How to Launch (Direct) another app from your flutter app

In one of my recent projects, I was tasked with implementing functionality to launch an external app from within our Flutter application. The requirements were simple:

1. Open the external app directly if installed on the device.
2. Redirect the user to the Play Store (Android) or App Store (iOS) if the app is not installed.

After doing some research, I came across the external_app_launcher package, which provided an easy and effective solution to meet these requirements. In this article, I’ll walk you through how I achieved this functionality step-by-step.

Step 1: Adding the Package

To get started, add the external_app_launcher package to your project by running the following command:

flutter pub add external_app_launcher        

Once added, run flutter pub get to install the package.

Step 2: Setting Up Native Configurations

To ensure compatibility with native platforms, we need to update the configuration files for both Android and iOS.

Android Configuration

1. Open the AndroidManifest.xml file in your Flutter project.
2. Add the <queries> tag to specify the package name of the external app you want to launch:

<queries>
    <package android:name="com.example.targetapp" /> <!-- Replace with the package name of your target app -->
</queries>        

• This allows your app to query whether the target app is installed on the user's device.
• Place the <queries> tag above the <application> tag.
• (Optional) To handle specific intents, include the following categories inside the <intent-filter> tag of your <activity>:

<category android:name="android.intent.category.HOME"/>
<category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT"/>        

iOS Configuration

1. Open the Info.plist file in your Flutter project.
2. Add the URL scheme for the external app (if applicable):

<key>LSApplicationQueriesSchemes</key>
<array>
    <string>exampleapp</string> <!-- Replace with the URL scheme of the target app -->
</array>        

Step 3: Implementing the Functionality

Once the native configurations are set up, you can implement the external app launcher in Flutter.

Here’s an example of how to use the external_app_launcher package:

import 'package:external_app_launcher/external_app_launcher.dart';

void launchExternalApp() async {
  try {
    await LaunchApp.openApp(
      androidPackageName: 'com.example.targetapp', // Replace with the target app's package name
      iosUrlScheme: 'exampleapp://', // Replace with the iOS app's URL scheme
      appStoreLink: 'https://apps.apple.com/us/app/exampleapp/id123456789', // Replace with the App Store link
      openStore: true, // Redirect to the store if the app is not installed
    );
  } catch (e) {
    print('Failed to launch app: $e');
  }
}        

Step 4: Testing

To test the functionality:

1. Install the target app on your device.
2. Run your Flutter app and trigger the launchExternalApp() function.
3. Verify that:If the target app is installed, it opens directly.If the target app is not installed, the user is redirected to the Play Store (Android) or App Store (iOS).

Challenges Faced

While working on this feature, I initially encountered issues with Play Store redirection on Android. After some troubleshooting, I found that the problem was resolved by adding the <queries> tag in the AndroidManifest.xml file.

Conclusion

The external_app_launcher package is a fantastic tool for implementing external app launching functionality in Flutter. It’s simple, flexible, and handles both scenarios (app installed and not installed) seamlessly.

If you have a similar requirement, I highly recommend using this package. Just don’t forget to configure y

our AndroidManifest.xml and Info.plist files properly to avoid compatibility issues.

Need help with your app? Whether you want to fix bugs, implement new features, or bring a fresh idea to life, I’m here to help! Feel free to reach out, and let’s turn your app into something amazing. 😊