Launching Local Files

Launching a local HTML file is fairly simple in a desktop operating system (Windows, Mac, Linux). Locate the file using your File Manager or Finder in the directory where you have stored the HTML file and its associated sound files, double click to launch, and it should open and function in your default browser.

With Chrome OS a local HTML file won't launch from the Files app. Instead, open a Chrome browser tab and open the Files app. Locate and drag/drop the HTML file into the open browser window and the file should open. Links will function. This will work from the "Downloads" directory or from mounted USB media.

Android is trickier. Most Android file manager apps, e.g. Files by Google, will open in a browser or viewer, but links won't work so the local music files won't play. The address bar will display "content://com.google.android.etc." This is presumably to limit the effects of downloaded malware, but means the links cannot be accessed.

One option is to upload the files to web host and access them via the Internet. This requires a hosting service, an ftp program, and access to a reliable wireless connection. This is NOT a good idea! It adds many steps and is not reliable for playback. Fortunately, there is a way to run local HTML files on an Android browser.

To run your local HTML file and access the links you must manually navigate to the local file system inside the browser. Start by laughing the Browser, e.g. the default Chrome browser, and in the address bar enter the following:

This will display your device's local file system. Select the directory containing your file, e.g. Music, then select the HTML file. It should open in the browser. The address bar will display:

Links will now work. If you plan to access the file location later, you can save it in Bookmarks so you don't need to manually enter the address later.

Note: I do not have access to an iOS device so could not test it. My understanding is that the local file system may be more difficult to access.