Launch 3rd party apps from links (IE: Facebook "App Links") - ios

pretty new to this stuff - but have a basic question:
I'm looking for a native iOS method that does what Facebook's App Links does.
Put it simply, our news organizations publishes breaking news alerts to Twitter and Facebook with a link to the actual article on our site. People receive the alert in their news feed on Facebook tap on the link and it goes our mobile web page (because user is on a mobile device).
Now Facebook App Links allows for the link url to open the article in our Mobile App (if the user has our installed or instead our mobile web site).
But iOS 8 includes app Extensions - how can our organization create links to launch our 3rd party apps from Facebook newsfeed or Twitter, etc...?
Is there a native iOS solution to open 3rd party apps? IE: how does google do it on iOS to open Chrome. Is there an iOS 8 App Extension that does this?
Thanks

Related

Can a progressive web app be registered as a share option on iOS?

I plan to develop an app (not sure if I will go with PWA yet) which includes the following "wishlist" scenario:
The user is browsing a website he likes using safari, chrome or any browser
He clicks the share button in that browser, in order to send the webpage url to another app
He selects my PWA
This url is saved in the user's wishlist
Is step 3 possible?
Note: someone asked the exact same question here about Android: Can a progressive web app be registered as a share option in Android?
My question is just the same, except mine is about iOS. I couldn't find any answers to it.
What you're describing is covered by Web Share Target Level 2.
Currently, it can be used with Chrome on some desktop platforms and on Android for installed PWAs.
It's not available on iOS, unfortunately.

Firebase dynamic link does not navigate to ios app/ appstore from facebook post in iOS

I have to implement navigation from facebook post to my native iOS app or app store if the app is not installed. For that, I have tried Facebook APP Link feature but it did not work. Then I created Firebase Dynamic link and post it on facebook app directly. After tapping on posted link, it shows one pop up saying "Leave Facebook? This webpage is trying to open an app outside of Facebook. Are you sure you want to open it?"
After tapping on Yes, it does nothing. I have cross verified the created link with https://app_id.app.goo.gl/apple-app-site-association It shows associated bundle id, team id, app store id.
Can anyone please suggest me the proper pathway to implement deep linking with facebook post to the app?
Also, can we test deep linking with the app which is not on the App Store?
Thanks in advance.
Facebook doesn't like users to leave their app. They stopped supporting App Links in their iOS app almost a year ago, and have never supported Universal Links (which is what Firebase Dynamic Links uses).
The only workaround is to send users to a landing page with a CTA button, and put another deep link behind that button (on a different domain than the one on which you're hosting this landing page). It's an extra step for the user, but currently the only option. Branch.io (full disclosure: I'm on the Branch team) does this via the Deepviews feature. Dynamic Links currently doesn't have an equivalent, so you'd need to build something yourself.

How to call action sheet from Facebook iOS app

When I tap on some Sound Cloud content on FB timeline, FB iPhone app shows Action Sheet with these options:
Open Web page
Install Sound Cloud app
How do I call action sheet on Facebook content in a Facebook iOS app? Was that a special feature FB gave Sound Cloud?
You may check Facebook developer documentation :
One of the most interesting aspects of sharing to Facebook from your
app is that when people engage with the news feed stories posted from
your app, those stories can send people to your app or your app's App
Store page, driving traffic and app installs. You can implement this
behavior using App Links.
When you set up App Links, you can control what happens when someone
taps on one of the links shared through your app or on the story
attribution (name of your app) in one of the Open Graph stories shared
through your app. If your app has web content, people will be
redirected to a web view of that content. If your app is installed
there may be an open button that launches your iOS app. if your app
isn't installed, there will be an install option to direct people to
your app's App Store page. If your app is mobile-only (no web content)
then tapping the shared link will either direct people to your app (if
it's installed) or to your app's App Store page (if your app isn't
installed)
App Links on iOS
Sharing on iOS

Apple rejected app 10.6 because Facebook opens Safari to login

I sent another version of my app, that allow users to login via Facebook. Of course, I use official Facebook iOS SDK.
But Apple twice rejected my app with following reason:
The app opens a web page in mobile Safari for logging in, then returns the user to the app. The user should be able log in without opening Safari first.
I tried to get more info, and reviewer's answer was:
Thank you for your response. We reviewed your app version 3.2.1 and when the user taps Facebook to login, the user is taken to mobile Safari and then back to the app.
It provides poor user's experience and not in compliance with the Guidelines.
and
Thank you for your response. It would be appropriate to allow the users to login inside the app without redirecting to mobile Safari.
Why only my app got this error, when dozens of apps using Facebook iOS SDK this way and don't get rejects?
Is there way in Facebook iOS SDK to open login page inside app?
Facebook SDK 4.0+
FBSDKLoginManager *login = [FBSDKLoginManager new];
if (![UIApplication.sharedApplication canOpenURL:[NSURL URLWithString:#"fb://"]])
{
login.loginBehavior = FBSDKLoginBehaviorWeb;
}
It will prevent to open through Safari.
The same issue happens with the Google+ SDK, the app could be rejected for the same reason:
Reasons
10.6: Apple and our customers place a high value on simple, refined, creative, well thought through interfaces. They take more work but are
worth it. Apple sets a high bar. If your user interface is complex or
less than very good, it may be rejected
----- 10.6 -----
We found the following issue with the user interface of your app:
The app opens a web page in mobile Safari for creating an account or
logging in for Google+ account, then returns the user to the app. The
user should be able to create an account or log in without opening
Safari first.
So the best solution is to move the server-side oAuth 2.0 through the Embedded WebView where the SDK does not let you to handle this automatically (like the Facebook SDK), at least until those SDKs does not make an update to handle the Embedded WebView use case.
Now Apple made their rules stricter.
You can find answer for your question in official Facebook documentation here.
Chapter "Embedded WebView Login Dialog"
The Facebook SDK for iOS provides various login experiences that your app can use to authenticate someone. This link includes all the information you need to know in order to implement Facebook login in your iOS app.Or Check ray wenderlich tutorial Facebook Tutorial for iOS: How To Use Facebook’s New Graph API from your iPhone App

How to publish link from iOS app to Facebook app with custom URL scheme?

I am creating an iOS app (using Adobe AIR) and I want to put a share button to my game that will allow the player to share a link to my game. I can do it with Graph API using my app's token, but I don't want a story published by my app. I want the native Facebook app to open and bring a share dialog. All my research concluded me to use the custom URL scheme such as fb://publish/?text=my_text but I couldn't get it working. I tried typing exactly that in Safari, it brings the native Facebook app, but no publish dialog or anything. All the sources online tells this, but it is not working. What could I be possibly doing wrong?

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