Why links open inside Instagram and TikTok, and what to check
What an in-app browser is, why it can trip up shop, booking and sign-in pages, and four checks for the links in your bio.
When someone taps the link in your bio, the page often opens inside the app they're using, not in their phone's own browser. That window is called an in-app browser, and it can trip up shop, booking and sign-in pages.
What happens when someone taps your link
TikTok's help page says that when you tap a link on someone's profile, its in-app browser opens the page (TikTok Support).
Instagram does something similar. TechCrunch reported in 2023 that profile links open inside the Instagram app. To move to Safari or Chrome, you tap the three-dot menu and choose to open the page in the system browser (TechCrunch). Menu names change, so check the wording in your own app.
Why it can trip up your pages
An in-app browser is not the visitor's usual browser. Felix Krause, a developer who tested in-app browsers in 2022, listed some of the differences. Browser extensions and content blockers aren't available, and deep links often don't work well (Felix Krause).
In practice, a visitor may not be signed in to your shop or booking site there. Details stored in their usual browser may not appear either, so they may have to type everything again.
Krause also found that Instagram's iOS app added its own script to the websites it showed. Meta told him the script helps it respect people's tracking choices (Felix Krause). His advice to visitors was simple: use the menu to open the page in Safari instead.
Link straight to the page you mean
TikTok says it limits how people can browse chains of external links in its in-app browser, to protect them from scams and other harmful content. You may see a message asking you to open the page in your phone's browser. TikTok recommends that creators add direct links, so people reach the intended site in a few steps (TikTok Support).
So link to the booking page itself, not to a page that links to another page that links to it.
Four checks for your bio links
- Open each important link from inside each app you use, on a phone, and go as far as you'd want a visitor to go.
- Note any step that fails or asks people to sign in again.
- For those links, add a short line such as "Open this in your phone's browser to pay", and say how to switch.
- Keep links direct, so there are as few hops as possible.
Where we're going with this
Frontpin isn't built yet. These checks work with any link page, and we'll share what we learn here on the blog.
Sources
- TikTok Support: How to add a link to your TikTok profile
- TechCrunch: Instagram takes on Linktree and others with support for up to 5 'links in bio' (18 April 2023)
- Felix Krause: iOS Privacy: Instagram and Facebook can track anything you do on any website in their in-app browser (10 August 2022, updated 14 August 2022)
Sources checked on 27 October 2026. Drafted with AI and checked by our team.