← Back to context

Comment by ctippett

2 months ago

Are you sure? I know someone in adtech and I'm pretty sure Apple allows a similar app manifest that allows you to check for specific apps. I could be wrong.

14 comments

ctippett

Reply
czk  2 months ago

Not sure about the manifest but recently I've seen talk about some banking apps using SBSLaunchApplicationWithIdentifierAndURLAndLaunchOptions (undocumented function in SpringBoardServices) [0] to try to launch another app on the phone by the bundle id, and they can determine if it's installed or not.

They were using this trick to detect unauthorized apps on the phone.

https://blog.verichains.io/p/technical-analysis-improper-use...

[0] - https://gist.github.com/wh1te4ever/c7909dcb5b66c13a217b49ea3...

phony-account  2 months ago

> I know someone in adtech and I'm pretty sure Apple allows a similar app manifest that allows you to check for specific apps. I could be wrong.

On iOS an app developer will need to register in advance which external applications their app intends to query, and the list needs to be very short and motivated. [1]

Incidentally, “I have a friend who says...” isn’t really a good citation anywhere outside Reddit - which HN resembles more and more each day.

[1] https://www.hackingwithswift.com/example-code/system/how-to-...

  • ctippett  2 months ago

    Thanks for the information.

    I suppose a more appropriate term of phrase would've been "I'd heard anecdotally...", but I agree I was lazy with my original reply. I appreciate the feedback.

    • refulgentis  2 months ago

      You're too kind, their reply was extremely rude to you. I have been here 16 years, been an iOS developer just as long, and have no idea why your comment is "Reddit."

      A simple thought exercise for me is "Which of these two comments is more Reddit?" - I'd say the one that came with curiosity is HN, the one that bats around half truths combatively and invoking Reddit isn't.

      1 reply →

  • refulgentis  2 months ago

    I don't think it is worth being dismissive.

    I snorted when I got to the self-important haughtiness about reddit.

    Why?

    - You immediately recognized what they meant.

    - They weren't advancing a claim, they were indicating a basis for their interrogative, likely to avoid seeming naive when claiming it out of nowhere.

    - The article we're commenting on describes the same mechanism you claim differentiates iOS. ("register in advance...which applications...intends to query, and the list needs to be very short and motivated.")

    - I've worked heavily on iOS and Android since 2009. As close to a graybeard as you can get in mobile. I'm searching, reaching, grasping for any sign you've done anything other than Google and link the first article you saw, and I can't find _any_. At all. But I don't think that's wrong. You're trying. Why is it wrong for the person you asked to try too?

    - There's strong signs you didn't read the article we're commenting on.

    - If you had, it is unlikely you would have said iOS was differentiated, then laid out the exact same mechanism described in the article.

    - There's strong signs you didn't read the article you linked.

    - On iOS you can register URL schemes in a plist, these aren't "external applications you intend to query" and the list does not have to be "very short and motivated"

    I get cranky too, but, I am grateful I recognize it is very reddit to cry Reddit and edit it out, or delete.

    • phony-account  2 months ago

      > There's strong signs you didn't read the article you linked.

      What could possibly indicate I didn’t read the article? Of course I read it. Isn’t your assumption of my bad faith also explicitly against HN’s guidelines?

      > On iOS you can register URL schemes in a plist, these aren't "external applications you intend to query" and the list does not have to be "very short and motivated"

      I’m also an iOS developer- and yes it does.

      2 replies →