Create Universal Links for iOS Apps

As a Vendor Manager, you oversee a web and mobile application that enables you to view, manage, and order products from vendors. When a vendor adds a new product using the web app, they notify you via email, providing a web app link to the newly added product for your approval.

As you primarily use the mobile application, you want to click on the link to open the product detail page on your application and perform the necessary action.

This tutorial, will help you configure Universal Links on iOS, thereby eliminating the need for the user to manually navigate to the product page. Click here to learn more about universal links on SAP BTP SDK iOS.

1. Select the .xcodeproj file of the project in Xcode.

   

   Ensure the app’s signing is configured properly. The signing certificate details will be required in a later step.

2. Click + Capability to add a new capability to your app.

3. Select Associated Domains to add the capability to the project.

   

   Xcode will now connect to the specified Apple Developer profile and register or update the App ID to use the Associated Domains capability.

1. Open SAP Mobile Services admin UI.

2. Click Mobile Applications → Native/MDK in the sidebar.

3. Click on your app (For example com.native.links).

   

4. Click Application Links tab.

5. Click on the pencil next to the Apple Universal Links section.

   

6. Use the following table to fill the details requested in the Edit Apple Universal Links form, and click OK.

   Field Name	Value	Details
   Enabled	Checked
   Team ID	<your_team_id>	You can find this information on the Apple Developer website.
   Bundle ID	com.sap.iOSUniversalLinksApp	You can find this information in the Signing Section of the .xcodeproj file.

1. Select the .xcodeproj file of the project in Xcode.

2. Click + icon located under the Associated Domains section of the Signing & Capabilities tab.

3. Use the following table to fill the details requested in the Add Associated Domains step.

   Field Name	Value	Details
   Domain	applinks:<Server link from the APIs tab of your application on SAP Mobile Services>	Don’t include the https:// prefix.

   

4. Verify that the associated domain is added to the <app_name>.entitlements file located in you app folder.

   

1. Go to your SAP Mobile Services Admin UI.

2. Click on your app (For example com.native.links).

3. Click APIs tab.

4. Copy the Server URL.

5. Open a new browser window.

6. Paste the Server URL and add the suffix /.

   The URL should look like https://<YourUser-CFSpace-App>-com-example-tutorialapp.cfapps.eu10.hana.ondemand.com/.well-known/apple-app-site-association

7. Go the above constructed URL.

   

   The AASA file is a JSON file on the web server of the associated domain. When a user clicks a Universal Link (web page link), iOS checks for the AASA file. If found and configured correctly, iOS opens the native app instead of the web page in the browser.
   The asterisk at the end denotes a dynamic suffix.The app developer can write custom logic based on the suffix provided, for e.g. - product ID.

1. Open AppDelegate.swift on Xcode.

2. Add the following function to the AppDelegate class:

   swift

   Copy

   func application(_ application: UIApplication, continue userActivity: NSUserActivity, restorationHandler: @escaping ([UIUserActivityRestoring]?) -> Void) -> Bool {
       if userActivity.activityType == NSUserActivityTypeBrowsingWeb {
           let url = userActivity.webpageURL
           let host = url?.host
           let relativePath = url?.relativePath
           let lastPathComponent = url?.lastPathComponent
   
           // Handle the URL as per your app's logic
           if let lastPathComponent = lastPathComponent {
               switch lastPathComponent {
               case "product":
                   let alert = UIAlertController(title: "Product", message: "Product universal link.", preferredStyle: .alert)
                   alert.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "OK", style: .default, handler: nil))
                   window?.rootViewController?.present(alert, animated: true, completion: nil)
   
               case "vendors":
                   let alert = UIAlertController(title: "Vendors", message: "Vendor universal link.", preferredStyle: .alert)
                   alert.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "OK", style: .default, handler: nil))
                   window?.rootViewController?.present(alert, animated: true, completion: nil)
   
               default:
                   break
               }
           }
   
           return true
       }
   
       return false
   }
   

3. Click ▶ (Start the active scheme) in Xcode to run the application.

4. Complete the onboarding steps.

   Please refer to the pre-requisite for a step by step guide for the onboarding flow.

1. Go to your SAP Mobile Services Admin UI.

2. Click on your app (For example com.native.links).

3. Click APIs tab.

4. Copy the URL under the Apple Launch App Code with Universal Link section.

   

5. Open the Reminders App provided by iOS on your Simulator/Device.

   If the app is running on a real device, choose any option that hyperlinks the URL text, for example, Mail, Notes, Reminders, etc.

6. Add the App Launch URL copied in the earlier step.

   To ensure the URL is added as a hyperlink, please add the text in the main section of the reminder.

7. Click on the link.

   

8. Add two more links to the Reminders app to test the deep-linking.

   • .../com.native.links/config/product
   • .../com.native.links/config/vendors
   

Congratulations on successfully completing the tutorial. You can now configure universal links for your native applications built using SAP BTP SDK for iOS.