LinkRouter Link to heading

A privacy-focused, rule-based URL router for Android: it intercepts http/https links (as the system default browser) and, per your user-defined rules, strips tracking/query params, rewrites URLs, and forwards them to a user-chosen browser — including private-window launchers for Chrome/Firefox. It is a router/dispatcher, not a browser: it never renders pages itself.

Features Link to heading

  • Rule engine: ordered rules matching exact host, *.subdomain, path prefix, or full regex; list order is priority, with specificity scoring as tie-breaking.
  • Redirect formats: pattern-based extraction from redirect-style URLs via pure-JVM string processing (no network).
  • Shortener-host handling: opt-in per-host resolution of t.co / bit.ly / is.gd-style redirects (pure-JVM redirect following with a WebView interstitial fallback), re-running the rule engine on the final URL. Off by default → zero network.
  • URL query-param / tracker cleanup: global and domain-scoped stripping of tracking params (utm_*, gclid, fbclid, fbid, etc.) from the final launched URL only; never affects rule matching.
  • Browser chooser with private-window support: dispatches to installed browsers with per-browser private capability (Firefox real-private verified; Chrome opens normally + honest warning when private is requested but unsupported); built-in in-app WebView target (real private, no cross-app leak); system/OS-default/chooser/ask-and-remember fallback modes.
  • JSON import/export of rules, settings, shortener hosts, redirect formats, and param filters (local backup/restore, no sync).

Screenshots of the Rule, Redirect Format, Param Filter, Shortener Host and Settings screens as they appear in the app.

The URL Flow Chart shows the path a URL takes through the app.

Privacy Link to heading

  • Local-only rule and settings storage (Room, app-private storage). No URL history is ever persisted.
  • No ads, no analytics, no telemetry, no third-party SDKs.
  • Only the INTERNET permission is declared (a normal, install-granted permission), and it is exercised only if you enable the opt-in “shortener web resolution” feature for one or more hosts — all built-in shortener hosts ship disabled, so a default install makes zero network calls.
  • See PRIVACY for the full privacy policy.

Testing Link to heading

Feature Test Links — every rule, redirect format, param filter, shortener host and host-rewrite fixture from app/linkrouter-rules-examples.json, rendered with clickable inputs + expected outputs so you can verify the router end-to-end on a phone or tablet.

License Link to heading

GNU GPL v3 — see LICENSE. This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License.

Status Link to heading

Version: 0.6.1