Possible to handle your own http URL schemes in iOS?

Asked 9/12, 2010 at 23:1 Answered 3/11, 2020 at 14:54

iTunes, App Store and YouTube on iOS clearly register http://... URL schemes to open their apps.

Can anyone do that, not just your own protocol?

The reason I want to do this is that I am working on an app for a festival. I want to "intercept" links to specific pages on the website and launch the app instead, if installed.

So far I have no had much luck

Keloid answered 9/12, 2010 at 23:1 Comment(0)

The way you can do this for "http://" URLs (and what I think Apple and Spotify do) this is to:

Register a custom URL scheme like the other answers have shown.
Set up your HTTP URL to point to a real webpage.
Put a script on that page to redirect to your custom URL if is on iOS.

For example, here is a sample page which will take you to the Twitter app for a particular user or the Twitter website depending upon if you are on the web or on your iOS device:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>Twitter</title>
</head>
<body>
    <script type="text/javascript">
        var username = document.location.search.substr(1);
        document.location.replace(
            "standalone" in window.navigator ?
            'twitter:@'+username :              // iOS
            'http://twitter.com/'+username);    // others
    </script>
</body>
</html>

Try it out here: http://bl.ocks.org/d/3153819/?mckamey

Staub answered 20/7, 2012 at 23:29 Comment(14)

Yes, that is what I am doing now. Not quite how the App Store does it though as it goes straight to the app store without going to Safari first. – Keloid 21/7, 2012 at 4:47

If you view-source on an itunes page (e.g., itunes.com/apps/instagram) they have a script attached to body onload which if it detects it is running on iOS opens the same search but with an "itms://" URL. When you visit this with an iPhone, it will first bounce to the iTunes app, then to the AppStore app. So I think they employ a similar strategy just faster switching. – Staub 22/7, 2012 at 18:12

what if your app is not installed? – Dickdicken 25/1, 2013 at 14:46

@stephanek. see this comment and the next one - iosdevelopertips.com/cocoa/… – Rutherfurd 13/3, 2013 at 9:6

It might also be possible to use a hidden iFrame on the page pointed at the custom scheme. If it fails, no one notices anything. If it succeeds then it takes control away from the page to the app. – Staub 13/3, 2013 at 16:16

How about now, in iOS 7? Does its custom scheme support http? Most web services have both an app and mobile web page, and generally prefer an app-first strategy. Android supports it with Intent filter, and iOS looks really backwards if it doesn't support that. – Rheinlander 23/9, 2013 at 4:19

@Rheinlander I believe if Apple were to allow it, all http:// traffic would go to that registered app. While I'd love to be able to direct Chrome to be the recipient of this scheme, it seems that Apple doesn't want to allow that. – Staub 25/9, 2013 at 19:32

@Staub Yes, now I think Apple's way is better. User expects the browser to open with a http url, and iOS safari has smart banner allowing user to switch to app if it is installed. On the other hand, if http is allowed as app url, then a third-party app can hijack an official website, which is a secuirty hole to say the least. – Rheinlander 26/9, 2013 at 9:40

@Rheinlander Apple's way is not better. Android allows the scheme, host, path, and port to be defined, and I haven't heard of any problems with that. The user is always allowed to choose which app they want to open the url with so no hijacking would occur without the user being aware of it. Furthermore, in Android, if the user doesn't want the app to open it, the browser is guaranteed to be able to, making much more dynamic than iOS. – Sherasherar 2/4, 2015 at 20:10

Per @mckamey's suggestion about the hidden iframe, see a nice answer here: #1109193 – Maloriemalory 12/5, 2015 at 14:15

@mckamey, your answer is not up to date. The answer below is much more relevant. I think you should mention that. – Vehicular 23/8, 2017 at 16:23

Shocking that tech would change after several years! Perhaps the owner of the question should update selected answer. – Staub 23/8, 2017 at 19:57

Please watch the answer below (which is updated to iOS 9 new features). – Jung 26/7, 2021 at 16:15

Both links in the answer are no longer reachable. – Brush 16/5, 2022 at 13:11

iOS 9 supports Universal Links, which allows iOS to launch an app based on a standard http:// URL (based on the hostname) without the user having to go through Safari.

It requires some web server configuration (you need a website), but once setup, the registered app will open the link instead of Safari.

For the users that don't have iOS 9, you can use Smart Banners to ease the experience.

Appliance answered 15/3, 2016 at 18:32 Comment(0)

Unfortunately I don't think you can do that. You can register your own custom scheme e.g yourFestival:// and pass data from the outside world (SMS , email , other apps) to your app.

I wrote a blog post about this here : Using custom schemes and passing data between iOS apps.

I hope this helps.

Godinez answered 17/8, 2011 at 17:40 Comment(0)

The question is old, but since I came across to this page now, years later, when searching for answer to the same question, I'll add answer on how to do it now:

Use Universal links. First enable "Associated Domains" on your App ID in developer.apple.com. Then add your domain as applink in Xcode (select Target->Signing & Capabilities->Associated Domains) and then create an apple-app-site-association file on your website.

Details are explained here.

Fast answered 3/11, 2020 at 14:54 Comment(0)

No, you can only register custom schemes.

And I cannot see Apple doing this, either...

Amin answered 9/12, 2010 at 23:6 Comment(4)

Bummer. Apple certainly does it. Email (or SMS) yourself and iTunes store link (itunes....). Click on it in mail on the iPhone. The App Store opens, without going to Safari first. – Keloid 9/12, 2010 at 23:31

No. For email, there is (obviously) the mailto: scheme, for sms it's sms:, and in case of iTunes I think they use ordinary http:, on the first call, but then redirect to something else (which can be done transparently so the user won't see it). – Amin 10/12, 2010 at 8:48

@HappyFlow Not sure what you are trying to tell me? – Amin 20/8, 2013 at 15:16

Doesn't that mean that you can't implement a web browser that would open when a url is clicked? – Fast 3/11, 2020 at 10:49

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