Question

I am working on an Android app which displays content in a WebView. The content contains links, and those links are being handled via a custom WebViewClient and use of javascript and shouldOverrideUrlLoading() method to follow the link depending on what the link is.

Here’s the problem:

I want to handle clicks different depending on where on the WebView the click happens. In particular, I want to do some UI changes any time the user clicks on a WebView, but does NOT click on the link.

I have found that the onTouch method completes and finishes (including the super.onTouch) before the shouldOverrideUrlLoading() method is called, and I can’t find any indication of a method that runs on the WebView post-shouldOverrideUrlLoading(). I am also using a GestureDetector, and again, it’s onSingleTapUp() method completes before the shouldOverrideUrlLoading() code is fired.

There has to be some way to notice when a click happens on the WebView whether or not the shouldOverrideUrlLoading() code has run before finishing the event.

Anyone have any tips on where to look?
Anyone know an execution point that is called on the WebView after shouldOverrideUrlLoading() code has been executed?

Thanks,
Dale.

Answer 1

I think you should be able to use the onTouch(), inside your there you can check to see if it was a link that was clicked by using:

HitTestResult result = wv.getHitTestResult();
url = result.getExtra();

If it was a url then return false from your onTouch() so that it gets passed through to shouldOverrideUrlLoading(); If it wasn’t a url then do whatever you want to with it and return true so the system knows that you consumed the event.