Linking to an external webpage

1

I have an app written in Swift (for macOS and iOS) the stores the Users Manual as a webpage on my server.

I have the app display it using Safari (or whatever the default browser is) using this code

let helpPage = "http://www.thewebpage.com"
if let url = URL(string: helpPage) {
#if os(iOS)
   UIApplication.shared.open(url)
#else
   NSWorkspace.shared.open(url)
#endif
}

Is there anything I need to be concerened about when I attempt to submit this to the Apple Store.
Note the URL is HTTP not HTTPS

the content is a single static page…

for AppleTV I just display a QR-code

2

for macOS you will need to set the plist entry for insecure connections
see Cocoa Keys

about NSAppTransportSecurity

thats the only one I’m aware of

@samRowlands ?

Note Apple states

3

Huh, what? Me? Honored…

If you’re just firing the URL to the default browser, I don’t know if you need ATS. However you’d wanna https it otherwise modern web browsers will baulk at it and that may lead to customers lacking confidence in your work.

Also consider if it’s just a single page, include it within your app. If you still wanna keep it on the server, make sure you use separate folders for different versions of the application.

4

If I use HTTPS, both the mac and iphone don’t show the page, and instead show “This page may be an imposter” (I don’t recall the exact words)… HTTP seems to work ok.

I was going to include it in the app (with a flag to NOT include it for tvOS) but I’d prefer not to for a few reasons

  1. tvOS has no browser available (no Webkit or like)… so IT needs an external server anyways
  2. I’d prefer not to have an in-app page for macOS/iOS and an external for tvOS
  3. If it is in one place, I can update it without regard to publishing a new version of the app

Different folders for differnet app versions won’t be necessary… The only thing that would change is the instructions would be more accurate, not that they would “change”

5

I personally would investigate that as it is behaving the opposite of what I experience, and what I understand from the documentation. http should be the problematic one, not https.

All my products have the ability to show pages on our site via the default browser, and in some cases I even show web pages within the product (these pages have additional signing on them incase of a site level hack). I don’t do anything special to enable this, except use https.

It is entirely up to you how you do it, using version folders means you won’t be supplying version 2, 3, 4, 5, help to someone running version 1. Especially as you UI improves over time.

6

your site DOES have a certificate ?
saying HTTPS without one may give you issues

7

No idea… if there is one, it belongs to the ISP, not to me

8

Normally you’re responsible for your own certificate, not the hosting company.

9

Well that is not something I have the $$$ or knowledge to deal with or worry about

10

certificates can be had for free

11

I just checked… and my ISP had such a thing… so I told it to add… but the email I got said it added to the “wrong” domain (I have several, and specifically selected the right one)

but it does seem HTTPS now works … THANKS