Hello.

I am Paul Kinlan.

A Developer Advocate for Chrome and the Open Web at Google.

I love the web. The web should allow anyone to access any experience that they need without the need for native install or content walled garden.

Use Bookmarklets on Chrome on Android

Paul Kinlan

For years, I thought bookmarklets weren't supported on Chrome for Android. Turns out, they are! You just need to access your bookmarks through the address bar, not the Bookmarks menu. This method retains the page context, allowing your bookmarklets to execute JavaScript properly. This opens up new possibilities for customizing web pages on Android.

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Modern Mobile Bookmarklets with the ShareTarget API

Paul Kinlan

Mobile devices lack the bookmarklet functionality found in desktop browsers. However, the ShareTarget API offers a potential workaround. This API allows web apps to be installed and receive native share actions, similar to how the Twitter PWA handles shared links and files. By leveraging this API, developers can create mini-apps that perform actions on shared data. This approach involves defining how to receive data in a manifest file and handling the request in a service worker. I've created examples for Hacker News, Reddit, and LinkedIn demonstrating how to utilize the ShareTarget API. While not a perfect replacement for desktop bookmarklets, this offers a new level of hackability for mobile web experiences.

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