Is it possible to register a http+domain-based URL Scheme for iPhone apps, like YouTube and Maps?

user_136168 0
Viewed 150280

I'd like to have iOS to open URLs from my domain (e.g. http://martijnthe.nl) with my app whenever the app is installed on the phone, and with Mobile Safari in case it is not.

I read it is possible to create a unique protocol suffix for this and register it in the Info.plist, but Mobile Safari will give an error in case the app is not installed.

What would be a workaround?

One idea:

1) Use http:// URLs that open in any desktop browser and render the service through the browser

2) Check the User-Agent and in case it's Mobile Safari, open a myprotocol:// URL to (attempt) to open the iPhone app and have it open Mobile iTunes to the download of the app in case the attempt fails

Not sure if this will work... suggestions? Thanks!

url iphone ios
13 Answers

I think the least intrusive way of doing this is as follows:

  1. Check if the user-agent is that of an iPhone/iPod Touch
  2. Check for an appInstalled cookie
  3. If the cookie exists and is set to true, set window.location to your-uri:// (or do the redirect server side)
  4. If the cookie doesn't exist, open a "Did you know Your Site Name has an iPhone application?" modal with a "Yep, I've already got it", "Nope, but I'd love to try it", and "Leave me alone" button.
    1. The "Yep" button sets the cookie to true and redirects to your-uri://
    2. The "Nope" button redirects to "http://itunes.com/apps/yourappname" which will open the App Store on the device
    3. The "Leave me alone" button sets the cookie to false and closes the modal

The other option I've played with but found a little clunky was to do the following in Javascript:

setTimeout(function() {
  window.location = "http://itunes.com/apps/yourappname";
}, 25);

// If "custom-uri://" is registered the app will launch immediately and your
// timer won't fire. If it's not set, you'll get an ugly "Cannot Open Page"
// dialogue prior to the App Store application launching
window.location = "custom-uri://";
Nathan_de_Vries_111090

It's quite possible to do this in JavaScript as long as your fallback is another applink. Building on Nathan's suggestion:

<html>
  <head>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width" />
  </head>
  <body>

    <h2><a id="applink1" href="fb://profile/116201417">open facebook with fallback to appstore</a></h2>
    <h2><a id="applink2" href="unknown://nowhere">open unknown with fallback to appstore</a></h2>
    <p><i>Only works on iPhone!</i></p>    

  <script type="text/javascript">

// To avoid the "protocol not supported" alert, fail must open another app.
var appstorefail = "itms://itunes.apple.com/us/app/facebook/id284882215?mt=8&uo=6";

function applink(fail){
    return function(){
        var clickedAt = +new Date;
        // During tests on 3g/3gs this timeout fires immediately if less than 500ms.
        setTimeout(function(){
            // To avoid failing on return to MobileSafari, ensure freshness!
            if (+new Date - clickedAt < 2000){
                window.location = fail;
            }
        }, 500);    
    };
}

document.getElementById("applink1").onclick = applink(appstorefail);
document.getElementById("applink2").onclick = applink(appstorefail);

</script>
</body>
</html>

Check out a live demo here.

bishanty_375220

You can't, as far as I know, make the entire OS understand an http:+domain URL. You can only register new schemes (I use x-darkslide: in my app). If the app is installed, Mobile Safari will launch the app correctly.

However, you would have to handle the case where the app isn't installed with a "Still here? Click this link to download the app from iTunes." in your web page.

user_964550

Check the User-Agent and in case it's Mobile Safari, open a myprotocol:// URL to (attempt) to open the iPhone app and have it open Mobile iTunes to the download of the app in case the attempt fails

This sounds a reasonable approach to me, but I don't think you'll be able to get it to open mobile itunes as a second resort. I think you'll have to pick one or the other - either redirect to your app or to itunes.

i.e. if you redirect to myprotocol://, and the app isn't on the phone, you won't get a second chance to redirect to itunes.

You could perhaps first redirect to an (iphone optimised) landing page and give the user the option to click through to your app, or to itunes to get the app if they don't have it? But, you'll be relying on the user to do the right thing there. (Edit: though you could set a cookie so that is a first-time thing only?)

user_424040

It also possible to check tab activity by document.hidden property

Possible solution

document.location = 'app://deep-link';

setInterval( function(){
  if (!document.hidden) {
    document.location = 'https://app.store.link';
  }
}, 1000);

But seems like this not works in Safari

user_17035120
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