How do I open a web browser (URL) from my Flutter code?

Question

I am building a Flutter app, and I'd like to open a URL into a web browser or browser window (in response to a button tap). How can I do this?

Answer 1

TL;DR

This is now implemented as Plugin

const url = "https://flutter.io";
if (await canLaunch(url))
  await launch(url);
else 
  // can't launch url, there is some error
  throw "Could not launch $url";

---

Full example:

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:url_launcher/url_launcher.dart';

void main() {
  runApp(new Scaffold(
    body: new Center(
      child: new RaisedButton(
        onPressed: _launchURL,
        child: new Text('Show Flutter homepage'),
      ),
    ),
  ));
}

_launchURL() async {
  const url = 'https://flutter.io';
  if (await canLaunch(url)) {
    await launch(url);
  } else {
    throw 'Could not launch $url';
  }
}

In pubspec.yaml

dependencies:
  url_launcher: ^5.7.10

Special Characters:

If the url value contains spaces or other values that are now allowed in URLs, use

Uri.encodeFull(urlString) or Uri.encodeComponent(urlString) and pass the resulting value instead.

Answer 2

If you target sdk 30 or above canLaunch will return false by default due to package visibility changes: https://developer.android.com/training/basics/intents/package-visibility

in the androidManifest.xml you'll need to add the following

<queries>
    <intent>
        <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW" />
        <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE" />
        <data android:scheme="https" />
    </intent>
</queries>

Then the following should word

const url = "https://flutter.io";
if (await canLaunch(url)){
  await launch(url);
}
else {
  // can't launch url
}

Answer 3

For Flutter:

As described above by Günter Zöchbauer

For Flutter Web:

import 'dart:html' as html;

Then use:

html.window.open(url, name);

Make sure that you run flutter clean if the import doesn't resolve.

Answer 4

For those who wants to implement LAUNCH BROWSER AND EXIT APP by using url_launcher. Remember to use (forceSafariVC: false) to open the url in default browser of the phone. Otherwise, the launched browser exit along with your APP.

await launch(URL, forceSafariVC: false);

Answer 5

The best way is to use url_launcher package .

Add url_launcher as a dependency in your pubspec.yaml file.

dependencies:
  url_launcher: ^5.7.10

An example of how to use it :

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:url_launcher/url_launcher.dart';

void main() {
  runApp(
    MaterialApp(
        home: Scaffold(
      appBar: AppBar(title: Text('Flutter is beautiful'),),
      body: Center(
        child: RaisedButton(
          onPressed: _launchURL,
          child: Text('Show Flutter homepage'),
        ),
      ),
    )),
  );
}

_launchURL() async {
  const url = 'https://flutter.dev';
  if (await canLaunch(url)) {
    await launch(url);
  } else {
    throw 'Could not launch $url';
  }
}

Output :

The launch method takes a string argument containing a URL . By default, Android opens up a browser when handling URLs. You can pass forceWebView: true parameter to tell the plugin to open a WebView instead. If you do this for a URL of a page containing JavaScript, make sure to pass in enableJavaScript: true, or else the launch method will not work properly. On iOS, the default behavior is to open all web URLs within the app. Everything else is redirected to the app handler.

Answer 6

If you want to use url_launcher than please use it in this form

environment:
  sdk: ">=2.1.0 <3.0.0"

dependencies:
  url_launcher: ^5.0.2
  flutter:
    sdk: flutter

This answer is also for absolute beginners: They are thinking behind the flutter sdk. No that was a failure. The packages were extras and not in the flutter Sdk. These were secondary packages (single small framework helpers).

Answer 7

After some search, this issue can be solved via instructions listed here: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/flutter-dev/J3ujgdOuG98

The above UrlLauncher is no longer usable.

Answer 8

Use url_launcher package . It will do this for you