Preview: These docs are available early so you can start using them now. Some pages may still be incomplete, outdated, or change as WebLibre develops.

Browsing Behavior

WebLibre includes several settings that change how tabs, links, and page navigation behave. This page focuses on the options most people are likely to adjust for day-to-day browsing.

Pull to Refresh

When Pull to Refresh is on, you can swipe down on a page to reload it.

This is useful if a page looks stuck or you want to quickly refresh without opening a menu. If you often trigger it by accident while scrolling, turn it off.

Find it in Settings > Browsing > Pull to Refresh.

Double Back to Close Tab

When Double Back to Close Tab is enabled, pressing your device back button twice quickly closes the current tab.

When it is off, the back button is used only for page navigation. This can feel safer if you do not want to close tabs by mistake.

Find it in Settings > Browsing > Double Back to Close Tab.

Tab Bar Swipe Behavior

If you use the tab bar, you can choose what a horizontal swipe does:

  • Switch to Last Used Tab — jumps back and forth between your current tab and the tab you used just before it

  • Navigate Sequential Tabs — moves through your open tabs in order

Choose Switch to Last Used Tab if you often compare two pages. Choose Navigate Sequential Tabs if you want swiping to work like stepping through a list.

Find it in Settings > Browsing > Tab Bar Swipe Behavior.

Open Links in Apps

Some links can open in another app on your device, such as a video app, map app, or social app. Open Links in Apps controls what happens when you tap those links in WebLibre.

  • Always — open the matching app right away

  • Ask before opening — show a prompt first

  • Never — keep the link in WebLibre

If you want WebLibre to stay in control, choose Never. If you usually prefer the dedicated app, choose Always.

You can also use the Open in App menu item for one-time overrides regardless of this setting. Open in App is a top-level item in the browser menu, so it is easy to find.

Find it in Settings > Browsing > Open Links in Apps.

Opening Links From Other Apps

External Link Handling is a different setting. It controls how links sent to WebLibre from other apps are opened.

  • Prompt — ask each time

  • Regular — always open in a regular tab

  • Private — always open in a private tab

  • Isolated — always open in an isolated tab (shown when Show Isolated Tab UI is enabled)

This is useful if you regularly open links from messaging apps, email, or other Android apps.

Find it in Settings > Browsing > External Link Handling.

Custom Tabs

Custom Tabs controls whether other apps can open links in a lightweight in-app tab instead of the main browser.

When it is off, links and shared URLs sent to WebLibre open as normal tabs in the main browser instead. It is enabled by default.

Find it in Settings > Browsing > Custom Tabs. For the full picture of external link flows, see Custom Tabs & External Links.

Desktop Mode

WebLibre can request the desktop version of websites globally, per site, or per tab.

  • Always Request Desktop Site — opens every new tab in desktop mode by default. Changing it also switches your already-open tabs.

  • Desktop Mode Sites — a list of sites that always load in desktop mode, regardless of the global setting. Subdomains are included automatically, so adding example.com also covers m.example.com and shop.example.com.

You can add the current site to the list from the page menu by turning on Always use desktop site, or manage the full list in settings. A per-tab desktop toggle stays available in the browser menu for one-off switches and takes precedence over the global and per-site defaults.

Find both in Settings > Browsing > Desktop Mode.

New Tab Default

New Tab Default chooses the tab type used when you manually create a new tab.

  • Regular — normal browsing

  • Private — does not save history for that tab

  • Isolated — opens the tab with its own separate site identity

If Show Isolated Tab UI is turned off, the Isolated option is hidden here too.

Find it in Settings > Browsing > New Tab Default.

For a closer look at the differences, see Tab Management.

Tab Ordering

Two settings control how tabs are ordered:

  • Tab List Direction — how tabs are ordered in the tab list view

  • Tab Bar Direction — how tabs are ordered in the tab bar and quick tab switcher

Both offer Newest first and Oldest first. Choose the combination that matches how you scan your tabs.

Find both in Settings > Browsing.

Container and Isolated Tab Controls

WebLibre can show or hide some advanced tab controls:

  • Show Container UI — shows container selectors, menus, and management options

  • Show Isolated Tab UI — shows isolated-tab creation options

These settings hide interface elements you may not need every day. They do not exist to change how normal tabs work.

Find both in Settings > Browsing.

If you are new to containers, start with Containers.

Child Tabs

When Create Child Tabs is enabled, WebLibre can create parent-child relationships between tabs in tree view. This helps you keep research or link-opening sessions organized.

If you do not use tree view, you may never need this setting.

Find it in Settings > Browsing > Create Child Tabs.

External Download Manager

If you already use a separate Android download app, you can let it handle downloads instead of WebLibre.

The setting is called Use external download manager.

Find it in Settings > General > Use external download manager.

Reader Mode

Reader Mode can simplify some article pages by removing extra page clutter and showing a cleaner reading view.

There are two related settings in Settings > Web Content:

  • Enable Reader Mode — shows the Reader Mode tool when WebLibre thinks a page is suitable

  • Enforce Reader Mode — makes Reader Mode available more aggressively, even on pages that may not work well with it

Enforce Reader Mode does not mean every page will automatically switch into reader view. It mainly makes the feature available on more pages.

Home Screen Widget

On Android, WebLibre includes a home screen search widget. Tapping it opens WebLibre ready for a search.

To add it:

  1. Long-press an empty area on your Android home screen

  2. Tap Widgets

  3. Look for WebLibre in the widget list

  4. Drag it where you want it

The widget can be resized horizontally to fit your home screen layout.

Multi-Window and Picture-in-Picture

WebLibre supports Android split-screen, freeform, and pop-up windows and adapts as the window is resized. Fullscreen video can continue in Android Picture-in-Picture when you press Home or switch apps, then return to WebLibre when you reopen it. Permission prompts do not trigger Picture-in-Picture by themselves.