How can a bookmarklet be ADDED on mobile Chrome without copying and pasting?

Question

On my Android phone, how can a user add a bookmarklet to my Chrome bookmarks, without needing to use another device, and without copying and pasting?
I have a bookmarklet on my website that I want other people to add to their bookmarks, so I'm looking for a straightforward method.

Bookmarklets are bookmarks, but of which contain Javascript code instead of a regular web link.

Bookmarklets can be added to Chrome on the PC very easily in many ways.

• However, on Android, if the bookmarklet is displayed as a link on a page, it cannot be "dragged to the bookmark bar" as with a PC.
• If I try to open it in a new tab, the address bar will not contain the Javascript, so the user can't use the bookmark button.
• Tapping the link to the bookmarklet will not put the code in the address bar either.
• The only way I've been able to add a bookmarklet on my phone has been to tap and hold on the link, then tap "Copy link address", then edit a pre-existing bookmark's link and pasting in the bookmarklet code, then renaming said bookmark. But that's a pain, and trying to explain it to non tech savy folks isn't happening.

Is there a more simple method?

Note that I have a particular bookmarklet that even when added on my PC, does NOT sync to my Phone's bookmarks. I believe it may be due to the length (It's over 9000 characters!). This is why I need an easy method for users to save this bookmarklet.

Answer 1

You can add (and execute) bookmarklets entirely in Android Chrome.

The caveat: it takes more work than just drag-and-drop in the desktop counterpart.

Save a bookmarklet (Android Chrome)

1. Long tap the desired bookmarklet
2. Select Copy link address
3. Go to Menu (three dots) and tap the Star (bookmark)
4. BEFORE IT DISAPPEARS, tap EDIT! (at the bottom)
5. Erase everything in the URL field, and type javascript:
   • Side note: If the url of the page is really, really long, you might want to long tap the url contents: the keyboard will appear, and then start typing immediately.
6. Long tap at the right of the javascript: and then tap PASTE
7. If you did it right, the begginning of URL should look somewhat like:

   javascript:(function(){lots-of-code-here...

   (The : is still in javascript:)

8. Change the Name to something useful (you'll use it later, see below)
9. Optional: Pick the destination Folder where you want your bookmarklet stored.
10. When done, press the back button.
11. You might want to test the bookmarklet. Read below:

Execute a bookmarklet (Android Chrome)

From How-To Geek (the link you sent):

In mobile Chrome, you’ll need to launch the bookmarklet from the location [address] bar. Open the web page you want to run the bookmarklet on, tap your location bar, and start searching for the name of the bookmarklet. Tap the bookmarklet’s name to run it on the current page.

Answer 2

If I understand your question correctly, you want to:

1. Let users add bookmarklets from your own website in Chrome for Android. To achieve this, you could use JavaScript to add a bookmark from here: https://gist.github.com/oilvier/70abd45d1f2ffc98b568

   If this does not work, you could use JavaScript to copy the bookmarklet into the user's clipboard. Not really the solution you're looking for, but it removes one step in the user guide mentioned below.

2. Let users add bookmarklets from any website:

   1. Long press on the bookmarklet and select "Copy URL"
   2. Press on the 3 dot menu on the upper right and touch the star.
   3. 1. At the bottom, there is a small popup where you touch "Change"
      2. If the popup disappeared too fast, repeat step 3 which brings you to the "Change bookmark" screen too.
   4. Long press on the text field below URL and then choose "Insert"
   5. Hit the arrow pointing to the left.

Solution (2) is very similar to your current solution, but you don't need a desktop or a pre-existing bookmark as it creates a new one. 5 easy steps for average users, especially if you use screenshots to help them understand where to touch.

Answer 3

Chrome Android doesn't let you run Bookmarklets the traditional way, But, there is a workaround, you can call Bookmarklet from the address bar,

First, you have to manually create a Bookmarklet by editing it,

For example, javascript:alert('foo'); and name it.

Then, on the page you want to run this, search for the bookmarklet name in the address bar, and click on it.

Below Tutorial might be helpful.

https://paul.kinlan.me/use-bookmarklets-on-chrome-on-android/

Answer 4

Here is an easy solution.

1. Save the bookmarklet on Chrome on your desktop give it a name, say, BM1
2. Turn sync on the chrome browser in both desktop and mobile Chrome browsers. When the sync is on, all the bookmarks and bookmarklets gets transferred to the mobile phone as well.
3. Now, this should make our bookmarklet accessible in the mobile chrome browser. Here is how to execute the bookmarklet: Type the name of the bookmarklet BM1 in the search bar. And, google chrome will give you suggestion based on what you type on the address bar and there will be your bookmarklet. Now, simply click the bookmarklet once you see it.