Thread by @slightlylate

Here's the "fun" Hotel California of FB's In-App-Browser opt-out flow. Unlike many other settings, it does not sync across devices (wonder why that is?).

(thread!)

https://twitter.com/stefanpenner/status/1167547713765855232

So you, a user, became aware of *just* how shitty FB's "browser" is because, as a woke user, you care. Lets say you installed a more privacy-preserving browser (Brave or FF, e.g.) and want it to handle *all* of your browsing...how hard is it to get that to happen? LET'S LOOK 👀

So, you go to "settings" and then start to search for terms that might match...

You scroll...and scroll..."Apps and Websites" sounds like that might be it!

...um, no...dead-end:

This is about Privacy, what about that?

Nerp. Zero. Zilch. Nothing about "browsers" here.

(scroll scroll scroll)

Maybe "News Feed Preferences"? I guess that's where I tap on links from...

Turns out that "links open externally" is the magic sauce.

But good fucking luck trying to figure that out or get there from search:

(part the second)

Every single thing about this is intentional. Each of these choices was wordsmithed and perhaps even A/A-A/B tested. Nothing about how hard this is can be an accident.

A product manager *absolutely* signed-off on these strings. They're unsearchable & unfindable + the behavior is unprompted/unconfirmed at sign-in, not because someone was "evil". Probably "just" a blindspot.

The web is collateral damage.