I am implementing "Rate My App" and "Tell A Friend" buttons in my app. The "Rate My App" button should launch the App Store to my app so the user can review/rate my app.
What is the correct / best / most reliable / recommended URL format to use for the link to an app in the App Store?
1)
I copied the URL from right-clicking my app icon in the App Store and got this:
URL # 1
Code:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/musicrazor/id390092626?mt=8
I was all prepared to use this URL, but then I noticed the country code ("us") in the URL and wondered whether this would work for users in the rest of the world.
I did a web search and came across so many possible ways to link to the app store that I am confused now. I listed some of the ways below.
2)
Apparently, the link works even without country code:
URL # 2
Code:
http://itunes.apple.com/app/musicrazor/id390092626?mt=8
3)
And works w/o the "mt=8" query string too:
URL # 3
Code:
http://itunes.apple.com/app/musicrazor/id390092626
4)
Here's a variation of the itunes.apple.com URL w/ only id:
URL # 4
Code:
http://itunes.apple.com/app/id=390092626
5)
There is also a "phobos" URL format:
URL # 5
Code:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=390092626&mt=8
I can't figure out whether these "phobos" URLs are still ok. I thought I read some place that they've been superseded by itunes.apple.com URLs, but I still see examples on developer.apple.com with "phobos" URLs.
6 & 7)
There is some Apple documentation about an easy-to-read format:
URL # 6,
URL # 7
Code:
http://itunes.com/apps/musicrazor
http://itunes.com/app/musicrazor
However, the documentation says that these are "provided as a convenience and are not guaranteed to link to a particular app", so that's not exactly confidence-inspiring. I guess this format is more for marketing purposes-- human-readable and more length-friendly for Twitter.
8)
URLs # 6 & 7 require 2 redirects, so on an iPhone you'd see Safari flash twice before getting to the App Store. I saw a stackoverflow post that suggested that you could replace "http:" with "itms:" in the link to reduce it to 1 redirect.
URL # 8
Code:
itms://itunes.com/app/musicrazor
On a computer, URLs 1 - 5 open the web-based iTunes page for the app, while URLs 6 - 8 try to open the app-based iTunes, so URLs 1 - 5 might be more suitable for a "Tell A Friend" email link.
On an iPhone, all of the above URLs seem to (eventually) launch the App Store to the app entry.
Is one the above URL formats the "right" way, or at least better than the others?
Correct way to link to app in app store?
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