Removing the fragment identifier from AngularJS urls (# symbol)

Is it possible to remove the # symbol from angular.js URLs?

I still want to be able to use the browser's back button, etc, when I change the view and will update the URL with params, but I don't want the # symbol.

The tutorial routeProvider is declared as follows:

angular.module('phonecat', []).
  config(['$routeProvider', function($routeProvider) {
  $routeProvider.
  when('/phones', {templateUrl: 'partials/phone-list.html',   controller: PhoneListCtrl}).
  when('/phones/:phoneId', {templateUrl: 'partials/phone-detail.html', controller: PhoneDetailCtrl}).
  otherwise({redirectTo: '/phones'});
}]);

Can I edit this to have the same functionality without the #?

Solution 1:

Yes, you should configure $locationProvider and set html5Mode to true:

angular.module('phonecat', []).
  config(['$routeProvider', '$locationProvider', function($routeProvider, $locationProvider) {

    $routeProvider.
      when('/phones', {templateUrl: 'partials/phone-list.html',   controller: PhoneListCtrl}).
      when('/phones/:phoneId', {templateUrl: 'partials/phone-detail.html', controller: PhoneDetailCtrl}).
      otherwise({redirectTo: '/phones'});

    $locationProvider.html5Mode(true);

  }]);

Solution 2:

Be sure to check browser support for the html5 history API:

  if(window.history && window.history.pushState){
    $locationProvider.html5Mode(true);
  }