A client asks me if it is possible to create an app which control access to other apps on iOS ? I think it's ok on Android, but not on iOS.
Technically, can you create an app to restrict user interface when it's on ? Like for children or whatever usage ?
Thanks,
M.
It is not. iOS has built-in features that do this, like Guided Access, but third-party apps are not allowed that amount of control over the system.
Not possible, iOS apps are sandboxed. If Apple allowed this, it would probably cause more harm than good. Don't expect this to become available in the future. Sorry!
Related
I am developing a mobile app in objective-c for iOS.
Is there a way inside my app to programmatically retrieve the most visited websites from the browsers on the device?
I am interested in the urls specifically (e.g. "http://www.google.com"), in order to check a couple of things.
I've searched online but I haven't find anything that could satisfy these needs: does every browser save this kind of information in a private folder not accessible to anyone else and so it's not possible to get this data? Or am I missing something else?
Thanks anyway for your answers
The answer is: No, it's impossible. Apple doesn't give as an API to do that.
No, the developed applications are sandboxed. You can't access data out of one app from another. It's part of the security model.
Apple didn't published APIs for this privacy access level, It only published the following APIs for Safari extensions:
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/safari_app_extensions
BTW, This question is asked alot before, you can check them:
how to programmatically access iphone browser history
How to access iPhone Safari History in an App?
Where to find complete list of iOS app permissions?
For android you may find a complete list of normal and dangerous permissions, which apps could use: https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/permissions/requesting.html
Of course I know the "dangerous" permissions of iOS, they are displayed in settings>privacy. But Im also interested in the normal settings which can not be influenced by user.
I think for developers there should be a list like that for android. Or ist the system working completely another way? So where could I learn about this?
Why am I asking? For my degree Im researching whether users now which data is collected in smart mobile devices. Therefore I need a reference.
This may be useful:
https://www.apple.com/business/docs/iOS_Security_Guide.pdf
Relevant post:
Complete list of iOS app permissions
The info.plist is where you can add keys for permissions when writing your iOS app. Here's the documentation for that:
https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/General/Reference/InfoPlistKeyReference/Introduction/Introduction.html
I need to crate app, one of it is features to check if user is using Facebook or whats App during driving is it doable.
For privacy matters, Apple does not allow iOS apps to access other application's data, such as when the user enters them and other "sensitive" data of that sort. So, the simple answer is that you cannot do that. Another App's usage is undeterminable as of now on iOS.
Either way. Even if iOS apps are allowed to fetch data from other apps, you have to make sure your app is running on background and checking. iOS manage memory itself and kills app in background automatically. So the app is not practical. Plus if you constantly check the speed in background, the battery life will decrease.
But again on the first hand as other answers, your app does not allowed to access data. So this is not doable.
It is not possible , as apple does not allow iOS Apps fetching or accessing other apps data. Thanks
I want to create an app which has the following features.
Track friends / family members location
Locate/track the stolen device location
Lock the device, delete the device datas by using desktop or by SMS.
Most of the above features are provided by Apple's "Find my iPhone" app. But I just want to know whether is it possible to create such an app.
From my understanding, Apple wont let the developers to use private API's and they wont allow to erase datas (like Messages, Calls details) remotely.
Please suggest me some ideas.
If you create any app which directly competes with any of the apples build app will be rejected by appstore.. But most of the above things you can do with private api's and with the help of a web service..
It wasn't possible prior to iOS7. App was not able to respond to any remote calls. There is a new API which "can" be used to solve similar things: http://mobile.tutsplus.com/tutorials/iphone/ios-7-sdk-mutlitasking-enhancements/ or http://www.objc.io/issue-5/multitasking.html (Remote notifications). You may be able to track your friends or stolen device, but not to lock or erase it.
There is a way to remotely erase the iPhone without Apple's Find My iPhone - via Exchange account. There are some open source implementations of MS Exchange, so there may be a chance to make a service which would be able to wipe the device. But even when you make that service, there will be a need to add the "exchange account" into the iDevice. I am not aware of any function which can do so programmatically.
Anyway - You can do an app which is similar to Apple's apps, but it must be somehow different. It must provide some special content or functionality, otherwise it will be rejected.
I am developing a business app for use on an iPad/iPod Touch. I am wondering if there is a way to restrict usage on the device to my app only. In other words, we don't want employees installing other apps such as games and playing around with the devices.
Yes, that's possible.
Check out the iOS Configuration Profile Programming Guide.
Edit: See the section about restrictions, it will allow you to do exactly what you need. Note however that you'll need to have access to those devices, ideally the devices should be company property. And you need to distribute your app via Enterprise Distribution.
Edit 2: Since iOS6, this feature is available through the normal settings app. It is called "Guided Access" and is part of the Accessibility settings. It will let you disable the home button (cancel guided access by triple-clicking the home button and enter the preset code) and it will even let you define areas within apps which should be disabled.
I don't think so, unless their device is jailbroken.
If they're logged into an Exchange server you could remote-wipe their phone if they install anything.
Do you provide the devices? Or they bring their own?
If you provide the devices that would mean you can use your Apple-id. If an employee would try to download any other app he would need the password of your Apple-id. So thats a simple way to prevent that.
Im am not sure if there is a total "lock" of such type.