iOS Launching Settings -> Restrictions URL Scheme

iOS Launching Settings -> Restrictions URL Scheme

I've recently discovered the awesome iOS5 custom Settings URL Scheme, which can be explained in detail at this great website.

I've found this to work, directing the user to the Settings app from my application:

[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:         [NSURL URLWithString:@"prefs:root=General"]];  

But cannot seem to route directly to the Restrictions path via the path parameter:

[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:     [NSURL URLWithString:@"prefs:root=General&path=Restrictions"]];  

Has anyone found documentation on this or been able to make this work?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to take the user to enable in-App purchasing, and would rather not have the user manually click on Restrictions (not very obvious).

Answer by Henri Normak for iOS Launching Settings -> Restrictions URL Scheme

WARNING: This method will not work for devices running iOS 5.1 and greater - See Hlung's comment below.

It's possible that the path component has a different name than the actual section, but it's also possible that you can't currently access that section straight from a URL. I found a list of possible URLs and Restrictions is not on it, maybe it's just not found out yet.

List of currently known URLs in the Settings app:

• prefs:root=General&path=About
• prefs:root=General&path=ACCESSIBILITY
• prefs:root=AIRPLANE_MODE
• prefs:root=General&path=AUTOLOCK
• prefs:root=General&path=USAGE/CELLULAR_USAGE
• prefs:root=Brightness
• prefs:root=General&path=Bluetooth
• prefs:root=General&path=DATE_AND_TIME
• prefs:root=FACETIME
• prefs:root=General
• prefs:root=General&path=Keyboard
• prefs:root=CASTLE
• prefs:root=CASTLE&path=STORAGE_AND_BACKUP
• prefs:root=General&path=INTERNATIONAL
• prefs:root=LOCATION_SERVICES
• prefs:root=ACCOUNT_SETTINGS
• prefs:root=MUSIC
• prefs:root=MUSIC&path=EQ
• prefs:root=MUSIC&path=VolumeLimit
• prefs:root=General&path=Network
• prefs:root=NIKE_PLUS_IPOD
• prefs:root=NOTES
• prefs:root=NOTIFICATIONS_ID
• prefs:root=Phone
• prefs:root=Photos
• prefs:root=General&path=ManagedConfigurationList
• prefs:root=General&path=Reset
• prefs:root=Sounds&path=Ringtone
• prefs:root=Safari
• prefs:root=General&path=Assistant
• prefs:root=Sounds
• prefs:root=General&path=SOFTWARE_UPDATE_LINK
• prefs:root=STORE
• prefs:root=TWITTER
• prefs:root=General&path=USAGE
• prefs:root=VIDEO
• prefs:root=General&path=Network/VPN
• prefs:root=Wallpaper
• prefs:root=WIFI
• prefs:root=INTERNET_TETHERING

Answer by Dan for iOS Launching Settings -> Restrictions URL Scheme

Yep, saw this (and many more), even implemented it in a test application. Really need to get the definitive word from Apple, but the community consensus opinion is Apple disallowed it in 5.1 after it was publicly "discovered/published", so applications containing it won't be accepted.

08/01/12 Update: Asked Apple through my developer account if there is a way to programmatically launch the WiFi Settings dialog. Here is the response:

"Our engineers have reviewed your request and have concluded that there is no supported way to achieve the desired functionality given the currently shipping system configurations."

Answer by Jason Moore for iOS Launching Settings -> Restrictions URL Scheme

As of iOS8 you can open the built-in Settings app with:

NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:UIApplicationOpenSettingsURLString];  if ([[UIApplication sharedApplication] canOpenURL:url]) {     [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:url];  }  

The actual URL string is @"app-settings:". I tried appending different sections to the string ("Bluetooth", "GENERAL", etc.) but seems only linking to the main Settings screen works. Post a reply if you find out otherwise.

Answer by Pedro Trres for iOS Launching Settings -> Restrictions URL Scheme

If you add the prefs URL scheme to your iOS app, it will allow you to use all those schemes that we could in iOS 5. I've tested it on iOS 9, but I think it will work on older versions too.

Answer by Mahesh for iOS Launching Settings -> Restrictions URL Scheme

I wanted to open the Bluetooth Menu in the Settings Application and the above path (prefs:root=General&path=Bluetooth) didn't work for me. What ended up working for me was

UIApplication.sharedApplication().openURL(NSURL(string:"prefs:root=Bluetooth")!)  

Make sure you have the prefs URL Scheme defined first.

Answer by Mikhail Gasanov for iOS Launching Settings -> Restrictions URL Scheme

In iOS 9 it works again!

To open Settings > General > Keyboard, I use:

prefs:root=General&path=Keyboard  

Moreover, it is possible to go farther to Keyboards:

prefs:root=General&path=Keyboard/KEYBOARDS  

Answer by Kaiyuan Xu for iOS Launching Settings -> Restrictions URL Scheme

Here is something else I found:

1. After I have the "prefs" URL Scheme defined, "prefs:root=Safari&path=ContentBlockers" is working on Simulator (iOS 9.1 English), but not working on Simulator (Simplified Chinese). It just jump to Safari, but not Content Blockers. If your app is international, be careful.
   Update: Don't know why, now I can't jump into ContentBlockers anymore, the same code, the same version, doesn't work now. :(

2. On real devcies (mine is iPhone 6S & iPad mini 2), "Safari" should be "SAFARI", "Safari" not working on real device, "SAFARI" now working on simulator:

   #if arch(i386) || arch(x86_64)      // Simulator      let url = NSURL(string: "prefs:root=Safari")!  #else      // Device      let url = NSURL(string: "prefs:root=SAFARI")!