如何从我的应用程序打开我的设备上的其他应用程序

Question

I want to open another application (like GDrive, iBooks, etc.). using the UTI from my application.

For this I tried using the following code from this site , which was used for Exporting a PDF file from my application to another application.

    NSString * filePath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:nil ofType:@"pdf"];    
documentController = [UIDocumentInteractionController interactionControllerWithURL:[NSURL fileURLWithPath:filePath]];
documentController.delegate = self;
[documentController retain];
documentController.UTI = @"com.adobe.pdf";
[documentController presentOpenInMenuFromRect:CGRectZero inView:Parent animated:YES];

The above code does give me the list of applications (GDrive, iBooks, etc.) available on my device from my application , but when I click on any one of these applications ,it exports one PDF from my application to that selected application, though I have used the FilePath as "NIL".

What I want to do is to be able to open any of the available other applications (GDrive, iBooks, etc.) on my device from my application without sending any PDF file from my application to that other application.

Answer 1

Custom URL is the way to go. Refer this link for sample code with implementation.

Answer 2

URL Schemes are the way to go but of course not every app has them. A complete list can be found here (by the time of this answer, the website has some kind of error and won't open).

An example on how to use them to open the Facebook App:

NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:@"fb://"];

if ([[UIApplication sharedApplication] canOpenURL:url])
{
    [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:url];
} // else -> i.e. open Safari to Facebook's page or show an error message

Answer 3

Every APP consists of Identifier Which is in the form of "com.companyName.appName"(ex:"com.adobe.appname"). TO open it in Specific app,

[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"com.adobe.appname"]];