In the WWDC 2013 talk on processing app store receipts, it is suggested that for iOS apps, receipt validation code should be called as soon as possible. Even before application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions: - i.e. in the main() function. I suppose that the way this would work is as follows:
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
#autoreleasepool {
validateReceiptMethod(); // <---- HERE
int retVal = UIApplicationMain(argc, argv, nil, nil);
return retVal;
}
}
The idea is that the UIApplicationMain() method is what launches your app and calls application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:. If you put the validateReceiptMethod() after UIApplciationMain(), it would never run.
Anyway, this is working great. But what if there is no receipt? Then you need to call SKReceiptRefreshRequest to get a new one from the app store, which is fine. But if you run this code before UIApplciationMain(), it will also run before any of your UI is displayed. So what would happen in terms of showing the user the apple ID login dialog? Is it even possible to call SKReceiptRefreshRequest from the main() method?
So what would happen in terms of showing the user the apple ID login dialog?
Store Kit alerts appear in windows that are not owned by your application, so can be shown when your application is not active — even before it launches. But this is not really relevant.
Is it even possible to call SKReceiptRefreshRequest from the main() method?
This may be possible if you set up your own event loop then stop it when the receipt request finishes, but you should not do this. Don’t delay launching your application waiting on a network request; it might never complete. If the receipt is invalid, I would recommend entering UIApplicationMain() and requesting another receipt when launching finishes.
Edit: Since you can not do anything about not having a valid receipt before entering UIApplicationMain(), I don’t understand why Apple recommends checking at this point. This makes sense on OS X as the application should terminate, but not on iOS where application should keep running and it is acceptable to ignore invalid receipts. You could check early, store the state in a global variable, then respond later; but why not check only when you’re ready to respond.
Related
I tested:
UIControl().sendAction(#selector(URLSessionTask.suspend), to: UIApplication.shared, for: nil)
which is for putting app on background and it works.
How do I put app back on foreground?
I tried:
UIControl().sendAction(#selector(URLSessionTask.resume), to: UIApplication.shared, for: nil)
But eventually it crashes...
Thank you
Update:
Since you've indicated that you're looking for any technical solution, even those not compatible with the App Store or Apple's terms, this should be possible using the Private API LSApplicationWorkspace: openApplicationWithBundleID. Try something like this:
Create a .h file and set up an interface to the LSApplicationWorkspace class and list the required method. You will need to #import "PrivateHeaders.h" in your bridging header.
//
// PrivateHeaders.h
//
#ifndef PrivateHeaders_h
#define PrivateHeaders_h
#interface LSApplicationWorkspace : NSObject
- (bool)openApplicationWithBundleID:(id)arg1;
#end
#endif /* PrivateHeaders_h */
You should then be able to call this function and pass in the Bundle Identifier of your app as an string.
//
// SomeClass.swift
//
import MobileCoreServices
let workspace = LSApplicationWorkspace()
/**
Launch an App given its bundle identifier
- parameter bundleIdentifier: The bundle identifier of the app to launch
- returns: True if app is launched, otherwise false
*/
func openApp(withBundleIdentifier bundleIdentifier: String) -> Bool {
// Call the Private API LSApplicationWorkspace method
return workspace.openApplication(withBundleID: bundleIdentifier)
}
Original:
What you are doing is likely a violation of the iOS Human Interface Guidelines (although the "Don’t Quit Programmatically" is no longer specifically defined), so as the comments have said, it is not suited to the App Store. Regardless, once your app is suspended in this way, I don't expect that there is a way to resume it programmatically, unless you can hook into a Background Operation to run URLSessionTask.resume, but I have not tested it and am unsure whether it can work.
Apps can be launched (and hence brought into the foreground) programmatically from another app or today extension by using a Custom URL Scheme, or via a Push Notification. It isn't possible to launch the app from the Background Operation via a URL Scheme, since it is part of the UIKit framework, which must be run in the main thread.
In summary, I think your best option is to try to use a Notification. This just means that the user will need to click on the notification to bring your app back into the foreground.
Closing/opening the app should be done explicitly by the user. Any other way of closing or opening the app is not supported by Apple and will be rejected when uploaded to app store. iOS Human Interface Guideline states:
Don’t Quit Programmatically
Never quit an iOS application
programmatically because people tend to interpret this as a crash.
However, if external circumstances prevent your application from
functioning as intended, you need to tell your users about the
situation and explain what they can do about it. Depending on how
severe the application malfunction is, you have two choices.
*Display
an attractive screen that describes the problem and suggests a
correction. A screen provides feedback that reassures usersthat
there’s nothing wrong with your application. It puts usersin control,
letting them decide whether they want to take corrective action and
continue using your application or press the Home button and open a
different application
*If only some of your application's features are
not working, display either a screen or an alert when people activate
the feature. Display the alert only when people try to accessthe
feature that isn’t functioning
Just as a follow up to Jordan's excellent answer I want to give an explanation for why your code works in the first place and why that alone will get your app rejected, even without any functionality to make it active again and bring it to the foreground.
As maddy pointed out in a comment, you're basically calling a method from UIApplication's private API. This works due to the Objective-C runtime's dynamic linking. You might wonder "But I am using Swift, what does that have to do with Objective-C?" The answer lies in #selector mechanism. A Selector is basically just a symbol that the Objective-C runtime looks up in a table to get a method it invokes (for you). This is why it's technically not correct to say you "call a method" when you do something like myObjectInstance.someMethod(). The correct way to phrase that would be to "send a message" to the object, because that's what is happening in the runtime. The target-action mechanism is build around that. The sendAction(_: Selector?, to: Any?) method does the same thing. So in effect your code does the following:
Get the symbol that corresponds to URLSessionTask's suspend() method.
Tell the shared instance of UIApplication to invoke the method that it has for that symbol.
Now usually that would result in a crash with the typical "unknown selector sent to instance..." error message. But here, by sure coincidence UIApplication also has a method for that instance (or rather, the runtime also has one of its methods listed in its table for that symbol). You kind of "found" a method that is not declared in its public header. You successfully circumvented a compile-time check for this and invoke a method that is part of a private API. This is explicitly forbidden in the Apple Developer Program License Agreement
Besides all that, I would strongly advise against trying to design an app that way in the first place. As maddy pointed out it's also likely considered to violate the HIGs. Even if you're not trying to do anything malicious and properly explain the feature in your app's description, that won't make Apple let it slide (I assume). Personally, as a user, I'd also find it annoying if the app did something the system already has a specific mechanic for in a different manner, at least in terms of app's coming to background and foreground.
I don't think it can be done without user interaction
The option is you can generate a push notification to tell the user to bring the application to foreground
When the operating system delivers push notification and the target application is not running in the foreground, it presents the notification.
If there is a notification alert and the user taps or clicks the action button (or moves the action slider), the application launches and calls a method to pass in the local-notification object or remote-notification payload.
I tested:
UIControl().sendAction(#selector(URLSessionTask.suspend), to: UIApplication.shared, for: nil)
which is for putting app on background and it works.
How do I put app back on foreground?
I tried:
UIControl().sendAction(#selector(URLSessionTask.resume), to: UIApplication.shared, for: nil)
But eventually it crashes...
Thank you
Update:
Since you've indicated that you're looking for any technical solution, even those not compatible with the App Store or Apple's terms, this should be possible using the Private API LSApplicationWorkspace: openApplicationWithBundleID. Try something like this:
Create a .h file and set up an interface to the LSApplicationWorkspace class and list the required method. You will need to #import "PrivateHeaders.h" in your bridging header.
//
// PrivateHeaders.h
//
#ifndef PrivateHeaders_h
#define PrivateHeaders_h
#interface LSApplicationWorkspace : NSObject
- (bool)openApplicationWithBundleID:(id)arg1;
#end
#endif /* PrivateHeaders_h */
You should then be able to call this function and pass in the Bundle Identifier of your app as an string.
//
// SomeClass.swift
//
import MobileCoreServices
let workspace = LSApplicationWorkspace()
/**
Launch an App given its bundle identifier
- parameter bundleIdentifier: The bundle identifier of the app to launch
- returns: True if app is launched, otherwise false
*/
func openApp(withBundleIdentifier bundleIdentifier: String) -> Bool {
// Call the Private API LSApplicationWorkspace method
return workspace.openApplication(withBundleID: bundleIdentifier)
}
Original:
What you are doing is likely a violation of the iOS Human Interface Guidelines (although the "Don’t Quit Programmatically" is no longer specifically defined), so as the comments have said, it is not suited to the App Store. Regardless, once your app is suspended in this way, I don't expect that there is a way to resume it programmatically, unless you can hook into a Background Operation to run URLSessionTask.resume, but I have not tested it and am unsure whether it can work.
Apps can be launched (and hence brought into the foreground) programmatically from another app or today extension by using a Custom URL Scheme, or via a Push Notification. It isn't possible to launch the app from the Background Operation via a URL Scheme, since it is part of the UIKit framework, which must be run in the main thread.
In summary, I think your best option is to try to use a Notification. This just means that the user will need to click on the notification to bring your app back into the foreground.
Closing/opening the app should be done explicitly by the user. Any other way of closing or opening the app is not supported by Apple and will be rejected when uploaded to app store. iOS Human Interface Guideline states:
Don’t Quit Programmatically
Never quit an iOS application
programmatically because people tend to interpret this as a crash.
However, if external circumstances prevent your application from
functioning as intended, you need to tell your users about the
situation and explain what they can do about it. Depending on how
severe the application malfunction is, you have two choices.
*Display
an attractive screen that describes the problem and suggests a
correction. A screen provides feedback that reassures usersthat
there’s nothing wrong with your application. It puts usersin control,
letting them decide whether they want to take corrective action and
continue using your application or press the Home button and open a
different application
*If only some of your application's features are
not working, display either a screen or an alert when people activate
the feature. Display the alert only when people try to accessthe
feature that isn’t functioning
Just as a follow up to Jordan's excellent answer I want to give an explanation for why your code works in the first place and why that alone will get your app rejected, even without any functionality to make it active again and bring it to the foreground.
As maddy pointed out in a comment, you're basically calling a method from UIApplication's private API. This works due to the Objective-C runtime's dynamic linking. You might wonder "But I am using Swift, what does that have to do with Objective-C?" The answer lies in #selector mechanism. A Selector is basically just a symbol that the Objective-C runtime looks up in a table to get a method it invokes (for you). This is why it's technically not correct to say you "call a method" when you do something like myObjectInstance.someMethod(). The correct way to phrase that would be to "send a message" to the object, because that's what is happening in the runtime. The target-action mechanism is build around that. The sendAction(_: Selector?, to: Any?) method does the same thing. So in effect your code does the following:
Get the symbol that corresponds to URLSessionTask's suspend() method.
Tell the shared instance of UIApplication to invoke the method that it has for that symbol.
Now usually that would result in a crash with the typical "unknown selector sent to instance..." error message. But here, by sure coincidence UIApplication also has a method for that instance (or rather, the runtime also has one of its methods listed in its table for that symbol). You kind of "found" a method that is not declared in its public header. You successfully circumvented a compile-time check for this and invoke a method that is part of a private API. This is explicitly forbidden in the Apple Developer Program License Agreement
Besides all that, I would strongly advise against trying to design an app that way in the first place. As maddy pointed out it's also likely considered to violate the HIGs. Even if you're not trying to do anything malicious and properly explain the feature in your app's description, that won't make Apple let it slide (I assume). Personally, as a user, I'd also find it annoying if the app did something the system already has a specific mechanic for in a different manner, at least in terms of app's coming to background and foreground.
I don't think it can be done without user interaction
The option is you can generate a push notification to tell the user to bring the application to foreground
When the operating system delivers push notification and the target application is not running in the foreground, it presents the notification.
If there is a notification alert and the user taps or clicks the action button (or moves the action slider), the application launches and calls a method to pass in the local-notification object or remote-notification payload.
At some point in my application I have done this exit(0) which crashes my app. But I haven't figured out what method gets called when this executes.
I've put messages in:
(void)applicationWillTerminate:(UIApplication *)application
(void)applicationDidEnterBackground:(UIApplication *)application
But none of this seem to get called! Any idea about what method is called when exit(0) is done?
From Apple's Human User Guidelines...
Don’t Quit Programmatically
Never quit an iOS application programmatically because people tend to
interpret this as a crash. However, if external circumstances prevent
your application from functioning as intended, you need to tell your
users about the situation and explain what they can do about it.
Depending on how severe the application malfunction is, you have two
choices.
Display an attractive screen that describes the problem and suggests a
correction. A screen provides feedback that reassures users that
there’s nothing wrong with your application. It puts users in control,
letting them decide whether they want to take corrective action and
continue using your application or press the Home button and open a
different application
If only some of your application's features are not working, display
either a screen or an alert when people activate the feature. Display
the alert only when people try to access the feature that isn’t
functioning.
If you've decided that you are going to quit programmatically anyway...
In C, exit(0) will halt execution of the application. This means that no delegate methods or exception handlers will be called. So, if the goal is to make sure that some code gets called when the closes, even on a forced close, there may be another option. In your AppDelegate implement a custom method called something like -(void)applicaitonIsgoingAway. Call this method from within anywhere you want your exiting code to be called:
applicationWillTerminate
applicationDidEnterBackground
onUncaughtException
The first two are ones that you already mentioned in your question. The third can be a catch-all of sorts. It's a global exception handler. This next bit comes from a question on that very topic.
This exception handler will get called for any unhanded exceptions (which would otherwise crash your app). From within this handler, you can call applicaitonIsgoingAway, just like in the other 2 cases. From the other question that I mentioned above, you can find an answer similar to this.
void onUncaughtException(NSException* exception)
{
[[AppDelegate sharedInstance] applicationIsgoingAway];
}
But in order for this to work, you need to set this method up as the exception handler like so...
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
NSSetUncaughtExceptionHandler(&onUncaughtException);
//There may already be more code in this method.
}
Now, you can quit the app programmatically by calling NSAssert(FALSE, #"Quitting the app programmatically."); As long as there is no other exception handler in place to catch this, your app will begin to crash, and your exception handler code will be called. in-turn calling applicationIsGoingAway.
When you call exit(0) you immediately terminate your application. 0 is a status code which means successful termination.
No other method is called, you application just dies. As a result end user may think app is just crashed.
Apple discourages you to call exit anywhere.
exit(0) is a C function that terminates your app's process therefore none of the application delegates methods will be called, the app will be killed immediately. Apple recommends strongly against your app quitting because it appears broken to the user.
There is no Apple-supported method to terminate your application programmatically. Calling exit is certainly out of the question. This causes all sorts of bugs (for example the multitasking switcher will break badly) as well as simply being wrong.
If you are trying to disable multitasking, you can do this with the UIApplicationExitsOnSuspend key in your Info.plist file (the title for the key is "Application does not run in background").
Other than that, it's up to your users to press the home button to close your application.
these methods will be called but you cannot use exit(0) you will need to press the back button to close your app then these methods will be called
The Receigen documentation, and other sources, suggest validating your app’s receipt as soon as possible, early in the main method even.
When I call the Receigen-generated code in main method, I get a execution-interruption when the app has no Receipt.
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
#autoreleasepool {
MyPrefix_CheckReceipt( [[MyReceiptRefreshDelegate alloc] init] );
return UIApplicationMain(argc, argv, nil, NSStringFromClass([XMAppDelegate class]));
}
}
The call to return UIApplicationMain shows this error message in Xcode 7.3.1:
Thread 1: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (code=1, address=0xe)
Moving this call to MyPrefix_CheckReceipt from main method to the top of my app delegate’s didFinishLaunchingWithOptions method is a workaround. No EXC_BAD_ACCESS error occurs when receipt is not present.
Having no Receipt can happen in the field when a user restores their app from a backup via iTunes app on a Mac or PC. And having no Receipt always happens in development when executing via Xcode on a real hardware iOS device for the first time or after having deleted the app from device.
Running a second time exhibits no such error. I verified the receipt is successfully retrieved from the fake "sandbox" App Store, and is present on the second run.
So the Question is: Why does the Receigen code fail with a crash when no Receipt is found but only when the verification call is made from the main method?
At some point in my application I have done this exit(0) which crashes my app. But I haven't figured out what method gets called when this executes.
I've put messages in:
(void)applicationWillTerminate:(UIApplication *)application
(void)applicationDidEnterBackground:(UIApplication *)application
But none of this seem to get called! Any idea about what method is called when exit(0) is done?
From Apple's Human User Guidelines...
Don’t Quit Programmatically
Never quit an iOS application programmatically because people tend to
interpret this as a crash. However, if external circumstances prevent
your application from functioning as intended, you need to tell your
users about the situation and explain what they can do about it.
Depending on how severe the application malfunction is, you have two
choices.
Display an attractive screen that describes the problem and suggests a
correction. A screen provides feedback that reassures users that
there’s nothing wrong with your application. It puts users in control,
letting them decide whether they want to take corrective action and
continue using your application or press the Home button and open a
different application
If only some of your application's features are not working, display
either a screen or an alert when people activate the feature. Display
the alert only when people try to access the feature that isn’t
functioning.
If you've decided that you are going to quit programmatically anyway...
In C, exit(0) will halt execution of the application. This means that no delegate methods or exception handlers will be called. So, if the goal is to make sure that some code gets called when the closes, even on a forced close, there may be another option. In your AppDelegate implement a custom method called something like -(void)applicaitonIsgoingAway. Call this method from within anywhere you want your exiting code to be called:
applicationWillTerminate
applicationDidEnterBackground
onUncaughtException
The first two are ones that you already mentioned in your question. The third can be a catch-all of sorts. It's a global exception handler. This next bit comes from a question on that very topic.
This exception handler will get called for any unhanded exceptions (which would otherwise crash your app). From within this handler, you can call applicaitonIsgoingAway, just like in the other 2 cases. From the other question that I mentioned above, you can find an answer similar to this.
void onUncaughtException(NSException* exception)
{
[[AppDelegate sharedInstance] applicationIsgoingAway];
}
But in order for this to work, you need to set this method up as the exception handler like so...
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
NSSetUncaughtExceptionHandler(&onUncaughtException);
//There may already be more code in this method.
}
Now, you can quit the app programmatically by calling NSAssert(FALSE, #"Quitting the app programmatically."); As long as there is no other exception handler in place to catch this, your app will begin to crash, and your exception handler code will be called. in-turn calling applicationIsGoingAway.
When you call exit(0) you immediately terminate your application. 0 is a status code which means successful termination.
No other method is called, you application just dies. As a result end user may think app is just crashed.
Apple discourages you to call exit anywhere.
exit(0) is a C function that terminates your app's process therefore none of the application delegates methods will be called, the app will be killed immediately. Apple recommends strongly against your app quitting because it appears broken to the user.
There is no Apple-supported method to terminate your application programmatically. Calling exit is certainly out of the question. This causes all sorts of bugs (for example the multitasking switcher will break badly) as well as simply being wrong.
If you are trying to disable multitasking, you can do this with the UIApplicationExitsOnSuspend key in your Info.plist file (the title for the key is "Application does not run in background").
Other than that, it's up to your users to press the home button to close your application.
these methods will be called but you cannot use exit(0) you will need to press the back button to close your app then these methods will be called