In mobile phone app stores there are such a variety of options that it is not uncommon for us to have duplicates installed. Duplicates in the sense of having several installed apps that, at the moment of truth, fulfill the same function. This is the case when we install several browsers, or simply when we install one but the phone continues to host the owner of the corresponding brand.
We usually realize that we have several apps for the same when we perform certain actions such as opening a link from WhatsApp and company, or requesting to edit a photo from the camera app. Or even when the messaging app on duty wants to take a photo and doesn’t know which app to shoot. That is where the system asks us which app to open to do what we ask, and this can be configured by default or changed in case we have made a mistake or simply want to change. Let’s go around with the default apps and explain what they are and how to configure them..
As we have commented, the default apps are the ones we set so the system knows where to turn when we ask it to do something. For example, when we have two photo editors instead of one, such as Google Photos and the default of the system or other options, we choose which one we want to always open when requesting from anywhere that any photo goes to editing mode.
If for a specific action we do not have a default app and there are several actions in the system, Android will ask us with a pop-up window which app we want to use. In that same window we can choose not to ask us more and always choose the app we want. For example, that Google Photos prioritizes over the Gallery app on duty. Or to open the Instagram app instead of the browser when we click on a link.
In the floating window itself or pop-up that Android offers us when performing an action for which there are several options we can set an app. But this can be changed, either because we have made a mistake, because we want to change the app, or simply because we want the system to keep asking us since sometimes we use one and sometimes another. To move between these options you have to go to system settings.
We open the Settings and we look for the section of Applications. Perhaps the system of our phone (Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi) offers us several options for this, such as the presence of System Applications and Applications, without more. We must always go to the general section, frequently called Applications, without further ado, or “Manage applications”. Inside we will find a list with everything that is installed on the phone.
With the default apps we can tell the system what to use when two identical functions are found
Once there, click on the three vertical points in the upper right to open the additional options of the list and there we will find access to “Default apps “. We enter and we come across the different options that the system offers to set a default app that executes our calls. Which app should open when we call the browser by clicking on a link, or what telephone dialer to open to make a phone call, or even which voice assistant to go to when we invoke it. Everything is configured here.
By opening each of the options we can switch between the available apps, if there are several. It will be enough choose which we want the default app to be so that the system knows what to do without having to ask us, it’s that simple. But there is something more advanced than this and that we tell you now. Let’s go with instant apps.
Let’s imagine that we have the Amazon shopping app installed on our phone, and that we want that when we click on a link that takes us to its website, it is the store that opens. We want to skip Chrome or any other browser and have it lead us to the app. This can be done through instant apps, which also work from Chrome itself with the searches we carry out. And it can also be set and undone.
The instant apps are found within the list of Default applications that we have accessed before. The section is usually called “Open Links” and there we decide if we want certain links from the browser or other apps to open in the browser itself or to invoke an external app. For example, that a Spotify link opens the app and does not take us to the web. All you have to do is access this “Open links” to find the list of installed apps and see what each one does.
If we want it, we can deactivate these instant apps all at once. It will be enough to deactivate the upper switch so that the system ignores them completely if that is what we want to do. Or, if not, deactivate the ones that we have previously marked by default by accessing the app and marking “Delete default values” so that Android will ignore it again. For example (again), that the Amazon links take us to the web and ignore that we have the application installed.
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The news
How to configure default apps and instant apps on Android: remove, change or add new ones
was originally published in
Xataka Android
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