Xamarin.Essentials: Browser

  • 2 minutes to read
  • Contributors
    • James Montemagno
    • Craig Dunn
    • Daniel P
    • Brad Umbaugh
    • Matthew Leibowitz

The Browser class enables an application to open a web link in the optimized system preferred browser or the external browser.

Get started

To start using this API, read the getting started guide for Xamarin.Essentials to ensure the library is properly installed and set up in your projects.

Using Browser

Add a reference to Xamarin.Essentials in your class:

using Xamarin.Essentials;

The Browser functionality works by calling the OpenAsync method with the Uri and BrowserLaunchMode.


public class BrowserTest
{
    public async Task<bool> OpenBrowser(Uri uri)
    {
        return await Browser.OpenAsync(uri, BrowserLaunchMode.SystemPreferred);
    }
}

This method returns after the browser was launched and not necessarily closed by the user. The bool result indicates whether the launching was successful or not.

Customization

When using the system preferred browser there are several customization options available for iOS and Android. This includes a TitleMode (Android only), and preferred color options for the Toolbar (iOS and Android) and Controls (iOS only) that appear.

These options are specified using BrowserLaunchOptions when calling OpenAsync.

await Browser.OpenAsync(uri, new BrowserLaunchOptions
                {
                    LaunchMode = BrowserLaunchMode.SystemPreferred,
                    TitleMode = BrowserTitleMode.Show,
                    PreferredToolbarColor = Color.AliceBlue,
                    PreferredControlColor = Color.Violet
                });

Browser Options

Platform Implementation Specifics

The Launch Mode determines how the browser is launched:

System Preferred

Chrome Custom Tabs will attempted to be used load the Uri and keep navigation awareness.

External

An Intent will be used to request the Uri be opened through the systems normal browser.

API

Find more Xamarin videos on Channel 9 and YouTube.