CODEWITHSUNDEEP
iosfileapp-store
Steven Lu
Steven Lu

Reputation: 43547

iOS App: open a file, send it to a network location, then exit back to the calling app

Is there a way for an app which does this (and requires no UI) to be accepted by Apple's App Review process?

I know that simply putting exit(0) in applicationDidFinishLaunching:withOptions: will be rejected, but what if the exit(0) is called only upon completing a TCP transaction? Does Apple reject any attempt to exit your app?

Here's what I'm looking for. I make a file in some iOS app (a picture for instance) and I open it up in my app with "Open In...". I'd like for my app to perform a function which requires no user input (i.e., sending it to a preconfigured network location). Then I would like for my app to quit, returning to the app from which I used the "Open In..." feature.

I take it that if I am completely forbidden from exiting, then the most optimal possible workflow is probably the 4-finger swipe back to the calling app. It is also not very clear what my app would do when opened regularly (from the home screen), but that's not really a big problem.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 73

Answers (2)

rmaddy
rmaddy

Reputation: 318944

What you want to do can't be done plus there is no point. Apple will never approve such an app. All apps must have a useful purpose in their own right. If the only use of your app is to send files from other apps to some server, it is of no use by itself. Apple expects each app to have a fully functional and useful user interface.

But all of that aside, here is why this can't be done - You are given no way to relaunch the calling app. When your app is launched, ultimately the UIApplicationDelegate method application:openURL:sourceApplication:annotation: will be called. This tells you what file to process and it gives you the bundle id of the requesting app. But there is no information that allows you to launch the app that launched yours. There is no API that let's you return to the previous app.

The only possibility is if the calling app explicitly launches your app and provides a return URL. But this eliminates and general use. Any app that would work with your app would need specific code in place to support your app. Obviously this is far from a general purpose solution.

BTW - having your app simply exit is of no benefit as that doesn't return the user to the previous app.

Upvotes: 1

Marcelo Cantos
Marcelo Cantos

Reputation: 186098

Assuming you own both apps, you don't have to exit your app at all. In fact, doing so wouldn't bring the other app back to the foreground anyway.

Just use the standard linking technique in both directions.

Upvotes: 1

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