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My company is using AirWatch as an MDM and I need to develop an app on both Android and iOS that acts as a launcher and opens a specific URL inside the AirWatch Browser.

My problem is that I can't find any information on the URL schemes for the AirWatch Browser and I can't get access to any device or documentation on AirWatch yet (right now we're just checking the possibilities).

I saw on the AirWatch website that there is an SDK to integrate with the whole AirWatch MDM but that is not what I want to do. The app just needs to open AirWatch Browser on a choosen URL.

aout
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3 Answers3

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The URL Scheme for the AirWatch Browser is:

awb://
awbs://

Just enter the URL as you would normally.

Example: http://www.air-watch.com
AirWatch Browser URL Scheme: awb://www.air-watch.com

james_fuller
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  • Found this a while ago but it's the correct answer. Works like a charm. – aout Mar 02 '16 at 11:08
  • This works for me on iOS using hyperlinks in an email. So from the native mail application this opens the AirWatch Browser with the specified link to an internal application. – SimonGates Jun 29 '16 at 10:44
  • Can anyone confirm that these are the current URL Scheme? – Luca Jul 23 '18 at 09:00
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    Yes, these are still the URL schemes used for VMware Browser (previously AirWatch Secure Browser). – james_fuller Aug 07 '18 at 20:32
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I post a second answer because I found a better way to achieve what you want but the first answer can help others to achieve similar goals.

In the AirWatch Console, go to Devices > Profiles > List View. Add a new profile for your platform, you need to create one for iOS and another for Android.

In the General payload, fill the name and select the Smart Group(s) you want to assign this profile.

In the Web Clips or Bookmarks payload, fill the label (i.e the name of the icon on the device) and the URL. You can add a picture for the icon on the device. There is a few other option if you want.

Save & Publish and the icon will appear on the devices targeted by the Smart Group(s).

Soma
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Accepted answer

In AirWatch Console, as an admin, you can configure Profilesfor your devices. Thanks to that, you can disable Safari for iOS devices for example. I'm not sure if it is possible for others OS as it is constructor specific. That way, the AirWatch Browser will be the only one accessible for the user and thus the default one. Now, the link could only be open in it.

Original answer

When you configure the AirWatch Browser, you have several available settings, one of them is Bookmarks

Extract from the AirWatch Online Help:

Select the Bookmarks tab. Provide the following information to define and push a list of bookemarks to the AirWatch Browser:

URLs for Predefined Bookmarks – Configure bookmarks to display as a URL address or with a friendly name.
Name – Provide text in this field to display as the friendly name. Leave this field blank to display the URL as the bookmark name.
URL – Provide the bookmark URL.
Add – Select to add additional bookmarks.

Soma
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  • I do not want to configure the AirWatch Browser nor let the user open it himself. The use case here is that the user opens an app (which is NOT AirWatch Browser) and clicks on a button. This button THEN opens AirWatch Browser directly to a a specified URL (specified by the app where the user clicked the button). Basically I need a way to open AirWatch Browser with an URL but from another app. – aout May 11 '15 at 16:01
  • Ok! Just some thoughts.. if AirWatch Browser if the default browser, it should open the link in it, don't you think? The link may (or must?) have been whitelisted first. – Soma May 11 '15 at 23:40
  • Maybe succeed to open a basic link in another browser is a good starting point, if it's not already done – Soma May 11 '15 at 23:41
  • You are right, if it is the default browser it will work. Actually we already tested it with another browser like chrome and safari and it does work. Our problem is currently with AirWatch Browser only. – aout May 12 '15 at 14:19
  • In AirWatch Console, you can disable Safari for iOS devices through `Profiles`. That way, AirWatch Browser would be the only and obviously default browser. – Soma May 12 '15 at 14:22
  • That should do the trick for now. Update your answer and I'll accept it :) – aout May 13 '15 at 15:21