launch an app from a link in an sms

views:

105

answers:

+2 Q:

launch an app from a link in an sms

hey all,
i have a very strange requirement...
i need to launch my app from let's say, a hyperlink that is received in an sms.
can this be done somehow?
i mean, the person who receives the sms simply taps on the link provided in the "special sms", and that launches the application
something like a special link which invokes the app in the device...

i have stumbled into an article that shows how message body can be created and sent programmatically in iOS4 and i think that might help me in the creation of the "special message"
So creation of the message may not be an issue here... :|
It's the invocation part...
Anybody knows what can be done???
Suggestions and sample codes greatly appreciated... :)
Thanks in advance!

+2 A:

Hi,

Good news, it is possible and quite simple (really easy in fact)

Take a look at this tutorial

Update : it seems that the SMS app doesn't auto recognize that address type

F.Santoni 2010-08-18 13:46:54

Woah! thanks! looks like its the stuff i need... I'll try it out. Thanks again! :))

Bangdel 2010-08-19 05:20:09

Hey! thankx! this works really great... I was able to do the 'launch an app from another app' thing... But the tragedy of the situation is that I am unable to launch it from the SMS... IF I have used the URL scheme as myApp, then typing "<myApp://something>" in the compose message should automatically detect it and make it clickable right? Well this is where its not working... Please help :(

Bangdel 2010-08-23 04:57:33

@santoni: I read your update... :(( So what do i do to fix it? do i change the address type or something????? Help! And check this out- http://stackoverflow.com/questions/625232/launching-application-from-a-sms-message . Someone has been successful in launching app from SMS it seems. I wonder how...

Bangdel 2010-08-26 08:59:00

Maybe Apple changed something or in the thread they didn't really test.. I tested on iPhone 4, I'll test on our 3GS

F.Santoni 2010-08-26 09:03:58

On 3GS (iOS 3.1.2) it failed

F.Santoni 2010-08-26 09:05:06

@santoni: thanks for your support :) Its a tragedy that it failed in iOS 3.1.2 because that's what I was using too. And you said you tried in iPhone 4..did it work in that???

Bangdel 2010-08-26 09:39:58

It failed on both iPhone 3GS and 4.

F.Santoni 2010-08-26 15:10:39

Looks like the SMS App no longer recognizes the URL scheme for the installed Apps. One workaround (uncool though) is to send a mail instead of the sms; containing the URL scheme as a hyperlink text. In the mail application, this becomes clickable and launches the app when the user taps on it.

Bangdel 2010-08-31 05:38:59

+1 A:

What you need to do is get your app to respond to a custom URL sequence, such as myApp://open

Apple has documentation on this:

http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/documentation/iphone/conceptual/iphoneosprogrammingguide/StandardBehaviors/StandardBehaviors.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40007072-CH4-SW50

if you need more help, please ask.

This will also work with mail and webpages, anywhere you can put a clickable link...

Tom H 2010-08-18 13:49:20

Thanks for the reply :)) I'll got through the doc.. And I'm sure that as i progress into the creation of this app, i'll be stumbling into a lot of things where i'll be crying out "Help!". Sure, I'll be asking you then ^___^ thanks again!

Bangdel 2010-08-19 05:32:08

"Help!" Well in my app I also need to pass parameters to the app via the url...So any idea what the URL scheme will look like? :P

Bangdel 2010-08-19 05:49:37

Look at the tutorial from my response you can handle myapp://whatyourwant and then when the app is launched you can check the URL and do what you want :)

F.Santoni 2010-08-19 11:30:23

Help! I gave the URL Scheme as: simpleApplication and the URL Identifier as : com.company.simpleApplication. I did as told in the tutorial. I tried :1. "simpleApplication"2. "<simpleApplication>"3. "simpleApplication://"4. "<simpleApplication://>"5. <simpleApplication>6. <simpleApplication://>in the compose message and after all these permutations, still the URL is not being identified and the App is not getting launched!Please tell me where did i go wrong...i'm desperate :((HELP!!!

Bangdel 2010-08-20 07:56:36

"<simpleApplication://>" should work for u...!!!

kool4u 2010-08-25 12:15:11

ansaurus

tags:

views:

answers:

launch an app from a link in an sms

related questions