Link Check: Short Link Preview

When an internet link arrives by text or messenger, there is no way to tell where it leads until you tap it. This app expands the link for you and shows the real destination first. You never have to copy a link to check it. Turn on the Shortcuts automation once, and links in texts and messenger notifications are checked for you as they arrive. ■ Messages like these · A parcel is being held because the address could not be read · A tax refund or insurance refund is waiting for you · A payment has just been approved on your card · An unpaid toll or traffic fine needs settling · Your account will be suspended unless you confirm it now These are the wordings actually used to phish. Genuine notices arrive looking exactly the same, so reading the text will not separate them. What separates them is where the link goes. ■ What you see · Where the shortened link ends up · How many redirects it passes through · Signals worth knowing (how recently the domain was registered, spelling close to a known brand, a destination that does not match the organisation named in the message) When nothing turns up, it says "Nothing odd found." That does not mean the link is fine — it means nothing we check for came up. ■ How it handles impersonation When a message claims to be from your tax office or your bank, the app checks whether the link actually belongs to that organisation. If it does not, it says so. It does not rely on lists of already-reported addresses. Domains used for impersonation are usually days old and have not reached any list yet. ■ Notification text stays on your phone · Link addresses are not sent to our server · Addresses you check are kept in your history on this phone only. Entries are deleted after 30 days, and you can turn history off entirely · App data is excluded from backup and device-to-device transfer · On a locked screen, notifications show the domain only Addresses are always checked on your phone. They never go through our server. When you send a report, you choose whether to include the address. It is off by default. ■ Check a link inside the app Paste an address, or a whole message, into the field on the home screen and it is checked on the spot. Pasting the whole message also lets the app compare the organisation the message names against where the link actually goes. Each check is listed below the field, and tapping one brings the result back. ■ Setting it up on a parent's phone Phishing messages are written to rush the reader. The less familiar someone is with them, the easier it is to think "I will just tap it and see." This app does not block the link. It shows, before the tap, what address the link leads to, in large type. The layout holds at large text sizes, there is one setup to do once, and after that every message that arrives is checked for you. ■ What it does not do · It does not block links. Whether to open one is your decision · It does not become your default browser · It contains no ads and no analytics · It has no accounts ■ Automatic checks on iPhone On iPhone, apps cannot read Messages or other apps' notifications. Instead, add the shortcut from the app's settings and turn the automation on in the Shortcuts app: when a text or chat notification arrives, Shortcuts hands the text to this app and the link is checked ahead of time. The text is read only to find links and is discarded immediately. Without the automation you can still share links to the app or paste them on the home screen. Notification permission is used only to tell you the result.