Custom Tabs Sometimes
February 20, 2025
I recently learned about a technology called Custom Tabs in Android. The closest equivalent in iOS is SFSafariViewController from googling. For most users, this runs into the same issue of not knowing how browsers vs webviews vs custom tabs are different. My high level breakdown in bullet points.
- the browser is the browser that we know and love
- custom tabs is the browser but embedded in the app. the kebob menu that lets you open in the browser is a sign that it is a custom tab
- webviews are like the browser but have fine grain security control and behavior that is different from browser. AKA it isn't the browser
A good usecase does seem to be the log in or sign up process in a app, that can be shared with web code. From Android and code perspective, the additional work is figuring out how to go from native android to custom tab back to native android, while handling the session. A work colleage shared two good resources that explain what a developer might consider:
A major trade off is understanding that your users can eject out of the native app at any point in the custom tab and continue their journey in the web browser instead.
Posts
For more posts, click here