Note that I don't want to link to an app on the store. I want a general store link. The link should work when tapped from an iOS device. I don't care if it works under other circumstances or not.
There are multiple questions asking how to link to an app. But that's a different question.
Take one of those app links and remove the app-specific stuff.
I think this should do the trick for you.
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewGrouping?cc=gb&id=25206&mt=8&pillIdentifier=iphone
Related
Just trying to make a button that links in ratings tab in app store but have some problems doing so, found lot of links with itms:// and http:// as prefix but non of them work in simulator could anyone help me?
The simulator has no app store; none of them will work.
You want a link like this:
http://www.itunes.com/app/[appname]
That'll work on the device, but not the simulator. There's another variation that lets you specify the company name, too. The link will go to Safari first, which will a moment later open App Store without the user needing to do anything.
Source: Technical Q&A QA1633 Creating easy-to-read links to the App Store for your applications and company
You can try using a itms+apps style link, like this:
itms+apps://www.itunes.com/app/[appname]
This will skip launching Safari first, and just go straight to App Store. While this currently works, I'm not sure it's documented anywhere. I plan on trying this, and I'll update this answer later if I'm approved.
If what you want is a link directly to the Reviews section for your app's App Store page, you want something like this (replace the id parameter with your own):
itms-apps://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewContentsUserReviews?id=393783219&onlyLatestVersion=true&pageNumber=0&sortOrdering=1&type=Purple+Software
For the main App Store page, use:
http://itunes.apple.com/app/id393783219
And like Steven Fisher said, it won't work on the Simulator.
I can't figure out how to edit that part, and unfortunately i used ™ in it, which works perfectly well on all previews and on iTunes, but when you open it on an iPhone, it literally reads ™, and now I don't think I'm able to edit it. Could I contact Apple to get them to correct this for me?
You can not change this aspect of an app once it is approved on your own.
To do that, contact Apple Developer Support by E-Mail
-> devprograms#apple.com
That said, simply pushing another version update might be faster as Developer Support takes quite some time to respond.
I would like to have users be directed to a link which will immediately start downloading an app on an iOS device. I know you can register for Enterprise application or do limited ad-hoc distribution, but this is not the case here. The app I would like to link to is already on the app store. I would like to know if users can download the app directly without going through the app store.
Thanks in advance.
As mentioned above, you cannot provide a direct link to the application. There are ways of circumventing the app store, such as ad-hoc distribution and ADC's enterprise program. However, neither of these would provide the convenience you seek as potential users would have to install certificates generated by you before installing your application. Your best option would be to use the app store or possibly a web app.As David V mentioned, you can provide a direct link to your app in the app store!
Good luck,
-Alex
They will need to go through the App Store. You can provide them a link to your app in the App Store though.
In fact, even in jailbroken devices, you need to use a store. Apple seems not to have a auto-installing url scheme implemented.
Would be nice, though.
No. This is not possible on stock OS iOS devices
You can do that if your app is based on Safari (web app) instead of native (iOS).
Finally, thanks to most of you, I got my first app approved by Apple. The problem is that I'm only able to find it on the app store if I click on the link provided on iTunesConnect.
If I try to search with any of the keywords I inserted in the metadata I don't find my app.
One more thing the link is like this:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gearup/id441500177?mt=8&ls=1
does the "/us/" mean that it is only on the american app store. I didn't select any specific country (they are all selected).
thanks
You can remove the /US/ from the link. You're just seeing that error because the US store is not your default.
The link works for me and shows your app on itunes.com before launching the iTunes application
Your searches may not work until your app has been propagated to all the various stores. Sometimes that can take a while.
Immediately after going live and having been accepted, there will always be a small amount of time while the app propagates across the Apple servers.
Your link works as koregan stated, and yes the /us/ is the country code. For example, if you replace it with fr then you see the web page in French - if you localized the app then you will see the app information with the text you would have supplied; else you will see it in English.
This link shows a video where an app upgrade is "forced" from within the app itself:
http://buzzworks.de/blog/update-ios-beta-apps-from-within-the-app
The App Store is not called in and it's said to work only for AdHoc
apps.
Anyone knows how is this possible?
edit: please give a look to the video before answering. AdHoc apps are signed by the developer and they do not come from the App Store. This sort of forced update is useful when doing beta testing and in enterprise applications.
I've found that it's all explained here:
http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/featuredarticles/FA_Wireless_Enterprise_App_Distribution/Introduction/Introduction.html
The developer should create an .ipa with the app and a manifest in plist format with the URL to the .ipa and a few other things.
The app can optionally implement its own way to find if an update is available and open
the URL to the manifest.
I didn't it's really possible because the app has to somehow sign itself. The best I can think of right now is that the app is not signed?
You can always force people to go to the app store when a new version is out. Simply make the app connect to a webservice first. Other solutions are not accepted by Apple, or will quite simply not work because of other issues (signing is one of many).
You could also design your app in such a way that forced updates are never a requirement. You can load your user interfaces from the web (Apple has presented some valuable information about that during the previous WWDC), your data can come from the web, and if there is any other correction to do just ensure your app is backwards compatible.
That's how the app store works. And it never requires a 'forced update' ... Well, almost never ;-)