mailto: link in UIWebView - Does Not work

Question

Is the areanything special you need in html or Callbacks in a UIWebView to handle anchor tags with an href, or is there something special about an anchor tag with a mailto link in the href?

Answer 1

I noticed that when running in the iPhone simulator, I could click on an HTTP link in my UIWebView and it would open in Safari, but when I clicked on a mailto link nothing would happen. But when I deployed the app to a real device, it worked. I expect the reason is because there is no mail app on the simulator, but there is Safari.

Answer 2

In your UIWebView's delegate, do:

- (BOOL)webView:(UIWebView *)webView shouldStartLoadWithRequest:(NSURLRequest *)request navigationType:(UIWebViewNavigationType)navigationType {
    if ([[[request URL] scheme] isEqual:@"mailto"]) {
        [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[request URL]];
        return NO;
    }
    return YES;
}

Answer 3

Working example for Swift 4: 3 cases are treated, expand as needed.

1. mailto-link is working
2. some URL is clicked that you want to open in Webview itself

3. open all other URLs in mobile safari

   func webView(_ webView: WKWebView, decidePolicyFor navigationAction: WKNavigationAction, decisionHandler: @escaping (WKNavigationActionPolicy) -> Void) {
   
   if let url = navigationAction.request.url {
       if (url.scheme == "mailto") {
           // mailto: link is clicked
           UIApplication.shared.open(url)
           decisionHandler(.cancel)
           return
       }
       if (url.absoluteString.contains("www.example.com/webviewURL")) {
           // Load this stuff in WebView
           decisionHandler(.allow)
           return
       } else {
           // open any other URL in mobile Safari
           UIApplication.shared.open(url)
           decisionHandler(.cancel)
           return
       }
   }
   
   decisionHandler(.cancel)
   return
   }
   

Answer 4

I wanted to note that this is probably not the best solution.

UIWebView does have a property called dataDetectorTypes - setting this to all or address should solve your problem without overriding the Method mentioned above:

myWebView.dataDetectorTypes = UIDataDetectorTypeAll; //or UIDataDetectorTypeAddress etc..

But be aware that this might not work on the simulator - I tried it with the iPad 6.0 Simulator where it's not working although on an iPad Device it's working like a charm!