I was surprised to read Facebook's in-app browser accounts for 48% of mobile internet traffic from iOS (versus 34% for Android). Thank you https://twitter.com/BenedictEvans for that stat.
While I am all for escaping the "black box" that is Facebook's in-app browser due to our inability to see what they are loading/tracking on the backend, that likely won't happen until people stop using Facebook all together, as it is more convenient for the everyday user. Simply put, Facebook's in-app browser creates less visual noise than a link opening externally in Safari (where there is often the animation of a new tab being created). This ignores the fact, however, that Facebook requires this behavior and thus I cannot be sure that my above statement "everyday people prefer a more convenient / less UX noisy solution" holds true.
While I am all for escaping the "black box" that is Facebook's in-app browser due to our inability to see what they are loading/tracking on the backend, that likely won't happen until people stop using Facebook all together, as it is more convenient for the everyday user. Simply put, Facebook's in-app browser creates less visual noise than a link opening externally in Safari (where there is often the animation of a new tab being created). This ignores the fact, however, that Facebook requires this behavior and thus I cannot be sure that my above statement "everyday people prefer a more convenient / less UX noisy solution" holds true.