topic Re: Collector App - iOS -Hyper Link/Deep Link not working now? in ArcGIS Collector Questions

Collector App - iOS -Hyper Link/Deep Link not working now?

BradBolton — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 20:24:36 GMT

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide...

(I'm not sure of software versions of each, but) Before updating to the latest iOS, 10.2.1, and the latest Collector for ArcGIS, 10.4.2, Collector was capable of opening another app's URL to a file located in another app. Now it appears that cannot happen in Collector. What has changed? Or am I missing something? The URL link works when it is pasted into the Notes app or the Explorer app.

In our case, we use the GoodReader app as file storage for pdf’s of parcel appraisal fieldcards. GoodReader has the ability for other apps to open pdf’s inside GoodReader, when you click the link (from their website: use Link button to copy a special URL link of a single selected file to clipboard. This URL link will have a special prefix gropen:// and will contain a full internal path to a selected file inside GoodReader's file storage. Any other iOS app that is capable of opening URL links (for example, todo-type or notebook-type app) can use this URL link to automatically launch GoodReader and open a file being linked. For example, you can create a "Read this book" todo task in a todo application and associate an URL link with this task in such a way that tapping this URL link in that other application will launch GoodReader and open this file of interest. If you invoke the Link action with several selected files, several URL links separated by line-breaks will be copied to clipboard.).

The Explorer for ArcGIS app appears to still allow the hyperlinking to the GoodReader app files, but not Collector. The attached screenshots should help indicate the linking issue. Note that a 'http' link will work, but not a link to another app. We need the local URL link (GoodReader) solution to work in a disconnected environment. Again, thanks for any information you can provide.

Thank you,

Brad

Re: Collector App - iOS -Hyper Link/Deep Link not working now?

bshepard — Mon, 19 Jun 2017 20:57:37 GMT

I am having the same issue with Collector v. 17.0.1 on various iPad models running iOS 10.3.1 and 10.3.2.

Deeplinks to apps we've developed internally work in Explorer, but not Collector. They did work in Collector last year (no idea what version of Collector or iOS) as we use them extensively for vegetation monitoring. In Explorer they will only work when we use a list of attributes as the pop-up type. Setting it to a custom pop-up and just listing the attribute value (deeplink URL), or using the field as the URL in a hyperlink prevents the URL from being tappable (it converts it to just text).

The deeplink URLs in Collector are never hyperlinks as they are in Explorer. This is the same behavior as Brad documented in the screenshots. Creating hyperlinks in a custom pop-up and setting the field as the URL creates hyperlinks that do not work. In this form, deeplinks open an empty window in Collector with the options "Open in Safari", which doesn't work, and "Done" that closes the window.

The deeplink URLs are valid. I can copy them from Collector and paste into Safari. Safari correctly identifies the app in which they should open and opens them as I'd expect.

What happened in Collector, and will it be fixed? Is it an Apple/iOS issue? This is detrimental to our workflow. The only thing I could find is this thread in which an ESRI employee noted that it had been fixed last year: https://community.esri.com/message/606288?commentID=606288#comments.

Re: Collector App - iOS -Hyper Link/Deep Link not working now?

bshepard — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 22:43:10 GMT

My previous comment remains to be an issue and deeplinks are now also broken in Explorer, which was my workaround. Is there any comment from ESRI as to what caused this, or whether it's being worked on? Our organization has support tickets in for both Collector and Explorer as the loss of functionality negatively impacted our workflows in a number of departments. I can still deeplink to Survey123 from Explorer, but deeplinks to our own apps from Collector and Explorer remain non-functional since updates to Collector and Explorer broke them.

Currently using Collector v. 17.0.1, Explorer v. 17.1.1 on both iOS 10.3.2 and 10.3.3.

Is there anyone from ESRI that can comment on this?

Re: Collector App - iOS -Hyper Link/Deep Link not working now?

DougMorgenthaler — Tue, 29 Aug 2017 05:57:53 GMT

Hi Brian-

Yes this is a change on the iOS side. Recent changes to iOS security now require that app developers explicitly declare supported schemes for a given app.

Can you share details about the published apps you currently link to as part of your workflows?

Re: Collector App - iOS -Hyper Link/Deep Link not working now?

bshepard — Tue, 29 Aug 2017 14:55:43 GMT

What details do you need? Our app/link schemas are declared with Apple. Our deeplinks were working in Collector until a certain update (don’t remember which version, 17.0?) and then continued to work in Explorer until 2 updates ago (when the menus changed and we were only able to turn services on/off, not individual layers). We had been on the same version of iOS and the only changes were the updates to Collector and Explorer. As soon as those ESRI apps updated, our deeplinks stopped working. We also tested deeplinks to Google Maps, YouTube, etc. No deeplinks except for other ESRI apps (Survey123) work in Collector/Explorer. It’s not just our apps.

-Brian

Re: Collector App - iOS -Hyper Link/Deep Link not working now?

DougMorgenthaler — Tue, 29 Aug 2017 15:03:22 GMT

The key is not that your schemes are declared with Apple; app developers must now explicitly list every scheme they support. This is a restriction that Apple has added to their newer controls with increased security in mind.

As an aside, we do support a limited set of deep link schemes in Explorer and Collector beyond Esri apps. Do you deep link to apps for use in Collector (or Explorer) other than ones you've developed?

Re: Collector App - iOS -Hyper Link/Deep Link not working now?

BradBolton — Tue, 29 Aug 2017 15:26:52 GMT

Hi Doug,

Sorry to jump in. We use gropen:// to open files stored in the GoodReader application as mentioned in original post. Our county, as well as other organizations that deeplink to GoodReader, would greatly appreciate having this scheme supported by Explorer/Collector.

Thanks,

Brad

Re: Collector App - iOS -Hyper Link/Deep Link not working now?

DougMorgenthaler — Tue, 29 Aug 2017 15:32:28 GMT

Thanks Brad, appreciate the response and additional clarification.

Re: Collector App - iOS -Hyper Link/Deep Link not working now?

BradBolton — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 15:59:06 GMT

With the most recent iOS Collector update, deeplinks to GoodReader are now working. They are also working in iOS Explorer app.

Re: Collector App - iOS -Hyper Link/Deep Link not working now?

bshepard — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 18:07:40 GMT

Doug,

Sorry I missed your reply. To answer your question, we do not deeplink to other apps. How do we get Esri to support or link schemes?

-Brian

Re: Collector App - iOS -Hyper Link/Deep Link not working now?

DougMorgenthaler — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 17:30:38 GMT

Brian-

No problem. I would recommend adding a request for this to ArcGIS Ideas. You can also DM me with specific information about how you use this if you'd prefer not to post publicly.

Re: Collector App - iOS -Hyper Link/Deep Link not working now?

bshepard — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 18:01:02 GMT

I’m not sure Esri ideas is appropriate. We have multiple support tickets in as these app updates negatively affected our business operations. I’m still not clear on why Esri needs to maintain an explicit list of URL schemes. As I understand from our app developers, they are able to handle this on iOS without any URL scheme specificity. Our schemes are declared with Apple and the OS handles the link/app pass off, using nothing more than UIApplication.openUrl:options:completionHandler:. Our links work from Safari, opening our apps and passing data to them.

The main issue is that our URLs are not hyperlinked automatically, and manually hyperlinking them in the pop up opens a useless, empty window within Collector rather than having the OS handle them.

If Esri really maintains a whitelist for http://, https://, and various URL schemes for goodreads, google maps, apple maps, adobe reader, and every other *://; can you please add cwsstem:// and cwsphoto://? They’re declared with Apple and this would get us back to the productivity we had several months ago.

I would really love to resolve this.

Thanks,

Brian

Re: Collector App - iOS -Hyper Link/Deep Link not working now?

bshepard — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 22:46:03 GMT

Doug,

I attempted to message you at your suggestion, but I'm unable to: "You can only send messages to your Friends / Connections (people following you). ". If I can provide any more information about Collector/Explorer no longer handling our deeplinks for cwsstem:// and cwsphoto:// please let me know.

-Brian

Re: Collector App - iOS -Hyper Link/Deep Link not working now?

RobBlash — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 14:41:20 GMT

Hi Doug can you expand on this some more, or point to some other documentation that explains this better? We link to pdfs on a web server (http://) from ios devices and some links open in a mini browser in collector (hyperlinks from a custom popup) while others open directly in safari (layers with native popups).

Re: Collector App - iOS -Hyper Link/Deep Link not working now?

bshepard — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 16:20:36 GMT

Although I can't answer your question directly, I did a bit of testing this morning. With a standard feature pop-up, only certain URL schemes are "whitelisted". This includes large scale, popular apps such as Good Reads, Google Maps, etc. If a URL is used as an attribute and it's on the list it'll automatically format as a hyperlink. http:// and http:// default to open in Safari on iOS. Other URL schemes open in their respective app if that URL scheme has been registered with Apple. Non-whitelisted URLs will not format as hyperlinks by default, but can be added as a link in a custom pop-up and as of April, these hyperlinks work as expected: they open the respective app which has had the URL scheme registered with Apple.

As to your question, I don't know why Collector doesn't treat http:// URLs the same in a custom pop-up, or what the use case is for opening a webpage in a tiny window within Collector. I'm using an iPad, but I imagine it would be unusable on a smaller device such as a phone. My guess would be that it was implemented as a security measure (as the custom URL whitelist was), but that doesn't make much sense as the behavior is different in a standard pop-up.

FWIW, http:// hyperlinks in custom pop-ups open in Safari from ESRI Explorer. A possible work around is to use Explorer, or create a deeplink to Explorer, tap that link in Collector, tap zoom to my location in Explorer and use the pop-up on the feature there. Having opened Explorer from the deeplink, you should have a button in the top left to go back to Collector. Not at all elegant, but I'm not sure if or how quickly they'll update Collector.

They are working as expected in the Collector Aurora Beta, so maybe waiting that out is your best bet.

Re: Collector App - iOS -Hyper Link/Deep Link not working now?

RobBlash — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 21:05:39 GMT

Thanks for the detailed reply Brian. I'm working strictly with http:// hyperlinks so I would expect them to open in safari no matter where they are called from. It's good to know about the explorer work-around, though I need something streamlined. Added complexity in the workflow always comes back to get you somehow....

Also good to know it's working as expected (for now) in Aurora, since I haven't been able to carve out the time for any detailed testing there. I'll also have to look into good reads, as this seems like it may be another option to do what I'm trying to do here (link to some reference pdfs).

Doug Morgenthaler‌ or Derek Law‌ do you have any info on why http:// links are opening differently in custom popups vs native popups?