Block Store Links

A lightweight Android browser that can intercept links from other apps, track attempts per app, and block or redirect those attempts to another browser.

Features

• Registers as a web browser for http/https intents.
• Logs how many times each app tried to open a link.
• Per-app action mode: allow, ask, or deny.
• Optional per-app redirect to a different browser.
• Optional global redirect for all apps without a per-app override.
• Built-in WebView browser for allowed links.
• Per-app link history with timestamped entries and optional source hints.
• Filter and sort the app list by attempts or name.
• App list includes installed app icons when available.
• Optional per-app allowlist patterns to restrict which URLs can open, including regex with a re: prefix.
• Allowlist entries can optionally redirect a matching link via pattern => com.example.browser.
• Optional redirect rules let matching links open in a specific app without blocking other URLs.
• Manual label overrides for app entries (including unknown sources).
• Add app rules proactively by selecting an installed app or entering a package name.
• Export or import the full policy list as JSON, including global redirect, link history, and label overrides.
• Import preview shows how many apps are in the pasted JSON.
• Copy policy JSON to the clipboard.
• Reset attempt counts per app or for all apps.

How It Works

• LinkInterceptorActivity receives browser intents and attributes the source app via the referrer when available (with best-effort parsing when only a referrer string is provided).
• Attempts and per-app link history are stored in SharedPreferences as JSON.
• The app stores a short hint from the intent (action, categories, referrer fields, browser app id, package, and extra keys).
• Policies determine whether to allow, ask, deny, redirect, or open inside the built-in WebView.
• Global redirect applies when a per-app redirect is not set.
• If an allowlist exists for an app, only URLs containing those patterns are allowed. Prefix a pattern with re: to treat it as a regular expression. Use pattern => package to redirect a matching link.
• Redirect rules use the same pattern => package syntax but do not block non-matching links.

Setup

• Open the project in Android Studio.
• Ensure Android Gradle Plugin 8.2+ and JDK 17 are installed.
• Sync and run on a device.
• Optional: run ./gradlew tasks to validate the wrapper.

Usage

1. Install the app.
2. Set it as the default browser when Android prompts.
3. Open the app to see the list of attempts.
4. Set each app to Allow, Ask, or Deny.
5. When asked, choose allow/deny once or set an always allow/deny rule.
6. Use Redirect to to forward links to a different browser.
7. Use Global redirect to set a default browser when no per-app redirect is set.
8. Tap an app row to see its link history by timestamp and optionally set a custom label.
9. Use Export policies to share settings or Import policies to replace or merge them from JSON (preview shows app count).
10. Use Reset count per app or Reset all counts to clear attempt tracking.
11. Use Copy policies to put the JSON on the clipboard.

Notes

• Source app attribution depends on the caller providing referrer data or a browser app id/package extra; when it's missing, the app is shown as unknown.
• Link history is capped at 200 entries per app to keep storage bounded.
• Package visibility restrictions are handled via <queries> in the manifest.
• Minimum SDK is set to 19 for broad compatibility.
• Import merge behavior: attempt counts are added together, and imported action/redirect/allowlist settings override existing ones for that app. Imported link history is appended and capped.
• Regex allowlist safety limits: max 20 regex patterns per app, max 200 characters per regex.
• Redirect rules share the same regex safety limits as allowlists.
• The allowlist editor validates re: patterns and will refuse invalid or too-long regex entries.
• Blocked links close immediately with a short toast (no blocked screen).
• The external browser chooser filters out Block Store Links itself; if no other browsers are installed, it falls back to the built-in WebView.
• When package visibility blocks resolving a label, the package name is shown instead of an unknown label.
• Label overrides are included in export/import.

Project Structure

• app/src/main/java/com/duda/blockstorelinks/LinkInterceptorActivity.kt
• app/src/main/java/com/duda/blockstorelinks/MainActivity.kt
• app/src/main/java/com/duda/blockstorelinks/AppPolicyStore.kt
• app/src/main/java/com/duda/blockstorelinks/BrowserActivity.kt