Opening Keyboard Settings from a Keyboard Extension

Q:  I want to make it easier for the users of my iOS custom keyboard to enable it. How can I open Keyboard Settings from my keyboard extension?

A: iOS custom keyboard extensions can replace the iOS system keyboard with a custom keyboard for use in all apps. To enable a custom keyboard, an iOS user must open the Settings app and navigate to General > Keyboard > Keyboards > Add A New Keyboard.

You can make it easier for your customers to enable your custom keyboard by opening Keyboard settings directly. To do this, you will need to add a URL Type with a URL Scheme of "prefs" to your Xcode project, then call openURL with the URL scheme shown in Listing 1 from an appropriate UI in your extension or containing app.

Listing 1  URL scheme to open Settings app to Keyboards.

prefs:root=General&path=Keyboard

Add a URL Scheme to your project

You need to add a URL Type with a URL Scheme of "prefs" to your Xcode project. Without it, iOS will not recognize this URL scheme and the Settings app will not open.

To add a URL Type, open your Xcode project then follow these steps (illustrated in Figure 1):

1. Navigate to your project's Target.

2. Select the Info tab.

3. Open the URL Types disclosure triangle and click the plus (+) button to add a new type.

4. Type in "prefs" in the URL Scheme field. Leave the remaining items at their defaults.

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let keyboardSettingsURL = NSURL(string: "prefs:root=General&path=Keyboard")

UIApplication.sharedApplication().openURL(keyboardSettingsURL!)

 NSURL *keyboardSettingsURL = [NSURL URLWithString: @"prefs:root=General&path=Keyboard"];

 [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:keyboardSettingsURL];

<a href="prefs:root=General&path=Keyboard">Open Keyboard settings</a>

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