Rdio 2.2, released earlier today, includes – besides an improved interface and label search – a new URL scheme for launching searches from other apps (thanks, Adam). The URL scheme is fairly simple:
rdio://search/[search term]
In the past, I relied on a hack made possible by Bang On to redirect Rdio web URLs to the Rdio app. The problem with that solution was that it was a finicky process that couldn’t launch full, native searches directly in the Rdio app. The new version enables just that: you can now use the URL scheme to create search actions that will display pre-populated results in Rdio for iOS.
The new URL scheme means it’s easy to set up actions that trigger Rdio searches in apps like Launch Center Pro or Drafts. For this kind of quick search, my pick is Launch Center Pro, which I already use to launch Chrome and Pinbrowser searches. Until the Launch Center Pro team adds support for Rdio search in the Action Composer (they’re aware of it), you can create a custom action with the following URL:
rdio://search/[prompt]
Then, every time you want to search for something on Rdio, instead of opening the Rdio app and manually heading to the search field you can just open Launch Center Pro, type your search terms in a keyboard prompt, and tap a button to be redirected to a search inside the Rdio app.
I’ve been looking forward to a Rdio URL scheme for search for a long time. If you don’t want to use Launch Center Pro, you can build a custom action for Drafts, Mr. Reader, or any app that supports launching other apps via URL scheme.
