Opening the Apple TV App Store

Question

Trying to build a tvOS app and one of the use cases I have is to be able to link off and open another app in the Apple TV App Store directly on a button click. Can someone p

Answer 1

This is the solution for Swift 4: Replace XXXXXXXwith your app id. With this solution its possible to create an appstore link for a not yet released app because only the app id (known from appstore connect) is needed.

guard let tvOSAppStoreUrl = URL(string: "com.apple.TVAppStore://itunes.apple.com/app/idXXXXXXX?mt=8") else {
  return
}

UIApplication.shared.open(url, options: [:], completionHandler: nil)

Answer 2

I have figured this out by examining the device console output. The trick is to use the com.apple.TVAppStore scheme instead of itms-apps. Example (Swiss App Store):

com.apple.TVAppStore://itunes.apple.com/ch/app/youtube/id544007664?mt=8

In fact, the https scheme is also working, but it's then transformed into com.apple.TVAppStore anyway.

Answer 3

Yes, it works ! Just use the link provided by Apple's link maker. For example:

[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"https://geo.itunes.apple.com/fr/app/math-champions-jeux-calcul/id561572290?mt=8"]]

Do not modify the link by removing the language or the name of the app like you can on iOS.

Answer 4

Should be possible using SKStoreProductViewController in StoreKit. But apparently, that too is _TVOS_PROHIBITED.

SKStoreProductViewController Class Reference

Answer 5

You can use the URL you get from iTunes. For example:

[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"https://geo.itunes.apple.com/fr/app/math-champions-jeux-calcul/id561572290?mt=8"]]

Similar to what the above answers said. But, in order for this to work, your app must be set up as a universal purchase for iOS and tvOS, which is very easy to set up: Universal Purchase of iOS and tvOS Apps.

Answer 6

Unfortunately this is not possible with the current tvOS.

On iOS, as advised by Apple in QA1629, we would do:

NSString *iTunesLink = @"https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/apple-store/id375380948?mt=8";
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:iTunesLink]];

The above request goes through Safari which does not exist on tvOS. Therefore, it won't work.

However, Custom URL Schemes are supported on tvOS which might help at least a bit.