I have an android app working this way:
User read QR-code with my specific URL
If the app installed it intercepts this URL and handles it somehow.
If app not installed standard browser opens this URL and it leads to Google play on app page.
When user install and run app first time it read browser's history and look for my URL.
If app found URL in browser's history then it handles this URL again.
Is it possible to implement this behavior on iPhone/iPad?
I suppose key features here are to read browser history and to intercept http URL's.
If this is impossible how would you implement this thing on iOS?
Thanks in advance for your help.
You can use custom application URLs in the form: myApp://... iOS will automatically launch the application if present. The logic for handling the 'not-installed' case has to be in the QR code scanning app. can be handled by the scanned website via a forwarding link using the iOS custom URL scheme (this might be useful for usage stats).
Additional info on implementing Custom URLs...
Related
I'd like to be able to send invitation in an email to a specific "event" happening inside my iOS app. So I figured I'd need to use custom URL. That's fine.
But I'd also like to be able to handle the user that doesn't have the app installed yet, to be taken to a mobile Safari and to the webpage with installation instructions for the app.
What would be the best way to do it?
I could try the following:
In the email I send a link to a http://www.example.com/joinevent/?id=foo
User is taken to a Safari webpage that sends a redirect to mycustomscheme://joinevent/?id=foo
If the user doesn't have the app installed this redirection won't work and he stays in the Safari - I could then handle the displaying of installation instructions probably.
But this approach doesn't seem "natural" for me. Is there a better/more native way to do it?
Try http://rdrct.it
It is a web service that allows you to achieve exactly this functionality very easily.
Full disclosure - I created rdrct.it
Here's the basics:
Login to the site, create a project for your particular app. Choose a unique code (this could be the name of your app).
You'll then be provided with a URL in the form: http://rdrct.it/uniqueCode
Once you've done that, you need to register the app's ID in the app store, and also details about the custom URL scheme. Tick "Auto-redirect" - what it will then do is try to open the app, and if that fails, it will automatically send the user to the app store.
If the app is opened, then the querystring is also passed to the app, so in your example case, the device will have been served: mycustomscheme://joinevent/?id=foo
It also works across multiple device types, so if you have the app available for Blackberry, Android or Windows Phone, then it will also do the same for those depending on which device type the user is using.
Like I said, I created it, but it should solve your problem.
If you are using Distimo to track you app analytics, they provide a shortlink to your apps that can be used also used to track conversions. It shows a custom page depending on the device used to access. This is especially convenient if you have the same app published in the AppStore, Google Play, Amazon, etc.
I am building a HTML5 based mobile web app for iPhone. I need to check whether user has specific application that I suggest. I heard that each iPhone application has unique URL scheme to detect their app indentity.
Therefore, I've read this article to get an idea.
Is it possible to register a http+domain-based URL Scheme for iPhone apps, like YouTube and Maps?
However, this is not perfect answer to make what I am trying to make.
here is what might happen
User clicks a recommendation app on mobile web browser.
Check with application iTunes URL and URL scheme.
If the user has the installed application, it returns 'installed'
==> In this case, the screen returns back to mobile browser.
If the user does not have the installed application, it returns 'uninstalled'
==> In this case, the screen moves to App Store.
I am running mobile web app with PHP language.
Thank you.
this is not possible I'm afraid. To be honest I'm glad, as there are real privacy concerns if any old web page can detect which apps I have installed.
That's definitely not a good thing!
UPDATE: If you're happy to go native, this library will do what you want.. http://www.cocoacontrols.com/platforms/ios/controls/ihasapp
If you know that a url scheme for the app exists then you can open it via a web link like this, "myapp://". With this there are some round about ways you can effectively check if a certain app exists.
See this related stackoverflow post
I have a phonegap app that I use the Facebook plugin to implement single sign on. I registered am a native iPhone app since the app is not run in the browser. When I click on login I get an invalid URL error message. I suspect my problem is either I need to specify a URL which I have tried using channel in init but I get a URL not allowed with this configuration. The other problem may be that I need to register this application as a web app. However using phonegap the application does not have a url. I don't know what to do.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks!
Did you look at the iOS URL scheme section of the Plugin's readme?
On iphone my native app has an URL, so that if you type an url starting with myapp:// it will open my app and it will handle the URL and go to the relevant place.
Is there a way to get these urls as a web app bookmark on the iphone's homescreen?
EDIT: To put it another way, I want add a webapp to link to my native app.
This is not possible. Never will be, as duplicates may occur then, e.g. two web apps with goatse://…, as Apple cannot check web apps.
It is possible to add Web Clips without going into Safari, and to specify a custom URL. But the Apple docs say that Web Clips will only work if the protocol is http or https (i.e. not my app://)
I was wondering if anyone knows - if I have an iPhone app that is registered with a URL service (e.g. alocola://), which means another app can invoke it by calling its URL - is there any way to embed this URL in an HTML page, and catch the exception if the app is not installed on the user's iPhone?
Or in other words / more details:
I would like to write an app that conforms to some URL invocation (like alocola:// is doing), but would like this app to be launched from a web page read by mobile Safari. However, if the app is not installed on the user's iphone, I would like to be able to display a note saying "you must have the alocola app installed on your iPhone, please download it from the app store by clicking here". Is there a way (perhaps using javascript) to have Safari indicate that the URL cannot be invoked, and catch this in order to display an intelligent message?
Thanks :-)
Ariel
No, there's no way to detect this and display such a message. Instead, you should put text on the webpage saying that the using the link requires your app.