Removed: Allowed Links to External Apps

Previously supported in Plus & Enterprise versions

We initially provided this setting for users who wanted to be able to use Kiosk Pro in conjunction with their own app (which could then be programmed to call Kiosk Pro back when appropriate) or in a supervised situation where a user could manually relaunch Kiosk Pro when needed.

Since Guided Access and Configurator's Single App mode both block calls to other apps, neither can be used in combination with this feature. Due to changes in iOS 8 & 9, visitors can now exit an app if the Notification Center is available - the only way to block the Notification Center is by using Guided Access or Single App mode, which means essentially that this feature is only a workable solution for devices used with staff supervision.

WARNING: This setting should only be used if you have a way to return your visitors to Kiosk Pro! Kiosk Pro is not able to run other iOS apps. While we can enable the custom URL handlers to allow you to call and open another app, there is no way for us to return control of the device to Kiosk Pro.

This functionality relies on custom URL handlers (also known as custom URI schemes), which are a way of linking between iOS apps through a specific string defined in the app's bundle files. Apps are not required by Apple to define a URL handler, so not every app has these implemented.

To find out if the app you'd like to run in combination with Kiosk Pro has implemented URL handlers, you may need to contact the developer of the app or check an archive of known URL handlers. For more information on implementing URL handlers in your own app, see Apple's documentation on 'Communicating with Other Apps' in the iOS App Programming Guide.

Calling an external app from Kiosk Pro

In order to call an external app, you will need to do two things:

1. Enter the custom url handler's scheme name into the 'Allowed External App URL Handlers' input in Kiosk Pro settings.
2. Use the custom url handler in the link on your .html page.

In Kiosk Pro settings, custom URL handlers should be entered as only names of schemes without ':' and '://'. Multiple handlers should be separated by a semicolon. For example, fileupload2;kindle

To call the app handler, you can use either the Address Bar to manually link or provide a link within your .html page. When calling another app handler, you should use the full address as described in the documentation for the app. For example, fileupload2:// or kindle:/home. If you are unsure about the URL handler being correct, you can test it by entering the entire URL handler into the address bar in mobile Safari. This should then open the app you are trying to call.

Example using the Youtube app with a URL handler 'youtube://'

In Kiosk Pro settings:

• Allowed External App URL Handlers = youtube

In the .html page linking to the external app:

• <a href="youtube://">Open Youtube App</a>

Calling Kiosk Pro from an external app

To return your users to Kiosk Pro, you can ask your app to navigate to the following URL handlers:

• Lite* - kioskprolite://
• Basic* - kioskpro:// (6.6 release or earlier) or kioskprobasic:// (6.7 release and later)
• Plus - kioskproplus://
• Enterprise through iTunes- kioskproenterpriseapp://
• Enterprise through B2B - kioskproenterprise://

* Please note that while our Lite and Basic versions can be launched using these URL schemes, the 'Allowed Links to External Apps' setting is not included in either version and other apps cannot be launched from these apps, making this essentially a one-way launch. 

This will launch the app normally, showing the app's splash screen and then either the Homepage set in Kiosk Pro settings or the settings menu (if set to show 'On App Launch').