Dev:SBApplication

SBApplication is a class that represents individual applications. It contains anything you could possibly want to know about the application it represents.

Fetching SBApplications

SBApplicationController holds all known instances of SBApplication. There will usually just be a single instance per currently-running application. An instance can be retrieved using the wanted-application's bundle identifier.

//iOS 7-
SBApplication* app = [[SBApplicationController sharedInstance] applicationWithDisplayIdentifier:@"com.yourcompany.appname"];

// iOS 8+
SBApplication* app = [[SBApplicationController sharedInstance] applicationWithBundleIdentifier:@"com.yourcompany.appname"];

Fetching Frontmost App's SBApplication Instance

This method will return the frontmost application's SBApplication instance. If no app is currently running nil will be returned. Internally it queries SBSceneManagerCoordinator to retrieve the application (if any) that is fulfilling the primary layout role.

[[SpringBoard sharedApplication] _accessibilityFrontMostApplication];

Fetching All Instances

SBApplicationController can provide an array containing all known instances of SBApplication.

[[SBApplicationController sharedInstanceIfExists] runningApplications];

Fetch "Now Playing" App

SBApplication *nowPlayingApp = [[SBMediaController sharedInstance] nowPlayingApplication];

Launching an SBApplication

SBUIController can be used to launch an SBApplication.

SBApplication *appToLaunch = [[SBApplicationController sharedInstanceIfExists] runningApplications][0];
[[SBUIController sharedInstanceIfExists] activateApplication:appToLaunch];

Classic Mode

Here are the constants that represent application classic mode depending on the screen type, retrieved from reversing SBApplicationClassicModeDescription(NSInteger) or SBApplicationClassicModeForString(NSString *) from SpringBoard.framework.

// The number suffix, if present, represents the diagonal size of the screen, in inches
typedef NS_ENUM(NSInteger, SBApplicationClassicMode) {
    SBApplicationClassicModeNone = 0,                // "none"
    SBApplicationClassicModePhone = 1,               // "phone"
    SBApplicationClassicModePhone4 = 2,              // "4" phone"
    SBApplicationClassicModePhone4_7 = 3,            // "4.7" phone"
    SBApplicationClassicModePhone5_5 = 4,            // "5.5" phone"
    SBApplicationClassicModePhone5_8_Zoomed = 5,     // "5.8" rounded phone (display zoom)"
    SBApplicationClassicModePhone5_8 = 6,            // "5.8" rounded phone"
    SBApplicationClassicModePhone6 = 7,              // "6" rounded phone"
    SBApplicationClassicModePhone6_1 = 8,            // "6.1" rounded phone"
    SBApplicationClassicModePhone6_5 = 9,            // "6.5" rounded phone"
    SBApplicationClassicModePhone6_6 = 10,           // "6.6" rounded phone"
    SBApplicationClassicModePhone6_7 = 11,           // "6.7" rounded phone"
    SBApplicationClassicModePad = 12,                // "pad"
    SBApplicationClassicModePad10_5 = 13,            // "10.5" pad"
    SBApplicationClassicModePad12_9 = 14,            // "12.9" pad"
    SBApplicationClassicModePad12_9_Zoomed = 15,     // "12.9" rounded pad (display zoom)"
    SBApplicationClassicModePad10_9 = 16,            // "10.9" rounded pad"
    SBApplicationClassicModePad11 = 17,              // "11" rounded pad"
    SBApplicationClassicModePad11_1 = 18,            // "11.1" rounded pad"
    SBApplicationClassicModePad11_MoreSpace = 19,    // "11" rounded pad (more space)"
    SBApplicationClassicModePad12_9_Rounded = 20,    // "12.9" rounded pad"
    SBApplicationClassicModePad13 = 21,              // "13" rounded pad"
    SBApplicationClassicModePad12_9_MoreSpace = 22   // "12.9" rounded pad (more space)"
};

To disable launch animations simply apply the correct activation setting before calling -activateApplication:.

[appToLaunch setFlag:1 forActivationSetting:1]; // flag 1 = ON, Activation Setting 1 = @"noAnimate"

Notes:

• This method will not respect parental control. However, you can determine if an SBApplication is restricted (parental locked) by using SBApplicationRestrictionController, which SBApplicationController holds an instance of.

SBApplication *appToCheck = [[SBApplicationController sharedInstanceIfExists] runningApplications][0];
BOOL appIsRestricted = [[[SBApplicationController sharedInstanceIfExists] restrictionController] isApplicationIdentifierRestricted:[appToCheck bundleIdentifier]];

Other Known Activation Flags

Flag	Setting	Description
0	notASetting	Indicates this is not a valid setting
1	noAnimate	Launch without animations
2	animationDurationForOthersSuspension
3	suspended	Launch the app in a suspended state
4	seo
5	url	Specify a URL to open within the app
6	eventOnly
7	animateWithoutPNG	Animate launch without using cached PNG snapshots
8	animatePreviousWithoutPNG
9	preferSceneSnapshots	Prefer using scene snapshots for animation (vs launch images)
10	animateLiveContentASAP	Animate live content as soon as possible
11	animationDelay	Delay launch animation
12	reverseAnimation	Use reverse animation for launch
13	sourceIdentifier
14	annotation
15	launchOptions	Specify additional launch options
16	launchImageName	Specify a custom launch image
17	userLaunchEventTime
18	continuousUserLaunchEventTime
19	classicOverride
20	appLink
21	appLinkState
22	escapingAppLink
23	breadcrumbSourceIdentifier
24	breadcrumbNavigationAction
25	spotlightVisible
26	todayViewVisible
27	bannerLongLookVisible
28	processLaunchIntent
30	fromHomeScreen	Indicate that the app was launched from the home screen
31	fromLocked	Indicate that the app was launched from the locked state
32	fromContinuity	Launched via Continuity feature
33	fromBanner	Launched from a notification banner
34	fromBulletinList	Launched from a bulletin list
35	fromAssistant	Launched by Siri
36	fromCC	Launched from Control Center
37	fromIconWithLeafIdentifier	Launched from an icon with a specific identifier
38	fromSpotlight	Launched from Spotlight search
39	fromBreadcrumb	Launched from a breadcrumb navigation
40	fromCommandTab	Launched using Command+Tab shortcut
41	fromSystemServiceRequest	Launched by a system service request
42	fromTrustedSystemServiceRequest	Launched by a trusted system service request
43	fromShortcutItem	Launch the app from a shortcut item
44	fromWidget	Indicate that the app was launched from a widget
45	fromNotificationContentExtension	Launched from a notification content extension
46	launchForegroundUnderLockScreen	Launch the app in the foreground even when the device is locked
47	ignoringOcclusionsReason
48	siriContinuityAppSuggestion	Launched from a Siri Continuity app suggestion
49	dontResetSwitchAppList	Prevent resetting the app switcher list
50	animateOthersSuspension	Animate the suspension of other apps during launch
51	fromDeactivatingAlert	Launched from a deactivating alert
52	animationDuration	Set the duration for the launch animation

Useful Methods

These are a few of the useful items in SBApplication.

//the apps bundle id
- (NSString *)bundleIdentifier; 

//is it SpringBoard's instance
- (BOOL)isSpringBoard; 

//app location info
- (NSString *)path;
- (NSString *)dataContainerPath;
- (NSString *)bundleContainerPath;
- (NSString *)bundleVersion;
- (NSString *)sandboxPath;  

//general info
- (BOOL)isSetup;
- (BOOL)isMobilePhone;
- (BOOL)isFaceTime;
- (BOOL)behavesLikePhone;
- (BOOL)isWebApplication;
- (BOOL)isWatchApplication;
- (BOOL)isNowPlayingApplication;
- (BOOL)isNowRecordingApplication;
- (BOOL)showsProgress;
- (BOOL)isRecordingAudio;
- (BOOL)isRunning;
- (BOOL)hasStartedLaunching;

//the string displayed under the icon
- (NSString *)displayName;

//has it been launched at some point in SpringBoard's life
- (BOOL)hasBeenFrontmost;

//badge number
- (id)badgeNumberOrString;

//returns the app's FBScene instance, useful for doing context host view stuff
- (FBScene *)mainScene;

Application Info.plist

SpringBoard will recognize the following Info.plist keys:

• UISystemProvisioning
• SBDemoRole
• SBIsRevealable
• SBUsesNetwork
• UIJetsamPriority
• SBIconClass
• SBSpotlightIcons
• UIRoles
• SBMachServices
• disabled
• CFBundleIconFile
• SPSearchDomainLaunchInfo
• SBAppTags
• Other UIKit keys described in http://developer.apple.com/IPhone/library/documentation/General/Reference/InfoPlistKeyReference/Articles/iPhoneOSKeys.html

Starting from 3.2 these documented keys are also recognized:

• ProductType, UIDeviceFamily, DeviceFamily
• UIAppFonts
• UIFileSharingEnabled
• UISupportedInterfaceOrientations

As of iOS 8, the following undocumented key is also recognized:

• _UILaunchAlwaysFullScreen

References

• Header: https://github.com/theos/headers/blob/master/SpringBoard/SBApplication.h