Correct way to handle application launching with quick actions

Question

I am having a hard time figuring out how to get my quick actions working when I launch my app with a quick action.

My quick actions work, however, if the app was in the background and re-launched with the quick action.

When I try to launch the app straight from the quick action, the app opens as if it was launched by simply tapping the app icon (i.e. it does nothing).

Here is some code from my App Delegate.

In didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:

UIApplicationShortcutItem *shortcut = launchOptions[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsShortcutItemKey];
if(shortcut != nil){
    performShortcutDelegate = NO;
    [self performQuickAction: shortcut fromLaunch:YES];
}

The method called:

-(BOOL) performQuickAction: (UIApplicationShortcutItem *)shortcutItem fromLaunch:(BOOL)launchedFromInactive {
NSMutableArray *meetings = [self.fetchedResultController.fetchedObjects mutableCopy];
[meetings removeObjectAtIndex:0];
unsigned long count = meetings.count;
BOOL quickActionHandled = NO;
if(count > 0){
    MainViewController *mainVC = (MainViewController *)self.window.rootViewController;
    if(launchedFromInactive){
        mainVC.shortcut = shortcutItem;
    }
    else{
        UINavigationController *childNav;
        MeetingViewController *meetingVC;
        for(int i = 0; i < mainVC.childViewControllers.count; i++){
            if([mainVC.childViewControllers[i] isKindOfClass: [UINavigationController class]]){
                childNav = mainVC.childViewControllers[i];
                meetingVC = childNav.childViewControllers[0];
                break;
            }
        }

        self.shortcutDelegate = meetingVC;

        if ([shortcutItem.type isEqual: @"Meeting"]){
            NSNumber *index = [shortcutItem.userInfo objectForKey:@"Index"];
            [self.shortcutDelegate switchToCorrectPageWithIndex: index launchedFromInactive:NO];
            quickActionHandled = YES;
        }
    }
}

The only action that needs to be performed is that my page view controller (which is embedded inside the meetingVC) should switch to a certain page with respect to the shortcut chosen.

Any ideas on what causes the shortcut to not do anything when using it to launch as opposed to re-opening the app from the background??

I've knocked up again this issue before and am having the same issue again, I think it's because when launching the app with a quick action the root view controller hasn't been created yet and so you can't call methods on it. I don't have a solution though sadly. — SimonBarker, Sep 18 '16 at 09:09
I found a solution for my program! Hopefully it is applicable to others who are looking for a way to do this. — romero-ios, Sep 18 '16 at 22:48

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 18 '16 at 22:57

I came to realize I was trying to call my methods on a view controller that was not in memory yet. This was causing bizarre behavior in my app. I did have the correct approach to getting access to the view controller and then it dawned on me the possibility of trying to execute the code using GCD.

__block MeetingViewController *safeSelf = self;
contentVC = [self initializeContentViewController: self.didLaunchFromInactive withPageIndex: intIndex];
NSArray *viewControllers = @[contentVC];
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
        [safeSelf.pageViewController setViewControllers:viewControllers direction:UIPageViewControllerNavigationDirectionForward animated:NO completion:nil];
    });

The above worked like magic, and the shortcuts are leading to the correct page. Using a similar approach to mine hopefully yields the desired results for anyone else who wanted to get their shortcuts working by launching the app.

Correct way to handle application launching with quick actions

1 Answers1