How add/remove items from Open With options on Nexus 7

[cybernutte]

I want to add Chrome to the programs that are listed as Open With choices when I want to open an html file (containing lots of links) that I have put on my unrooted Nexus 7 (2013). There are at least half a dozen programs listed, including my 2 favorite browsers (Dolphin and Pale Moon). However, I have just re-enabled Chrome because it handles a particular site better than the others do. I thought the tablet would automatically add Chrome, but it didn't. Even restarting the tablet didn't help. How can I add Chrome to the options listed? I would also like to remove some programs that ARE listed, but the most important thing is to add Chrome.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[B. Diddy]

re:

Try wiping the cache partition: http://forums.androidcentral.com/go...e-nexus-7-2012-2013-cache-partition-wipe.html

 

[cybernutte]

re:

Thanks very much, B. Diddy. I am traveling right now and will wait until I am home before giving this a try. I know it's safe, but I can't afford to mess up when I am so dependent on my tablet. Once I try, I will post back to let you know the result.

 

[cybernutte]

re:

Now that I'm home, I followed the very clear instructions to wipe the cache partition. Alas, that didn't seem to make any difference that I could see. Chrome was still not listed among the programs that could open an .html file that I have on my tablet. (The file is a list of links to sites that I use a lot. I've used a similar file as the start page on my Windows computers for many years.) The Nexus tablet seems to recognize that the file is an html file that should be opened with a browser, so it lists the two other browsers I have installed on my tablet (Dolphin and Pale Moon), but even after clearing the cache partition, the list of available programs hasn't changed.

I might add that I'd not only like to add Chrome but also remove programs I would NOT want to use, which include ES Note Editor (I'm not even sure I have this on my tablet), HTML Viewer (I didn't put this on the tablet, but perhaps it came built in?), Moon+ Reader Pro (which I added for reading pdfs and some other kinds of files, but not html files), WPS Office (great for all kinds of files, but I'd not want to use it for html files), and TextMaker Mobile (a useful program for some kinds of text files, but not for html files). Why the Nexus includes these but not Chrome remains a mystery.

I should add that I've also tried an app called Better Open With, but it too did not include Chrome among the possible browsers that would open my .html file, so I uninstalled the app. I'm not sure what else I could try. On Windows, there are programs one can add that will substitute a longer text string when one types a shorter one: typing TY, for example, might replace TY with Thank You. But I don't know of any such program for Android. If there were such a program, I might be able to click on Chrome only when I wanted to go to the one site that Chrome seems to handle better than my other browsers. But to do that now, I'd have to type in the URL each time. Not the end of the world, but a PITA.

 

[B. Diddy]

re:

That's puzzling--I'm not sure either why Chrome wouldn't be an option. See if Open in Browser helps, which says in the description that it works with Chrome.

I think HTML Viewer is the preinstalled system app that comes on Nexus devices (and perhaps others).

 

[cybernutte]

re:

B. Diddy, you are amazing! Once again, you've solved my problem. The program you suggested, Open in Browser, does what I need. It gives me the chance to choose whichever browser I want, and among the browsers it lists is Chrome. So when I need Chrome to open the .html file on my tablet, Open in Browser lets me choose it. And when I don't want Chrome, I can either avoid Open in Browser completely or use it to choose a different browser. THANK YOU!!!

 

[B. Diddy]

re:

That's great! Still scratching my head over why Chrome doesn't come up natively, though. But oh well--at least it's working!