My web application is making use of iFrame to launch a App using custom URL scheme.
With the latest release iOS 9 this has stopped working.
On going through articles online, I have some understanding now that Universal Links are way to go about it or else we can use below hack/code to still launch the app(this results in a alert message asking user to Open/Cancel the call, which doesn't look nice).
window.location = app://
Wanted to check with experienced people here, if there is any other possible way to resolve this as I am reluctant to change the app to support Universal Links for now.
Related
I have an app with MagicLink authentication implemented using universal links. The app and the server are configured to handle universal links following Apple’s documentation (https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/General/Conceptual/AppSearch/UniversalLinks.html).
The link successfully launches the app from Apple Mail + Safari. However when I try to open it from GoogleMail + Chrome, it redirect to the AppStore.
It is important to notice that the app isn’t on the AppStore yet and I’m trying to sort out the issue before publishing it.
I can reproduce the issue on the iPhone 6s with iOS 10
This is a known issue with a number of apps. Universal Links do not work in many situations, with the Gmail app being one of them. See a more detailed list here.
To work around this limitation, your Universal Link URL needs to lead to a page with a button/link on it the user can activate. At Branch.io, we offer a Deepviews feature for this purpose. You'll need to build something similar.
I read that from iOS 9, Universal links are introduced. Please explain the different between Deep-linking and universal links.
My objective is, a link will be sent in mail to customers. Let the mail says there is an offer for item A, and a link. On clicking the link
If the app is installed then, open the app and launch specific screen showing item A
If app is not installed then, download it from App Store and open it and launch specific screen showing item A
What if there is a user login feature?
If app is installed and user is not logged in then,
open the app
Launch login screen
After login is success launch specific screen showing item A.
How can these be implemented? How the links are configured for these?
As of iOS 9.2, released December 8th, 2015, Apple has sounded the death knell for URI scheme based redirects, the standard for deep linking for the last seven years. They’ve decided that Universal Links are the future.
Earlier in order to use a URI scheme, you have to manually handle the case of the app not being installed.The problem with this is that when the app is not installed, it shows a ‘Cannot Open Page’ error. I’m sure you’ve all seen it. It’s the bane of deep linking.We were able to bypass this in iOS 7 and iOS 8, but it is not possible now from iOS 9.
Get more details form this link
To clarify, 'deep links' are simply links that, when clicked, cause your app to open directly to content. Universal Links are a type of deep link, as are URL scheme links, but neither is a perfectly bulletproof solution right now so to cover all edge cases, you'll want to implement both.
Fortunately Branch can handle all of that complexity behind the scenes so you don't have to worry about it! As mentioned in the answer above, the guide here will get you up and running with exactly the implementation you described!
I found a usable link here . It gives step by step details about deep linking using Branch.io
Shouldn't we be able to use Universal Links into Amazon on iOS? They are hosting this file: https://www.amazon.com/apple-app-site-association and this blog post seem to be certain of it. However, if I make a link that follows one of their site-association rules, such as
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062273205,
I keep getting directed to Safari instead of the app. I have never clicked Back to X from the Amazon app, so it can't be that cache that is messing with me.
Universal Links do work with the Amazon app on iOS. I tested the example (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062273205) on iOS 9.2.1, and it opened the app as expected.
Have you have scrolled all the way to the top of the Amazon page? There should be a banner like this that will forward you to the app. If not, I suppose it's conceivable that your copy of the Amazon app didn't correctly register for Universal Links when first installed. You could try deleting it and reinstalling.
I know this is an old question, however I did post an answer that seems to work currently which might help someone:
I too had mixed results with universal links, it worked on some devices and not on others even though the Amazon app is installed.
In summary, what I did was:
Using https://www.appsight.io/app/amazon I was able to get the URL Scheme for the amazon app
I whitelisted that URL scheme in my info.Plist
I added some code to check if I can open the amazon app using the scheme otherwise I should fallback to using Universal links
Exact code I used is available on my answer here.
I have run into several problems with iOS development through phonegap recently, and unusually people around here have been unable to discuss these issues and even together we have (for the first time I have ever seen) not had a single comment or answer for these topics...
See https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14707936/make-a-page-that-redirects-back-to-ios-phonegap-app and iOS broswer data -> Cache & Cookie for Phonegap App / Session?...
However, I have found "solutions" to get around these, but its by no means answers to the issues in question which are still outstanding... just simply doing it a completely different way.
However, despite loosing web-view in phonegap, in an attempt to get around https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14707936/make-a-page-that-redirects-back-to-ios-phonegap-app I now have some issue that are outstanding...
I need to be able to navigate back to my App from the web-system !!!
However, I have no idea how. I have read info on creating URL Schema, but I am not sure if this is even possible through build.phonegap at all... and it seems faily complicated. Does anybody know of a way for iOS safari to do one of two things
Either
Open the app that is running in the background
or
close the current browser tab and navigate back to the app in the background.
The closing tab idea would be good, but not essential
Look forward to everyone thoughts and opinions on this one...
Henry
You can create an url scheme for any application you make yourself.
See tutorial here
It's not as terribly complicated as one would think, and the required objective-c code is minimal.
Once you have done this, you can use your own url scheme to launch your phonegap application from safari with a hyperlink.
This would not close the tab (you could do this with javascript if you wanted to)
but does put safari in the background, and opens your phonegap app.
(whether it is already running in the background or not)
It is even possible to pass data to the app using your url scheme.
It is not currently possible using PhoneGap Build in 2.2 and previous. Potentially a feature top be released in newer versions of Cordova/Phonegap
I am working with my web developers that are stuck on a problem with a Web-app we are creating.
The webapp works great, you add the website to your home screen on the ipad, open it and use the website within the webapp interface outside of safari.
The issue is that we have one function that doesnt work, where when clicking a URL link within mobile safari, it calls an external app (Optiscan- a qr code reader), and then when scanning the code, then returns you to Mobile safari.
The question is - is there a way to call a URL that will open an external app, from within a webapp? Similar to how it would work from mobile safari?
If so - i am then wondering if an app can be written that calls the webapp to open. For example if i needed the QR code reader to then re-open the web app and pass it the QR code.
-Dana
In iOS, native Apps can define Custom URL Schemes. If you know the scheme of an App, you can simply open it by clicking on a link like Launch Facebook App. This should launch the Facebook App for iOS if installed.
There was a crowd-sourced list of known URL schemes on akosma.com but they seem to have some problems and the list is not available as of writing this. If the URL scheme of the App you need to open is not public, try contacting the developer and ask for it. I'm sure if you ask kindly, he will help you ;-)
Edit: Almost forgot to say, opening Apps like this won't return to your Web-App magically. That's something the developer of said App would have to implement.
Edit 2: I found another website that has many custom URL schemes in it's database: http://handleopenurl.com. It does not have a URL scheme for Optiscan but for other QR Readers, maybe this will help you.