How to create an iPhone in-app web browser

I have been looking for a while for an in-app browser without finding exactly what I wanted. I eventually figure that the in-app browser from the three20 library had exactly the features that I wanted : 1) basic navigation, 2)ability to add the browser to my navigation controller and 3) option to open web links in Safari for better surf if needed.

I slightly changed the code so no need to add the three20 library to your project. I also added a source that you can find HERE. The webview is now called from a UIButton from the Favorite screen.

URL is passed to the webView controller using the – (id)initWithURLPassed:(NSString *)initURL method.

UPDATE: Made a change in dealloc method.

//
//  webView.h
//  Created by Pierre Addoum on 2/17/10.
//   myFirstiPhoneapplication.com

@interface webViewController : UIViewController {

	UIWebView* _webView;
	UIToolbar* _toolbar;
	UIBarButtonItem* _backButton;
	UIBarButtonItem* _forwardButton;
	UIBarButtonItem* _refreshButton;
	UIBarButtonItem* _stopButton;
	UIBarButtonItem* _activityItem;
	NSURL* _loadingURL;
	NSString *stringURL;

}

@property(nonatomic,readonly) NSURL* URL;
//@property(nonatomic,retain) UIView* headerView;
@property(nonatomic,retain) NSString *stringURL;

- (id)initWithURLPassed:(NSString *)initURL;
- (void)openURL:(NSURL*)URL;
- (void)openRequest:(NSURLRequest*)request;

@end

//  webView.m
//  Created by Pierre Addoum on 2/17/10.
//   myFirstiPhoneapplication.com

#import "webViewController.h"

#define RELEASE_SAFELY(__POINTER) { [__POINTER release]; __POINTER = nil; }

@implementation webViewController
@synthesize stringURL;

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- (id)initWithURLPassed:(NSString *)initURL {
	if (self = [super init]) {
		NSLog(@"string URL %@ ",initURL);
		if([initURL isEqualToString:@""]){
			[self openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"http://www.agwine.com"]];
			self.hidesBottomBarWhenPushed = YES;
		} else{
		[self openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:initURL]];
		self.hidesBottomBarWhenPushed = YES;
		}

	}
	return self;
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- (void)backAction {
	[_webView goBack];
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- (void)forwardAction {
	[_webView goForward];
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- (void)refreshAction {
	[_webView reload];
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- (void)stopAction {
	[_webView stopLoading];
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- (void)shareAction {
	UIActionSheet* sheet = [[[UIActionSheet alloc] initWithTitle:@"" delegate:self
											   cancelButtonTitle:@"Cancel" destructiveButtonTitle:nil
											   otherButtonTitles:@"Open in Safari", nil] autorelease];
	[sheet showInView:self.view];
}

- (void)dealloc {

	RELEASE_SAFELY(_loadingURL);
	RELEASE_SAFELY(_webView);
	RELEASE_SAFELY(_toolbar);
	RELEASE_SAFELY(_backButton);
	RELEASE_SAFELY(_forwardButton);
	RELEASE_SAFELY(_refreshButton);
	RELEASE_SAFELY(_stopButton);
	RELEASE_SAFELY(_activityItem);
	RELEASE_SAFELY(stringURL);
 [super dealloc];
}

- (void)loadView {
	[super loadView];
	////WEBVIEW////////////////////
	_webView = [[UIWebView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0,0,320,460)];
	_webView.delegate = self;
	_webView.autoresizingMask = UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleWidth
	| UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleHeight;
	_webView.scalesPageToFit = YES;
	[self.view addSubview:_webView];

	////SPINNER///////////////////

	UIActivityIndicatorView* spinner = [[[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc]
										 initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleWhite] autorelease];
	[spinner startAnimating];

	////Button///////////////////
	_activityItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:spinner];

	_backButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithImage:
[UIImage imageNamed:@"backIcon.png"]
												   style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain target:self action:@selector(backAction)];
	_backButton.tag = 2;
	_backButton.enabled = NO;
	_forwardButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"forwardIcon.png"] style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain target:self action:@selector(forwardAction)];
	_forwardButton.tag = 1;
	_forwardButton.enabled = NO;
	_refreshButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:
					  UIBarButtonSystemItemRefresh target:self action:@selector(refreshAction)];
	_refreshButton.tag = 3;
	_stopButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:
				   UIBarButtonSystemItemStop target:self action:@selector(stopAction)];
	_stopButton.tag = 3;
	UIBarButtonItem* actionButton = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:
									  UIBarButtonSystemItemAction target:self action:@selector(shareAction)] autorelease];

	UIBarItem* space = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:
						 UIBarButtonSystemItemFlexibleSpace target:nil action:nil] autorelease];

	_toolbar = [[UIToolbar alloc] initWithFrame:
				CGRectMake(0, 460 - 44, 320, 44)];
	_toolbar.autoresizingMask = UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleTopMargin | UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleWidth;
	_toolbar.tintColor = [UIColor blackColor];
	_toolbar.items = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:
					  _backButton, space, _forwardButton, space, _refreshButton, space, actionButton, nil];

	[self.view addSubview:_toolbar];
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- (void)viewDidUnload {
	[super viewDidUnload];

}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated {
	[super viewWillAppear:animated];

}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- (void)viewWillDisappear:(BOOL)animated {
	// If the browser launched the media player, it steals the key window and never gives it
	// back, so this is a way to try and fix that
	[self.view.window makeKeyWindow];

	[super viewWillDisappear:animated];
	_webView.delegate = nil;

}

#pragma mark -
#pragma mark UIWebViewDelegate

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- (BOOL)webView:(UIWebView*)webView shouldStartLoadWithRequest:(NSURLRequest*)request
navigationType:(UIWebViewNavigationType)navigationType {
	RELEASE_SAFELY(_loadingURL);
	_loadingURL = [request.URL retain];
	_backButton.enabled = [_webView canGoBack];
	_forwardButton.enabled = [_webView canGoForward];
	return YES;
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- (void)webViewDidStartLoad:(UIWebView*)webView {
	self.title = @"Loading...";
	if (!self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem) {
		[self.navigationItem setRightBarButtonItem:_activityItem animated:YES];
	}

	UIBarButtonItem* actionButton = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:
									  UIBarButtonSystemItemAction target:self action:@selector(shareAction)] autorelease];

	UIBarItem* space = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:
						 UIBarButtonSystemItemFlexibleSpace target:nil action:nil] autorelease];
	_toolbar.items = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:
					  _backButton, space, _forwardButton, space, _stopButton, space, actionButton, nil];

	_backButton.enabled = [_webView canGoBack];
	_forwardButton.enabled = [_webView canGoForward];
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- (void)webViewDidFinishLoad:(UIWebView*)webView {
	RELEASE_SAFELY(_loadingURL);

	self.title = [_webView stringByEvaluatingJavaScriptFromString:@"document.title"];
	if (self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem == _activityItem) {
		[self.navigationItem setRightBarButtonItem:nil animated:YES];
	}
	UIBarButtonItem* actionButton = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:
									  UIBarButtonSystemItemAction target:self action:@selector(shareAction)] autorelease];

	UIBarItem* space = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:
						 UIBarButtonSystemItemFlexibleSpace target:nil action:nil] autorelease];
	_toolbar.items = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:
					  _backButton, space, _forwardButton, space, _refreshButton, space, actionButton, nil];

	_backButton.enabled = [_webView canGoBack];
	_forwardButton.enabled = [_webView canGoForward];
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- (void)webView:(UIWebView*)webView didFailLoadWithError:(NSError*)error {
	RELEASE_SAFELY(_loadingURL);
	[self webViewDidFinishLoad:webView];
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
#pragma mark -
#pragma mark UIActionSheetDelegate

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- (void)actionSheet:(UIActionSheet*)actionSheet clickedButtonAtIndex:(NSInteger)buttonIndex {
	if (buttonIndex == 0) {
		[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:self.URL];
	}
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- (NSURL*)URL {
	return _loadingURL ? _loadingURL : _webView.request.URL;
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- (void)openURL:(NSURL*)URL {
	NSMutableURLRequest* request = [NSMutableURLRequest requestWithURL:URL];
	[self openRequest:request];
}

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- (void)openRequest:(NSURLRequest*)request {
	self.view;
	[_webView loadRequest:request];
}

@end