CanOpen

This plugin is useful for checking if native apps are installed on a user's iOS or Android device. By passing an app scheme (e.g., 'fb://', 'gplus://', 'instagram://', etc...), CanOpen returns true if it detects the user has the corresponding native app installed. By returning false, CanOpen allows the developer the ability to implement a fallback URL–for instance, the app's location in the App Store, or a mobile web version of the corresponding app. A blog post for this plugin can be found at http://philmerrell.com/canopen-a-phonegap-plugin-to-check-if-native-apps-are-installed-on-a-users-ios-device/

Manual Installation for iOS

Copy the following files to your project's Plugins folder:

CanOpen.h
CanOpen.m

Add a reference for this plugin to config.xml in your iOS phonegap project:

  <feature name="CanOpen">
      <param name="ios-package" value="CanOpen" />
  </feature>

Add the canOpen.js script to your www folder and reference it in your main index.html file.

<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="canOpen.js"></script>

Automatic Installation

Working on registering CanOpen with plugman. Coming soon.

Usage:

Alert a user that app is not installed.

CanOpen('fb://', function(isInstalled) {
    
    if(isInstalled) {
        
        document.location = 'fb://';
    
    } else {
    
        alert('Facebook is not installed');
        
    }
});

Or fallback to mobile web.

CanOpen('fb://', function(isInstalled) {
    
    if(isInstalled) {
        
        document.location = 'fb://';
    
    } else {
    
        document.location = 'http://m.facebook.com';
        
    }
});

Or fallback to app in the App Store.

CanOpen('fb://', function(isInstalled) {
    
    if(isInstalled) {
        
        document.location = 'fb://';
    
    } else {
    
        document.location = 'https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/facebook/id284882215';
        
    }
});