How to link to the page of a single author/company page on the App Store?

Question

I would like to provide a link to all the apps of a single author/company on the App Store from my iPhone app.

Let's take Ngmoco for instance. Clicking on the following link on iTunes for PC or Mac opens iTunes and redirects the user to a page with all the published apps of Ngmoco up to today: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?id=293559501

However, opening the same URL from the iPhone (e.g. from Mail.app, or from another app) causes the iTunes Music Store browser to be launched instead of the App Store browser, and an error message pops up. Anybody knows how should I craft an iPhone-friendly URL linking to all the apps of a single author or company? Thanks.

It seems there is currently no way to do this. Will update this topic if Apple ever adds a way to display all apps from a single author or company at the mobile version of the App Store. — Julio Gorgé, Oct 25 '09 at 19:50

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 22 '09 at 01:57

6

Even easier are the itunes.com urls. http://itunes.com/CompanyName (remove any spaces in the company).

answered Oct 22 '09 at 01:57

John Fricker

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yes this is the best way. It only works on device, and using "itms-apps" to replace "http" makes it much faster. – Ray Aug 24 '11 at 02:20

score 6 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 22 '10 at 22:04

6

NSString *str = @"itms-apps://ax.search.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/search?media=software&term=glbasic";
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL: [NSURL URLWithString:str]];

That seems to work for me!!

edited Feb 22 '10 at 22:04

RedBlueThing

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answered Feb 06 '10 at 06:50

Phoo

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Thanks. It's not exactly what I was looking for, but is a valid solution when the company/author name is kind of unique and does not contain generic words (otherwise the search results gets populated with apps form other companies/authors). – Julio Gorgé Feb 10 '10 at 18:29
Too many redirects and searches this way. Look at Aleksey's answer below and my comments. This is the new way as of 2013. – B-Money Sep 02 '13 at 17:28
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As of late 2013: use `https://itunes.apple.com`-based URLs (rather than `itms-apps://...` or `http://itunes.com`); e.g.: `https://itunes.apple.com/artist/id284417353?mt=8` for Apple's own page. To determine your own company's URL, go to any of your apps in Tunes, right-click on your company name below the app title, and select `Copy Link`. Such links open directly in the App Store app on iOS devices. A less straightforward way - involves Safari, but is based on name rather than ID - is to use `http://appstore.com/`; e.g., `http://appstore.com/apple` – mklement0 Dec 11 '13 at 21:17

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 01 '11 at 03:02

2

Here's what I found works for me, redirecting from within an iPhone app. This goes directly to the App Store app:

NSString *iTunesLink = @"itms-apps://itunes.com/apps/companyname/";
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:iTunesLink]];

Simply substitute in the name of the app developer for "companyname".

answered Aug 01 '11 at 03:02

aleksey

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I think this is the best way since it opens the App Store directly, goes to your company name, doesn't use http which causes redirects AND the URL doesn't have the country code in it. This is important. Let the device set the store and show what can be downloaded. – B-Money Sep 02 '13 at 17:26

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 02 '13 at 17:29

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Here's the latest answer with a link to Apples Dev guidelines and examples.

// Goes to App Store
NSString *iTunesLink = @"itms-apps://itunes.com/apps/gameloft/";  
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:iTunesLink]];

How to Launch App store from iOS Application

How Apple says to do it - Company Store link

answered Sep 02 '13 at 17:29

B-Money

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Links are still valid and useful, but (as of late 2013) use `http://itunes.apple.com`-based URLs (rather than `itms-apps://...`); e.g.: `https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/id284417353?mt=8` for Apple's own page. To determine your own company's URL, go to any of your apps in Tunes, right-click on your company name below the app title, and select `Copy Link`. – mklement0 Dec 11 '13 at 21:02
Yes true, thanks. Things change in iOS-land every year. Watch for depreciation always. – B-Money Mar 14 '15 at 15:57

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 29 '09 at 21:44

0

Try replacing itunes with phobos, e.g.:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?id=293559501

Links to phobos.apple.com will open in the App Store application, while links to itunes.apple.com will open in the iTunes application.

answered Jun 29 '09 at 21:44

Jason

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Sorry, I already tried that one and it doesn't seem to make a difference. It still won't open correctly on the iPhone. – Julio Gorgé Jun 29 '09 at 21:46

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Sep 04 '12 at 15:07

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The answer by @JohnFricker worked best for me. Although it's worth noting that I had to remove all spaces and punctuation from the developer name. I tried it with spaces removed but not punctuation and it still didn't work.

answered Sep 04 '12 at 15:07

ScottF

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score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Dec 13 '12 at 12:35

Using the previous answers as guidelines, I did the following:

Google an example app from your company and bring it up as an iTunes preview page (example: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/facebook/id284882215?mt=8)
In the top right of that page, right click the link entitled "View more by this developer" and copy that link (example: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/facebook-inc./id284882218)
You can then change it so that it uses itms-apps instead of https, as below:
```
itms-apps://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/facebook-inc./id284882218
```

When used in app this will open up the App Store on a nice page with your company name at the top and all the apps listed below. You can copy and paste the link into the address bar of mobile Safari to see a preview of it in the App Store without having to delve into any code.

This is close, but having the "gb" in the URL is bad for global apps in multiple regions. You want a URL that goes to the page and the device is already set to that region and you get the correct app. — B-Money, Sep 02 '13 at 17:30

score 0 · Answer 8 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

0

So, the procedure in Apple's Technical Q&A on the subject doesn't work? (That seems to match Jason's answer that you said was not successful.) It did work for the user that posted this other question and this one, although perhaps the difference is linking to an app versus linking to a company?

edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

Community

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answered Oct 22 '09 at 02:07

Sixten Otto

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That works for apps, not for authors/companies, hence my question. – Julio Gorgé Oct 25 '09 at 19:49

score -1 · Answer 9 · answered Mar 23 '10 at 19:36

-1

I think the Apple sample code has a bug. Change

self.iTunesURL = [response URL];

to

self.iTunesURL = [request URL];

answered Mar 23 '10 at 19:36

Eric Shapiro

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I don't see how this is relevant to the question. – simbabque Dec 27 '12 at 00:24

score -2 · Answer 10 · answered Oct 17 '09 at 10:53

-2

simply go to itunes than click on the name of your company , copy and paste it whereever you want . i think previous answers were usefull for previous versions of itunes

answered Oct 17 '09 at 10:53

user191646

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That does only work on a Mac or PC, but not on an iPod Touch or iPhone. Please read again the original question. – Julio Gorgé Oct 18 '09 at 18:03

How to link to the page of a single author/company page on the App Store?

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