Open chat links in regular browser tabs

[cbs228]

Content

Open web hyperlinks in chat messages in the user's regular, preferred web browser. Fixes bug introduced in v0.6.5.

Closes #3885

Motivation and context

In 5baefd4, a link to a "help" web page was added to the MessagesView. Since this page is essentially part of the app, it should and does open in an "in-app" Chrome Custom Tab, where supported.

Unfortunately, this change affects every link in the messages view, including links sent in chat messages. As of v0.6.5, links in chat messages now open in a Custom Tab instead of the user's configured "full" web browser. This is a UX nuisance.

Separate "regular" links from "help" links with a different callback for each.

• onLinkClick is modified to use standard browser tabs

• onHelpLinkClick prefers a Chrome Custom Tab where possible

The LearnMoreConfig.IDENTITY_CHANGE_URL is now presented to onHelpLinkClick(). The regular onLinkClick() is used everywhere else.

Alternatively, the first patch in this PR removes the Custom Tab behavior from MessagesView entirely. This is likely not the preferred end result, however.

Screenshots / GIFs

Before	After

Tests

1. Build F-Droid version with

   export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-21-openjdk-amd64/
   export GRADLE_OPTS="-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx9g -XX:MaxMetaspaceSize=512m -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError -XX:+UseG1GC -Dkotlin.daemon.jvm.options=-Xmx4g"
   ./gradlew app:assembleFDroidDebug
   

2. Install on device.

3. Sign in to Element.

4. Open a chat room. Find a message which includes an https:// web link.

5. Tap on the link.

6. Observe that the link is opened in the "full" web browser with the full browser UI and other tabs. (See screenshots.)

I have not tried to force an identity change to test that the identity change help still loads in a Chrome Custom Tab. I'm not sure what the best way to test that is.

This PR should not introduce any new Android APIs. If API 24 emulator testing is required, can the project recommend an emulator?

Tested devices

• Physical: Android 14 / LineageOS 21, with f-droid build and the Fennec F-Droid web browser
• Emulator

Checklist

• Changes have been tested on an Android device or Android emulator with API 24
• UI change has been tested on both light and dark themes (N/A, but tested anyway)
• Accessibility has been taken into account. See https://github.com/element-hq/element-x-android/blob/develop/CONTRIBUTING.md#accessibility
• Pull request is based on the develop branch
• Pull request title will be used in the release note, it clearly define what will change for the user
• Pull request includes screenshots or videos if containing UI changes
• You've made a self review of your PR

[github-actions]

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