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Issue metadata

Status: Archived
Owner: ----
Closed: Sep 2017
Components:
EstimatedDays: ----
NextAction: ----
OS: Android
Pri: 2
Type: Bug



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Intent-based URI is abused in some sites, keeping users from browsing the webpage.

Reported by wangchen...@gmail.com, Aug 9 2017

Issue description

Example URL:
http://m.youku.com/video/id_XMjk1NTA3MTkxMg==.html?&source=

Steps to reproduce the problem:
1. Open the URL

What is the expected behavior?
User can browse this page in the browser.

What went wrong?
The page will use JavaScript to trigger a "Intent-based URI" when loaded. Which will launch the default App Store app (Like Google Play Store) on the phone and open the page of an app (if not installed). If the user don't want to install the app and press "back" button to go back to Chrome, he/she will end up at the state before the URL is opened. 

This means the user can NEVER browse this webpage,
and the only thing he/she can do is install the app. 

This trick is commonly seen in many popular sites in China, like taobao.com, jd.com. They abuse this "intent-based URI" feature to FORCE their visitors to use their native apps.

Firefox for Android suffers from similar issue. If the user have more than one app store app on the phone, Firefox let the user choose which to launch, will Chrome will just launch the default one.

Does it occur on multiple sites: Yes

Is it a problem with a plugin? No 

Did this work before? No 

Does this work in other browsers? No
 Firefox for Android

Chrome version: 59.0.3071.125  Channel: stable
OS Version: 7.1
Flash Version: 

This is not a bug. I just thought something should be done to prevent this feature from being abused by app developers.
 
Intent-based URI docs is here https://developer.chrome.com/multidevice/android/intents

Comment 2 by mattm@chromium.org, Aug 10 2017

Components: -Blink UI>Browser>Navigation Mobile>Intents
Labels: Needs-Feedback
Are you observing pages that do this without any user gesture? AFAICT intent uris should only work in response to a user gesture. Could you confirm more precisely what you're seeing?

fwiw, I tried that youku url in chrome dev on android and was able to play a video without getting sent out of chrome.

However, the general problem "sites can block some users from seeing their site" isn't something that is solvable. Even without intent URIs, they could just serve you a blank page. But if they are able to launch intent URIs from javascript without user input, that might be a bug.
Project Member

Comment 3 by sheriffbot@chromium.org, Sep 11 2017

Status: Archived (was: Unconfirmed)
No feedback was received in the last 30 days from reporter "wangcheng678@gmail.com", so archiving this. Please re-open or file a new bug if this is still an issue.

For more details visit https://www.chromium.org/issue-tracking/autotriage - Your friendly Sheriffbot

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