this post was submitted on 11 Dec 2024
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How do I open links from other apps to pvt window by default? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 2 weeks ago by no_ragrets@lemmy.ml to c/firefox@lemmy.ml
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FF as the default browser. is it possible to set such that when I open links on other apps, firefox launches a private window for those links?

there seems a similar option but it has a side effect, FF normal launch also becomes private (incognito).

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[–] d0ntpan1c@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

On android I use URL Check (https://triangularapps.blogspot.com/search/label/UrlChecker?m=1) which has a lot of utility for unshortening snd dropping parameters as well as opening in a specific app. It can open private or normal, too. It is a bit overkill if you only use 1 browser, but tbh, its super useful for revising links before you open them anyway to remove tracking garbage.

I'm not aware of anything this involved and able to do private vs non-private on Linux or macOS, but it would be neat if Browserosourus (macOS) or Junction (Linux) could add those capabilities.

I haven't looked too much for solutions outside of mobile. Easy enough on desktop to copy a link and paste in a private window. Not as easy on mobile.

[–] vort3@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I modified Braus source code (it's in Python) to use private Firefox windows, but I don't remember the details. Possibly you just need to create a new .desktop file for private window and it will just work on Linux. Except that unless you choose a new icon, you'll have 2 firefox options in menu and won't know which one is private and which one is normal.

[–] d0ntpan1c@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Braus is new to me, tho at a glance looks less capable overall than Junction.

Looks like Junction supports firefox profiles via .desktop entries, so it would also support launching via the private CLI flag (firefox -private-window iirc).

Might be easier to keep up with than modding Braus source code in the long run.

https://github.com/sonnyp/Junction

Like other gnome circle apps it heavily encourages flatpak but its available on arch official and other distro package managers.

[–] vort3@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago

I've heard of Junction but don't remember why I chose not to use it, possibly it's too big in size or something compared to Braus.

True, Braus is pretty limited.

[–] vort3@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

There is an extension that can make externally opened links to open in temporary containers.

Not quite what you want but could work, depending on what's your workflow and what you're trying to achieve.

There's also a software that acts like a browser and handles links, but instead of opening them, it shows you a list of browser's you have installed and you can choose which one to use. It also has an option to open said links in private windows (incognito) instead of normal windows.

Again, probably not the solution you wanted, but works for me.

Of you like any of the two solutions I listed above, let me know, I'll send you the links.

[–] no_ragrets@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

hi. thanks and I would like to know about those solutions if you don't mind.

[–] vort3@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago

Okay, so long story short, I hate it when stuff opens in my browser, be it new browser tabs or browser windows. Those sites pollute my browser history and save some unwanted cookies etc. I'm very religious about my browser, and other than some chosen sites in normal tabs, everything else is in private windows.

The first solution to stop stuff from opening links in my browser randomly was this:

https://github.com/mortenn/BrowserPicker

It's an app that acts as http/https URL handler but does not open links, instead it presents a list of browser's you have and passes the link to open with any chosen browser. You can also choose to open in private mode. This makes sense because sometimes I want different kinds of links to open in different browsers. I wish this was built into the OS instead of forcing you to have a default browser.

This one is Windows only, but I know there exist some Linux alternatives, like Braus:

https://github.com/properlypurple/braus

Now having all links open in private windows might be great but there's one thing it doesn't solve. You might now about containers, the separate spaces for sites to open, it allows you to log in into a website twice simultaneously, in different containers, each will have their one cookies.

Unfortunately, private windows all store their data in a single storage, and do not support containers. You can't open two private windows and log in into two different accounts on a single website.

In case you need this, there is this extension that allows you to open links in your normal (non private) window, but they'll get opened in temporary containers automatically and those containers get destroyed with all their cookies and other stuff after you close those temporary container tabs:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/temporary-containers/

It has its advantages but also has drawbacks. Those sites will still be kept in your history. You can either delete them manually or enable the setting to delete from history automatically, but due to a limited browser API it does not work as one would expect. I can tell more about that if you wish.

Basically that's it. Temporary containers are great but not too polished yet, and there is a huge number of settings in that extension if that's your kind of thing. If not and you need some kind of "it just works" solution, I don't know what else to suggest you for now.

Feel free to PM me if you need help with configuring temporary containers extension.

[–] zerosignal@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

On android, I have "open links in a private tab" turned on. When I open the app, it launches normally and if I open a link from a normal tab, the link opens in a normal tab as well.

[–] no_ragrets@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'm on android but the app launches on private window. peculiar.

[–] Ephera@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago

I think, it reopens on what you left it at when you closed it the last time. Well, unless you swipe it out of the Recent Apps list, then it will reset to normal browsing.

[–] davidagain@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

I use duckduckgo desktop browser as my default on Windows and similarly on android, for this reason. You can press the burn it all button as often as you like, but whenever you log in to a website it offers to protect the website from the burn everything button. This builds a whitelist as you go.

I used to have an extension that did that on Firefox but it didn't get updated and died. In duckduckgo it's the default behaviour.

[–] Cheradenine@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 weeks ago

I can't think of any. As a work around you could use a Firefox fork and have it set to always open new tabs in private tabs.

I have Fennec set up that way.

[–] Ephera@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

On what operating system are you?

On Android, there should be a setting for it.
On a desktop OS, you can probably add --private-window as an argument into the launcher.
Don't know what the situation is on iOS...

[–] no_ragrets@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I am on android and tried the setting already. hence the post.

thanks for the PC tip though.

[–] vort3@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago

On android you better stick to UTC Check, as this other user says:

https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/comment/11955639

I've been using it since forever and loving it.