Custom URL to launch Facebook Messenger on iOS

Question

How can I launch FaceBook Messenger (if installed) with a compose Windows to a specific FB ID.

If messenger is not installed, can we launch FaceBook app and have the compose Windows open to a specific FB ID.

In the rare instance if no Facebook apps are installed, can we launch mobile Safari with the compose window?

Flieger

Check this for some hints related to your question. – Agog

I did check that but it's for FaceBook only and half the FaceBook URL's don't work anymore. FaceBook must have changed it's internal URL scheme. – Flieger

I have been looking and experimenting, but I can't figure out what their URL scheme is. fb-messenger:// works, but I can't get to a specific conversation from either a person or a group. – Aesculapian

Hi guys, this may be of help. – Worldlywise

Answer 1

sample ,It's work for me in ios

let msgUrl = URL(string: "http://m.me/{PAGE_NAME}")
UIApplication.shared.openURL(msgUrl)

reference in document of dev facebook : https://developers.facebook.com/docs/messenger-platform/discovery/m-me-links/

Grevera

Answer 2

The URL scheme is fb-messenger://user-thread/{user-id}. I just build my app with fb-messenger URL scheme as Viewer and trapped the URL on the UIApplication delegate. The user-id parameter is long integer one, as in https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/reference/user/

Basie

user-id is the same as UID (a numeric string)? – Flieger

Hey Tia, quick question. How do you return to your app after the user has "finished" with fb-messenger ? – Steamtight

@Steamtight You can achieve that using Facebook's App Links: applinks.org – Misfire

With graph 2.0, FB introduced "AppScopedIds" - which has broken the deeplinking to Messenger, since messenger doesn't understand app-scoped ids. However, Facebook profile link understands app-scoped ids - so it seems like a bug in messenger - they should ideally be able to translate app-scoped ids to the right fb id correctly. – Kerseymere

Hi, Can I use this URL to send individual message? – Disagree

thanks for the great answer :) P.S. you can probably check if the messenger app is installed by using the canOpenURL method of UIApplication as described in this answer: stackoverflow.com/a/16013030 – Perique

Answer 3

Just use https://m.me/USER_ID.

This will deep link the user to the native Messenger app if available and start a conversation with the user identified by its USER_ID.

If the native app is not available on the device, it will open the messenger web app in a new browser.

Fan

This is now the most accurate answer for modern use. Works across devices and browsers. – Nebula

Thank you so much for this answer. Worked for me. – Caldera

This works. But in a scenario that I want to share a link without defining specific USER_ID first (I will choose who to send to later). How can I use m.me? Should it be something like https://m.me/share?link=www.google.com ? – Antelope

Answer 4

You can only launch an installed app using the Custom -URL. But you cannot check whether the app is installed or not (Second part of your question.) Reason: If it would have been possible to check the installed apps in iOS, One can then create app which will get information of all installed apps.

facebook Custom URL latest updates:

fb://album/%@
fb://album/(aid)
fb://album/(aid)/cover
fb://album/(initWithAID:)
fb://album/(initWithAID:)/cover
fb://album/new
fb://albums
fb://birthdays
fb://birthdays/(initWithMonth:)/(year:)
fb://birthdays/(month)/(year)
fb://chat/(fbid)
fb://chat/(initWithUID:)
fb://chat/(user.fbid)
fb://contactimporter
fb://contactimporter/invites
fb://contactimporter/legalese
fb://contactimporter/modal
fb://event/%@
fb://event/%llu
fb://event/(event.fbid)/members/(rsvpStatus)
fb://event/(fbid)
fb://event/(fbid)/members/attending
fb://event/(fbid)/members/declined
fb://event/(fbid)/members/not_replied
fb://event/(fbid)/members/unsure
fb://event/(fbid)/rsvp
fb://event/(initWithEventId:)
fb://event/(initWithEventId:)/members/(rsvpStatus:)
fb://event/(initWithEventId:)/rsvp
fb://events
fb://events/
fb://faceweb/(initWithURL:)
fb://facewebmodal/(initWithURL:)
fb://feed
fb://feed/%@
fb://feed/(filter.filterKey)
fb://feed/(initWithFilterKey:)
fb://feedfilters
fb://findfriends
fb://findfriends/legalese
fb://findfriends/modal
fb://friends
fb://friends/picker
fb://friends/sync
fb://friends/sync/(removeData:)
fb://friends/sync/disconnect
fb://friends/sync/legalese
fb://group/(fbid)/members
fb://group/(initWithGroupId:)/members
fb://groups
fb://launcher
fb://mailbox
fb://mailbox/(folder)
fb://mailbox/(initWithFolder:)
fb://mailbox/(initWithFolder:)/(tid:)
fb://mailbox/(mailbox.folder)/(tid)
fb://mailbox/compose
fb://mailbox/compose/(fbid)
fb://mailbox/compose/(initWithUID:)
fb://map
fb://messaging
fb://messaging/(folder)
fb://messaging/(initWithFolder:)
fb://messaging/(initWithFolder:)/(tid:)/participants
fb://messaging/(initWithFolder:)/thread?tid=(tid:)
fb://messaging/(mailbox.folder)/(urlEscapedTid)/participants
fb://messaging/(mailbox.folder)/thread?tid=(urlEscapedTid)
fb://messaging/compose
fb://messaging/compose/(fbid)
fb://messaging/compose/(initWithUID:)
fb://messaging/original_message?mid=(commentId)
fb://messaging/original_message?mid=(initWithMessageId:)
fb://nearby
fb://note/%@
fb://note/(initWithNoteId:)
fb://note/(initWithNoteId:)/edit
fb://note/(noteId)
fb://note/(noteId)/edit
fb://note/compose
fb://notes
fb://notifications
fb://online
fb://online#offline
fb://online#online
fb://page/(page.id)
fb://pages
fb://photo/%@/0/%@
fb://photo/(album.user.fbid)/(album.aid)/(pid)
fb://photo/(album.user.fbid)/(album.aid)/(pid)/feedback
fb://photo/(fbid)/profilepic
fb://photo/(initWithProfilePicturesUID:)/profilepic
fb://photo/(initWithUID:)/(aid:)/(pid:)
fb://photo/(initWithUID:)/(aid:)/(pid:)/feedback
fb://photosapp
fb://place/%@
fb://place/(initWithPageId:)
fb://place/(targetId)
fb://place/addfriends
fb://place/addphoto
fb://place/create
fb://places
fb://places/%lld/%lld
fb://places/(initWithCheckinAtPlace:)/(byUser:)
fb://places/legalese/tagged/%lld/%lld
fb://places/legalese/tagged/(initWithTaggedAtPlace:)/(byUser:)
fb://post/%@
fb://post/%@_%@
fb://post/(initWithPostId:)
fb://post/(initWithPostId:)/tagged
fb://post/(postId)
fb://post/(postId)/tagged
fb://post/(postId)/untagSelf
fb://post/(untagSelfFromPostWithId:)/untagSelf
fb://profile
fb://profile/
fb://profile/%@
fb://profile/%lld
fb://profile/(addFan:)/addfan
fb://profile/(fbid)
fb://profile/(fbid)/addfan
fb://profile/(fbid)/addfriend
fb://profile/(fbid)/fanpages
fb://profile/(fbid)/fans
fb://profile/(fbid)/favorite
fb://profile/(fbid)/friends
fb://profile/(fbid)/info
fb://profile/(fbid)/menu
fb://profile/(fbid)/mutualfriends
fb://profile/(fbid)/photos
fb://profile/(fbid)/poke
fb://profile/(fbid)/removefriend
fb://profile/(fbid)/wall
fb://profile/(initWithFBID:)/menu
fb://profile/(initWithFansUID:)/fans
fb://profile/(initWithFriendsUID:)/friends
fb://profile/(initWithInfoUID:)/info
fb://profile/(initWithMutualFriendsUID:)/mutualfriends
fb://profile/(initWithPhotosUID:)/photos
fb://profile/(initWithUID:)
fb://profile/(initWithUID:)/addfriend
fb://profile/(initWithUID:)/fanpages
fb://profile/(initWithUID:)/poke
fb://profile/(initWithUID:)/removefriend
fb://profile/(initWithWallUID:)/wall
fb://profile/(toggleFavorite:)/favorite
fb://profile/(user.fbid)/fans
fb://profile/(user.fbid)/friends
fb://profile/(user.fbid)/mutualfriends
fb://profile/0
fb://publish
fb://publish/mailbox/(initWithFolder:)/(tid:)
fb://publish/mailbox/(mailbox.folder)/(tid)
fb://publish/photo/(album.user.fbid)/(album.aid)/(pid)
fb://publish/photo/(initWithUID:)/(aid:)/(pid:)
fb://publish/post/(initWithPostId:)
fb://publish/post/(postId)
fb://publish/profile/(fbid)
fb://publish/profile/(initWithUID:)
fb://publish/profile/(owner.fbid)
fb://requests
fb://root
fb://upload
fb://upload/%@/album/%lld/%@
fb://upload/%@/checkin/%lld
fb://upload/%@/profile/%lld
fb://upload/(initWithSource:)/album/(uid:)/(aid:)
fb://upload/(initWithSource:)/checkin/(checkinId:)
fb://upload/(initWithSource:)/profile/(uid:)
fb://upload/actions
fb://upload/actions/album/(initWithUID:)/(aid:)
fb://upload/actions/album/(user.fbid)/(aid)
fb://upload/actions/checkin/(checkinId)/
fb://upload/actions/checkin/(initWithCheckinId:)
fb://upload/actions/newalbum
fb://upload/actions/profile/(fbid)
fb://upload/actions/profile/(initWithUID:)
fb://upload/actions/resume
fb://upload/album/(showUploadMenuWithUID:)/(aid:)
fb://upload/album/(user.fbid)/(aid)
fb://upload/checkin/(checkinId)
fb://upload/checkin/(showUploadMenuWithCheckinID:)
fb://upload/discard
fb://upload/profile/(fbid)
fb://upload/profile/(owner.fbid)
fb://upload/profile/(showUploadMenuWithUID:)
fb://upload/resume
fb://userset
fb://video/%@
fb://video/(playVideoWithId:)
fb://video/(videoId)

Aceae

HTML Smart Tags some how can check if a specific app is installed. – Flieger

None of these seem to be working for me. Did Facebook update their URL schemes again? – Adrenaline