Since Telegram Android 10.15, when TAndroid is configured both to disable the in-app browser and to open external links in the external browser, Instant View opens other links supported by Instant View in Instant View and external links in the in-app browser.
Before Telegram Android 10.15, when TAndroid was configured to open external links in the external browser, Instant View would open other links supported by Instant View in Instant View and external links in the external browser.
I consider the behavior since TAndroid 10.15 to be buggy, due to my preferences both around the in-app browser and for opening external links in the external browser specifically. When “Enable In-App Browser” is set to disabled and when “Open external links in” is set to “New Tabs in External Browser”, I would expect external links to always open in the external browser both when opened directly from message text and when opened through an Instant View page.
Steps to reproduce
Disable the toggle setting “Enable In-App Browser” under “Chat Settings”.
Open an Instant View page that contains external links that would be supported by the in-app browser (when enabled).
Touch & hold on one of those external links, to open its context menu.
Tap on “Copy” in that context menu, to copy that link's target to your clipboard.
Tap on the same external link, which opens that link's target in the in-app browser.
Repeatedly tap the back navigation button of the in-app browser until returned to the Instant View page from step 2.
Close the Instant View page and exit the in-app browser.
Open the “Saved Messages” chat.
Send a message containing the external link's target, which was copied to the clipboard in step 4.
Tap on that external link, which opens the external link in the external browser.
Device info
Telegram Android 11.0.0 (51432), Google Pixel 5, SDK 34
If the developers desire to maintain the current behavior as an option, I would also consider this bug closed by addition of a setting like “Open external links from Instant View pages in” with “New Tabs in External Browser” as an option, but dropping this in with no other changes may be confusing due to how the current behavior causes the In-App Browser to be used even when “Enable In-App Browser” is disabled.
If Instant View pages continue to be conveyed in messaging & branding as pages not using the In-App Browser (which I believe is fine and to be a discussion outside the scope of the bug), I'd prefer for “Enable In-App Browser” to be the only toggle people need to disable to actually, fully disable use of the In-App Browser within Telegram. The current “Open external links in” setting is only enabled & shown when “Enable In-App Browser” is disabled, where it controls whether Custom Tabs are used. This setting could potentially be reworked from a bi-state to a tri-state, such as “Open external links” with options “Within Telegram using Telegram’s In-App Browser”, “Within Telegram using your default browser’s Custom Tabs”, and “Externally using your default browser”. You could continue to present a toggle for “In-App Browser” from “Chat Settings”, but “Open external links” would move from the bottom of the “Web Browser” settings page to the top, where “Enable In-App Browser” is in 11.0.0, and enabling the “In-App Browser” toggle would set “Open external links” to “Within Telegram using Telegram’s In-App Browser”.
From there, another setting for “Open external links from Instant View” could be added with “Within Telegram using Telegram’s In-App Browser” as an option while avoiding contradictions with other settings on the same page.
If Instant View pages continue to be conveyed in messaging & branding as pages not using the In-App Browser (which I believe is fine and to be a discussion outside the scope of the bug), I'd prefer for “Enable In-App Browser” to be the only toggle people need to disable to actually, fully disable use of the In-App Browser within Telegram. The current “Open external links in” setting is only enabled & shown when “Enable In-App Browser” is disabled, where it controls whether Custom Tabs are used. This setting could potentially be reworked from a bi-state to a tri-state, such as “Open external links” with options “Within Telegram using Telegram’s In-App Browser”, “Within Telegram using your default browser’s Custom Tabs”, and “Externally using your default browser”. You could continue to present a toggle for “In-App Browser” from “Chat Settings”, but “Open external links” would move from the bottom of the “Web Browser” settings page to the top, where “Enable In-App Browser” is in 11.0.0, and enabling the “In-App Browser” toggle would set “Open external links” to “Within Telegram using Telegram’s In-App Browser”.
From there, another setting for “Open external links from Instant View” could be added with “Within Telegram using Telegram’s In-App Browser” as an option while avoiding contradictions with other settings on the same page.