Course Resources in a Web Object

Hi all, back after a (long) hiatus and working with Storyline 360. I know this has probably been discussed to death, but I need to be able to work with Resources (mainly PDFs) a bit differently from their standard behavior.

By default, anything attached to the course as a resource presents nicely in the player under the Resources menu, but it does open in a separate browser tab, which isn't ideal for my stakeholders. They'd prefer the resource to open within the course, because they're concerned that opening additional tabs or document handlers draws the learner away from the activity and risks them getting lost, not returning, etc. Plus, on the mobile version of our LMS (MangoApps), these resources essentially download to the learner's device to be opened using whatever app the device has configured, which further complicates the experience.

The workaround they've developed (prior to my joining) is to host all their resources on an external server (AWS S3 bucket) with a PDF JS frame app and then link to them using a web object. I mean, it works, but it's a rather ponderous solution that introduces all kinds of dependencies and overcomplicates the publishing process.

I'd much rather just be able to put the resources in the course package and be done with it, but that opening behavior is just a showstopper. Any other ideas that would let me easily insert a PDF in a course and just have it open in a pop-up within the course? Thanks!