Show HN: Linklever makes the concept of default browser obsolete

Hi fellow nerds. Linklever is a local and offline browser launcher. If you're often copy-pasting URLs between browsers, then Linklever might be for you.

It registers as your system's default browser. In the app, you configure rules and filters. Later, when you click a link outside of a browser, the rules determine which browser Linklever sends the link to. The filters transform the URL before sending it to the browser. For routing links between browsers, there are Firefox and Chrome extensions.

Browser launchers are no new concept; AlternativeTo lists 17 others, but so far Linklever is the only one that supports macOS, Windows, and Linux. It's also pretty darn fast, being AOT compiled. Launch latency is typically 10-20ms, which is unbelievable for .NET. Tech stack: C#, Avalonia, SQLite.

I'm also the author of the open source app BrowseRouter, whose moderate star count on GitHub was the inspiration to make Linklever.

I'm following a business bootstrapping stair-step method. This is my second product. I started working on it in Dec 2024 and launched it officially in July. I've made five sales so far, which has been a lot of fun.

I'm open to your feedback. Thanks for reading.

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atmanactive 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Where is settings data saved? Can we freely export/import the data? Is there a windows portable edition or mode? Is it fully offline? Thanks.

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sltr 5 hours ago | parent [-]

Data - All data is saved to %localappdata%/Linklever (Windows), ~/.local/share/Linklever (linux), and ~/Library/Application Support/linklever on macOS. (I see the inconsistent capitalization - will amend). There is a sqlite db and a logs folder.

Import/export - I have not added any import/export. Not to restrict you, it's just not implemented. The db file is an ordinary unencrypted sqlite db, so you have open access to that in the meantime.

Portable editions available for Windows, macOS, and Linux at https://linklever.net/download.

Fully offline - never touches the internet EXCEPT to auto-update. You can turn it off in Settings. (Portable versions do not auto-update)

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atmanactive 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Great news. I'm onboard. Thanks.

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sltr 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Love to hear that! Feel free to let me know what you think here or privately. doug@linklever.net

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atmanactive 2 hours ago | parent [-]

I love it! The option to disable notifications is a must :) By the way, I was hoping the portable version would save the data in the exe's folder, but it is still saving to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Linklever\... Bummer. Since I can't trust this operating system and/or hardware instance not to bail on me unexpectedly, I can't commit to building all the Linklever rules I'd like right now. So, for now I will be using it in a simple mode, with just a few rules, until either you or me come up with a solution. One solution would be to bake in proper Portable Mode Data Handling, where the exe would self-discover the path and write to a subdirectory there, or alternatively, with your permission, I could build a Portable Wrapper, like, for example, this one: https://github.com/AtmanActive/opendeck-portable

	▲	sltr 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Thanks for the valuable feedback. I can add an option to disable notifications. In the meantime, On Windows 11, it's also possible to disable notifications per-app in System > Notifications. macOS has a similar mechanism. I should also be able to add an option for Linklever read/write files in the exe folder. It may take me a week or two to implement these features. I'll get back to you.

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mrbluecoat 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Nice! Does it support opening in incognito mode for dev work needing to avoid caches?

	▲	sltr 8 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I haven't explicitly added support for that, but that's a great idea and will consider adding that. Since it's just a matter of passing the right args to the browser, what one can do in the meantime is add a shell or Powershell script in the Apps tab. Though, currently adding custom apps isn't available in the trial.
	▲	sltr 8 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Linklever does have support for browser profiles. It should find them automatically for the major browsers.