before all the discussion about which menu this functionality should be placed in.

[Stypox]

This is the expected behavior: the YouTube app is not a browser. See #12605. The reason why we had to change the behavior slightly in 0.28.1 is because if the user ever happened to accidentally press "Always" with NewPipe itself chosen when opening in browser, then "open in browser" would become useless with no possiblity to revert this option. So to avoid this behavior the list now includes only apps that can handle any type of HTTPS url, i.e. actual browsers.

[Stypox]

You can probably use an app like this as workaround: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/top.linesoft.open2share/