change default application on iphone

Question

Is there any way to change the default application? Eg change mailto: behavior to launch 3rd party application when user selects an email address anywhere on iphone OR launch SMS application when user selects a phone number.

Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

Nicolas is correct. To use some of the default applications (you mentioned SMS) you simply need to call the appropriate URL handler.

Please refer to: http://iosdevelopertips.com/cocoa/launching-other-apps-within-an-iphone-application.html

You cannot override the default handlers. Apple have made it very clear that they do not want to confuse the user by providing applications that duplicate basic iPhone functionality. The most famous case is Google Voice ( http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/27/apple-is-growing-rotten-to-the-core-and-its-likely-atts-fault/ )

Answer 2

You need to use URL handlers. I'm not sure if you can override default handlers (mailto: http:...), but have a look at this guide:

http://www.mobileorchard.com/apple-approved-iphone-inter-process-communication/