How to Define Custom URL Actions for SwiftUI Text Views

Find out interesting ways to use the custom URL actions.

This article is originally published at swiftsenpai.com

With the release of iOS 15, Apple has introduced native markdown support to the SwiftUI Text view. This feature allows developers to easily create strings with hyperlinks that can open websites, send emails, or make phone calls. While this feature may be sufficient in most cases, there are situations where developers might want more control over what happens when a link is tapped.

In this article, I will show you how to achieve greater control over link behavior in SwiftUI. Additionally, I will also share a few interesting use cases of custom URL action that you might find useful.

So, without further ado, let’s jump right in!

Using the `openURL` Environment View Modifier

With the release of iOS 15, Apple introduced the openURL environment view modifier, along with markdown support in the Text view. This modifier allows developers to define the action that will occur when a link is tapped. It can be easily used by appending it to a Text view, as shown in the sample code below:

Text("Find out more…