I was developing an iOS application which need to work with a website. I'm not the owner of website so I cant use the universal link. I tried to open the website url https://example.com/xxx/xxx directly when I set the https://example.com/xxx/xxx as URL Scheme , however it will only display the website but won't asked for open the apps. What is the problem and can I do to achieve the expectation below?
Expectation:
When the user open the website
Phone w/ app - open the website and ask for open the app
Phone w/o app - open the website
I have similar problem with this question.
iOS URL scheme or not existing Universal Link
If you don't own the website you want to deep link to, you can't dictate the behavior once the user lands on that destination in their browser – that would need to be handled by that website.
Related
I am trying to open a group page in Workplace by Facebook app, unfortunately I did not find any custom URL scheme to do it like for the Facebook app.
Does anyone have more information about the custom url schema that can be sent to the Workplace by Facebook app for iPhone?
I recently had the same issue and found out that the main url scheme for Workplace is fbatwork.
To open the app straight to a group, the only working format on iOS seems to be
fbatwork://group?id=your-group-id
There are also a few more available, but I don't know exactly what's their purpose: fbatworksso, fbatworksignup, fbatworkssoreauth, fb-work-emailless
First of all, I know how to make custom schemes in iOS and I know how to open my app from a website using a javascript setTimeout method.
I have an app that uses custom URL scheme and it is working great. What it does is, it sends a http://testsite.com/QueryStrings message to other users in the contact list (predefined) and on clicking those web links in the sms, these things happen:
Open the link in Safari
Open the app if installed with custom url using setTimeout
If not installed, move to the normal website page
What I wanted actually is to open my app directly from SMS if installed but for that I have to send my custom url scheme in the SMS, that is not an option because if app is not installed then this SMS wont work so a weblink is the only option for now.
Today, I installed SoundCloud and accidentally noticed this thing is that when http:// m. soundcloud .com /... url is sent in an SMS and on clicking the link it opens the app (if installed) directly not the Safari (Strange for me).
So I was wondering how come their app open from a web link without opening the Safari. I googled it around but I couldn't find a solution to my problem. I am attaching a screenshot too from my mobile where press and hold on the link in the messages app give Open in "SoundCloud" option as well. So how SoundCloud registered a http link to be handled automatically in the app. Please help guys
Screenshot of SoundCloud Open
The answer to this problem is using Associated Domains (But after 9.2 we have to use Universal Links to achieve this).
Before Universal Links, the primary mechanism to open up an app when it was installed was by trying to redirect to an app’s URI scheme (registered in the app’s PLIST like so) in Safari. This put the routing logic in Safari, but there was no way to check if the app was installed or not.
iOS 9 Universal Links were intended to fix this. Instead of opening up Safari first when a link is clicked, iOS will check if a Universal Link has been registered for the domain associated with the link, then check if the corresponding app is installed. If the app is currently installed, it will be opened. If it’s not, Safari will open and the http(s) link will load.
Functionally, it allows you have a single link that will either open your app or open your mobile site.
Configure your app to register approved domains
Registered your app at developers.apple.com
Enable ‘Associated Domains’ on your app identifier
Enable ‘Associated Domain’ on in your Xcode project
Add the proper domain entitlement
Make sure the entitlements file is included at build
Configure your website to host the ‘apple-app-site-association’ file
Buy a domain name or pick from your existing
Acquire SSL certification for the domain name
Create structured ‘apple-app-site-association’ JSON file
Sign the JSON file with the SSL certification
Configure the file server
Apple launched Universal Links in iOS 9.0, which moves the app routing into the OS so that developers don’t need to worry about doing the routing in Javascript.
Receiving Universal Link URL in the App
URI schemes received the deep link URL through openUrl in the App Delegate. Universal Links receive their data via a different code path: continueUserActivity. This new delegate method is used for a number of app transitions, ranging from Spotlight to Universal Links, and will likely see a couple more use cases introduced in future OS versions.
Below is a snippet of code that you can use to retrieve the full Universal Link URL that opened the app.
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application continueUserActivity:(NSUserActivity *)userActivity restorationHandler:(void (^)(NSArray *))restorationHandler {
if ([userActivity.activityType isEqualToString:NSUserActivityTypeBrowsingWeb]) {
NSString *myUrl = [userActivity.webpageURL absoluteString];
// parse URL string or access query params
}
return YES;
}
Source: https://blog.branch.io/how-to-setup-universal-links-to-deep-link-on-apple-ios-9
I found a lot of tutorials about opening an app by a custom url scheme like:
myappname://
Thats nice but it would be great to open an app by registering the real app domain over the http link like
http://www.myappdomain.com/blablabla
So - for example - if a visitor comes to a webpage (on her/his mobile) it is normally opened in the browser, excepts the installed app is listening to the opened URL and opens itself instead of the browser.
How is this done (i've seen this at another app). Any help would be great. Thanks in advance!
It is a new feature in iOS9. It is explained in the WWDC15 talk Seamless linking to your App.
You could also add a small piece of javascript to each page that opens your custom URL-scheme.
Hi I have a requirement in my app. From my ios Application(myapp),i share a link to facebook. Then I opened up my facebook account in browser or Facebook application and clicked the link, link should open in myapp if myapp is installed in the device otherwise link should open in browser. How can I achieve this ? Please suggest me step by step. Thanks in advance for your consideration and help.
I am not sure if this is possible. I have looked at various questions including
Is it possible to register a http+domain-based URL Scheme for iPhone apps, like YouTube and Maps?
as I am sure you might have already done but these questions target their own app, mainly web app, but you want that behavior to occur from an app that is not yours like twitter or facebook. But what you can do is show them two links on facebook/twitter, if they have installed press link 1 and if they want to install, press link 2 and you can pass parameters in link 1 as you might already know.
I will also keep checking answer of this question if some one comes and gives a better solution.
There is an option called custom URL scheme in iOS. It will help you to create a URL scheme which identifies your application. You can post link with this URL scheme and when you tap on this link on your iOS device it will open up your mobile app. Please see the link below to know how to setup this.
Custom URL Scheme in iOS
This is called 'deep URL linking'. Facebook have built a service called 'App Links', which seems pretty cool.
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/ios/app-links
So I'm trying to figure out how youtube links work on a device. If you were to tap a youtube link in safari/anywhere it would open up the youtube app if it's available or just go to the video in safari. I'm trying to emulate this with my app.
I'm just confuse how to open a app with a valid web url. I understand that I can open a app with a url scheme such youtube:// but that not the same as www.youtube.com
These apps implement what's called URL Schemes.
Here's a pretty good tutorial for setting up your own app with a URL scheme: http://www.idev101.com/code/Objective-C/custom_url_schemes.html