Android utilizes a system called “App Links” to make moving between web browsers and native applications seamless. If you search for a product on Google Chrome and click a link to Amazon, Android intercepts that web link and automatically yanks you out of the browser, instantly opening that exact product page inside the native Amazon shopping app.
While this is generally a great user experience, it can be deeply frustrating if the native app is poorly designed or lacks features found on the mobile website. For example, you might prefer reading Reddit threads in your web browser where you can easily open multiple tabs, but Android constantly forces you into the native Reddit app against your will every time you click a search result.
You can dive into Android’s deep system settings to explicitly revoke an application’s permission to intercept web links, forcing those URLs to always load normally inside your default web browser.
How to Stop Android from Forcing App Links
You must adjust the “Open by default” behavior on a per-app basis.
- Open the Settings app on your Android smartphone.
- Tap on Apps (or Apps & notifications).
- Scroll down and tap on Default apps, then look for Opening links (on some devices like Samsung, just tap on the specific app first, then look for Set as default).
- Locate and tap on the specific application that keeps hijacking your links (e.g., Reddit, Twitter/X, Amazon).
- On the app’s link settings page, tap the toggle switch labeled Open supported links and turn it Off.
- (Alternatively, on older Android versions, change the dropdown from “Open in this app” to Don’t open in this app or Ask every time).
The targeted application will immediately lose its ability to intercept URLs. The next time you click an Amazon or Reddit link in Chrome, the page will load seamlessly within the web browser just like any other website, allowing you to use tabs and browser extensions freely.