AngularJS/PhoneGap/Ionic: filter to convert links for opening in separate mobile window

app.js

//*
//*     See the JS Fiddle:  http://jsfiddle.net/sxcjmoj5/3/
//*
//*
// make sure ngSanitize module is installed:
// https://docs.angularjs.org/api/ngSanitize
//
// To convert links from plaintext, you must use the linky filter which is included with ngSanitize 
// https://docs.angularjs.org/api/ngSanitize/filter/linky
//
// You might need to install inappbrowser if you haven't done that: 
// https://github.com/apache/cordova-plugin-inappbrowser/blob/master/doc/index.md
//
// In your app.js

var myApp = angular.module('myApp', ['ngSanitize']);

myApp.filter('hrefToJS', function ($sce, $sanitize) {
    return function (text) {
        var regex = /href="([\S]+)"/g;
        var newString = $sanitize(text).replace(regex, "onClick=\"window.open('$1', '_blank', 'location=yes')\"");
        return $sce.trustAsHtml(newString);
    }
});

myApp.controller('MyCtrl', function ($scope) {
    $scope.html = "This a link: <a href='https://www.google.com'>Google</a> :)";
    $scope.plaintext = "This is a link: https://www.google.com :) "
});

///Usage in your HTML template
/*

<div ng-app="myApp">
    <div ng-controller="MyCtrl">
         <h1>Before</h1>

        <p ng-bind-html="html"></p>
        <p ng-bind-html="plaintext"></p>
         <h1>After</h1>

        <p ng-bind-html="html | hrefToJS"></p>
        <p ng-bind-html="plaintext | linky | hrefToJS"></p>
    </div>
</div>


*/

@Clawfish: i have tried the _system notation with no luck. Still opens in app on an android device. here is my snippet, any ideas?

ng-bind-html="contents | linky: '_system' "

very helpful, Thanks a lot!

Very helpful! I am using it for non-mobile pages, and it works good. However, is there a way to open on a new tab instead?

Thanks a lot for this code! It works perfect :)
I've just a little issue with the links in my app. When you remove the href with your regex the link is not marked as a link anymore, it looks just like normal text. Even though you can click on it and it will open in the device standard browser as it should. But the users might not recognize it as link.

So I added href="#" to your replace string:
var newString = $sanitize(text).replace(regex, "href="#" onClick="window.open('$1', '_blank', 'location=yes')"");

Now there is somehow a weird behaviour. If there is only one link in the html text it works fine. The link opens a new browser window.
If there are two or more links it still works for the first click on any of the links. As soon as I click another link my app is still opening the link but switching to the home screen of my app.
Do you have any idea how to solve that? Or is there a better way to mark it as a clickable link instead of adding href="#"?

Great start for me, but can't get it to cross the finish line . . .
I want to open the external link in a web browser OUTSIDE the web app. I tried changing '_system' to '_blank' with no success.
Any other suggestions?

This works great. I suggest a small edit.

var newString = $sanitize(text).replace(regex, "href onClick=\"window.open('$1', '_blank', 'location=yes');return false;\"");

Adding href preserves anchor styling and return false to prevent default click.

@niyando: Perfect! Thank you so much :)

hello, can any one help me...
am new to angularjs and phone as well as phonegap..
i have built app for android in ionic framework, the link which i would gave it download the page but when i installed in android mobile it will not work.
where i am wrong.
plz suggest me..

great

Perfect!
I love this community.

Thanks. Good works.

Thank you.

It's saved my life.Thank you so much.

Even the "naked" ngSanitize offers something like this https://code.angularjs.org/1.4.12/docs/api/ngSanitize/filter/linky
Once you need something more advanced (hashtags, mentions) take a look at https://github.com/scottcorgan/angular-linkify

Thaks.

perfect

I've got this working on android after building an angular 1.5 app through ionic/cordova build. But on iOS the outgoing link does not open safari. It goes to the app's home page, which I'm assuming is the "otherwise" part of the routes kicking in. I've got inappbrowser installed. Perhaps that's not configured correctly?

Thanks for this! My Ionic1 app doesn't open links in the browser (webview) mode when target=_blank, instead it requires target=_system. I adapted the code slightly and now it works for me in both browser mode and iOS. If you're having the same problem, try this:

        var newString = $sanitize(text).replace(regex, "href onClick=\"window.open('$1', '" + (ionic.Platform.isWebView()) ? '_system' : '_blank' + "', 'location=yes');return false;\"");