How do I open another application with tvOS?

Question

Does UIApplication:openURL work?

NSString *iTunesLink = @"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFFkK2SmPg4";
BOOL did = [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:iTunesLink]];

This does nothing.

Answer 1

I assume you're wanting to test a Custom URL Scheme. You will want to use canOpenURL to see if the URL can be opened first. canOpenURL returns a BOOL value indicating whether or not the URL’s scheme can be handled by some app installed on the device. If canOpenURL returns YES then you would continue to open the URL with openURL.

YouTube links open the YouTube app by default on iOS devices. This behavior is not yet testable on the new Apple TV as YouTube's app is not accessible in the tvOS beta.

Here's an example of how to use canOpenURL to see if Facebook is installed on an iOS device using its Custom URL Scheme:

Obj-C:

// Check if FB app installed on device
if ([[UIApplication sharedApplication] canOpenURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"fb://"]]) {
   [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"fb://profile/355356557838717"]];
}
else {
   // FB not installed
   // Do something else
}

Swift:

// Check if FB app installed on device
if UIApplication.sharedApplication().canOpenURL(NSURL(string:"fb://")!) {
    UIApplication.sharedApplication().openURL(NSURL(string:"fb://profile/355356557838717")!)
}
else {
    // FB not installed
    // Do something else
} 

I'd anticipate that applications such as Facebook, and others, will implement their Custom URL Schemes in the same manner as their iOS counterparts.