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I want to install an app from inside another app. I know it is possible with the following code:

NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@%@",@"itms-services://?action=download-manifest&url=",self.plistURL]];
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:url];

My problem is that that the .plist is located in an area on the server where the user has to enter user credentials to access it. So when I execute this code, the user is asked for the credentials in Safari. But I don't want that. I want the app to enter the credentials.

I already tried to open the custom url scheme with an AFNetworking operation but it seems that it can´t handle custom url schemes because I get the error:

"Unsupported url"

So my question is: is there any way to use itms-services with user credentials or is there a workaround?

I also considered that maybe downloading the plist and executing it from an internal url could solve the problem, but I wanted to make sure that there is no easier way.

Thanks for reading my question!

Julian
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Philipp Otto
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2 Answers2

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After some time of experimenting I dont think it is possible to use itms-services with credentials. I ended up passing the credentials directly in the url with:

https://Username:Password@plisturl

In the plist I also added the credentials to the ipa URL. I don´t think it is a clean solution to add the credentials in clear text but it is the only solution I see at the moment.

Keep me updated if someone has a better solution.

Philipp Otto
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  • Be aware, iOS8 might not support this. I can confirm that your solution works in iOS 4-7 though. – Scott Corscadden Sep 16 '14 at 16:55
  • This doesn't appear to work on iOS 8.1.3. First, Safari throws a Phishing Alert... Then you get a prompt "Unable to Download App" from iOS during install. It appears it works *enough* to get to the .plist, however, the asset URL, containing the UN/PW, seems to result in the failure. – Travis Swientek Mar 04 '15 at 19:45
  • Hi Travis. I tested the installation on an iPad3 with iOS 8.1.3 and the app still installs correctly with no issues. Have you verified your installation worked on previous iOS versions? – Philipp Otto Mar 09 '15 at 14:40
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Does this help? The use of a token might be a little more secure than clear text.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H255a9QacH06Z9-239xAOEixbR967RmLu7-o0siRaJg/edit?pli=1

mani-fresh
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