Today I am telling all about the
least understood parameter of the most important method in UIKit: launchOptions. 
Every app begins with 
UIApplicationDelegate
-application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions: (or more accurately, 
-application:willFinishLaunchingWithOptions:, when
implemented). It is called by the application to notify its delegate that the
launch process is finishing, and nearly ready to run. 
An app launches when its icon is tapped on Springboard, but there are
several other occasions in which an app can be launched. For example, an app
registered for a custom URL scheme, such as 
twitter://,
could be launched as a result of opening a URL. An app could also be launched
in response to a push notification, or a significant change in device location.
Determining why and how an app launched is the responsibility of the 
launchOptions parameter. Like a 
userInfo dictionary, 
-application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:
can get information for particular named keys in 
launchOptions.
Many of these keys are also available in the 
UIApplicationDidFinishLaunchingNotification
notification posted on application launch. Check the docs for additional
details. 
Numerous as they are, 
launchOptions
keys can be more easily understood when organized into groups, corresponding to
why the app was launched: 
Opening from URL 
Apps can launch other apps by passing URLs: 
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"app://..."]];
 
For example, an 
http://
URL would open in Safari, a 
mailto://
URL would open in Mail, and a 
tel://
URL would open in Phone. 
In these circumstances, the 
UIApplicationLaunchOptionsURLKey
key would be populated in 
launchOptions.
- UIApplicationLaunchOptionsURLKey:
     Indicates that the app was launched in order to open a URL. The value of
     this key is an- NSURLobject containing the URL to open.
An app can also be launched through URLs with additional system information.
When an app is launched from an 
UIDocumentInteractionController
or via AirDrop, the following keys are set in 
launchOptions:
- UIApplicationLaunchOptionsSourceApplicationKey:
     Identifies the app that requested the launch of your app. The value of
     this key is an- NSStringobject that represents the bundle ID of the app that made the request
- UIApplicationLaunchOptionsAnnotationKey:
     Indicates that custom data was provided by the app that requested the
     opening of the URL. The value of this key is a property-list object
     containing the custom data.
NSURL *fileURL = [[NSBundle mainBundle] URLForResource:@"Document" withExtension:@"pdf"];
if (fileURL) {
    UIDocumentInteractionController *documentInteractionController = [UIDocumentInteractionController interactionControllerWithURL:fileURL];
    documentInteractionController.annotation = @{@"foo": @"bar"};
    [documentInteractionController setDelegate:self];
    [documentInteractionController presentPreviewAnimated:YES];
}
 
Responding to Notification 
Not to be confused with 
NSNotification, apps can be sent remote or
local notifications. 
Remote Notification 
Introduced in iOS 3, remote, or "push" notifications are one of
the defining features of the mobile platform. 
To register for remote notifications, 
registerForRemoteNotificationTypes:
is called in 
application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:.
[application registerForRemoteNotificationTypes:
    UIRemoteNotificationTypeBadge |
    UIRemoteNotificationTypeSound |
    UIRemoteNotificationTypeAlert];
 
...which, if successful, calls 
-application:didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken:.
Once the device has been successfully registered, it can receive push
notifications at any time. 
If an app receives a notification while in the foreground, its delegate will
call 
application:didReceiveRemoteNotification:.
However, if the app is launched, perhaps by swiping the alert in notification
center, 
application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:
is called with the 
UIApplicationLaunchOptionsRemoteNotificationKey
launch option: 
- UIApplicationLaunchOptionsRemoteNotificationKey:
     Indicates that a remote notification is available for the app to process.
     The value of this key is an- NSDictionarycontaining the payload of the remote notification. > -- alert: Either a string
     for the alert message or a dictionary with two keys:- bodyand- show-view. > -- badge: A number
     indicating the quantity of data items to download from the provider. This
     number is to be displayed on the app icon. The absence of a badge property
     indicates that any number currently badging the icon should be removed.
     > -- sound: The name of a
     sound file in the app bundle to play as an alert sound. If “default” is
     specified, the default sound should be played.
Since this introduces two separate code paths for notification handling, a
common approach is to have 
application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:
manually call 
application:didReceiveRemoteNotification::
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application
didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
    // ...
 
    if (launchOptions[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsRemoteNotificationKey]) {
        [self application:application didReceiveRemoteNotification:launchOptions[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsRemoteNotificationKey]];
    }
}
 
Local Notification 
Local
notifications were added in iOS 4, and to this day, are still surprisingly
misunderstood. 
Apps can schedule 
UILocalNotifications
to trigger at some future time or interval. If the app is active in the
foreground at that time, the app calls 
-application:didReceiveLocalNotification:
on its delegate. However, if the app is not active, the notification will be
posted to Notification Center. 
Unlike remote notifications, 
UIApplication
delegate provides a unified code path for handling local notifications. If an
app is launched through a local notification, it calls 
-application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:
followed by 
-application:didReceiveLocalNotification:
(that is, there is no need to call it from 
-application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:
like remote notifications). 
A local notification populates the launch options on 
UIApplicationLaunchOptionsLocalNotificationKey,
which contains a payload with the same structure as a remote notification: 
- UIApplicationLaunchOptionsLocalNotificationKey:
     Indicates that a local notification is available for the app to process.
     The value of this key is an- NSDictionarycontaining the payload of the local notification.
In the case where it is desirable to show an alert for a local notification
delivered when the app is active in the foreground, and otherwise wouldn't
provide a visual indication, here's how one might use the information from 
UILocalNotification to do it manually: 
@import AVFoundation;
 
@interface AppDelegate ()
@property (readwrite, nonatomic, assign) SystemSoundID localNotificationSound;
@end
 
- (void)application:(UIApplication *)application
didReceiveLocalNotification:(UILocalNotification *)notification
{
    if (application.applicationState == UIApplicationStateActive) {
        UIAlertView *alertView =
            [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:notification.alertAction
                                       message:notification.alertBody
                                      delegate:nil
                             cancelButtonTitle:NSLocalizedString(@"OK", nil)
                             otherButtonTitles:nil];
 
        if (!self.localNotificationSound) {
            NSURL *soundURL = [[NSBundle mainBundle] URLForResource:@"Sosumi"
                                                      withExtension:@"wav"];
            AudioServicesCreateSystemSoundID((__bridge CFURLRef)soundURL, &_localNotificationSound);
        }
        AudioServicesPlaySystemSound(self.localNotificationSound);
 
        [alertView show];
    }
}
 
- (void)applicationWillTerminate:(UIApplication *)application {
    if (self.localNotificationSound) {
        AudioServicesDisposeSystemSoundID(self.localNotificationSound);
    }
}
 
Location Event 
Building the next great geomobilelocalsocial check-in photo app? Well,
you're about 4 years late to the party. 
But fear not! With iOS region monitoring, your app can be launched on
location events: 
- UIApplicationLaunchOptionsLocationKey:
     Indicates that the app was launched in response to an incoming location
     event. The value of this key is an- NSNumberobject containing a Boolean value. You should use the presence of this key
     as a signal to create a- CLLocationManagerobject and start location services again. Location data is delivered only
     to the location manager delegate and not using this key.
Here's an example of how an app might go about monitoring for significant
location change to determine launch behavior: 
@import CoreLocation;
 
@interface AppDelegate () <CLLocationManagerDelegate>
@property (readwrite, nonatomic, strong) CLLocationManager *locationManager;
@end
 
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application
didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
    // ...
 
    if (![CLLocationManager locationServicesEnabled]) {
        [[[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:NSLocalizedString(@"Location Services Disabled", nil)
                                    message:NSLocalizedString(@"You currently have all location services for this device disabled. If you proceed, you will be asked to confirm whether location services should be reenabled.", nil)
                                   delegate:nil
                          cancelButtonTitle:NSLocalizedString(@"OK", nil)
                          otherButtonTitles:nil] show];
    } else {
        self.locationManager = [[CLLocationManager alloc] init];
        self.locationManager.delegate = self;
        [self.locationManager startMonitoringSignificantLocationChanges];
    }
 
    if (launchOptions[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsLocationKey]) {
        [self.locationManager startUpdatingLocation];
    }
}
 
Newsstand 
All of the Newsstand developers in the house: say "Yeah!"
crickets.aiff 
Well alright, then. 
Newsstand can launch when newly-downloaded assets are available. 
This is how you register: 
[application registerForRemoteNotificationTypes:
    UIRemoteNotificationTypeNewsstandContentAvailability];
 
And this is the key to look out for in 
launchOptions:
- UIApplicationLaunchOptionsNewsstandDownloadsKey:
     Indicates that newly downloaded Newsstand assets are available for your
     app. The value of this key is an array of string identifiers that identify
     the- NKAssetDownloadobjects corresponding to the assets. Although you can use the identifiers
     for cross-checking purposes, you should obtain the definitive array of- NKAssetDownloadobjects (representing asset downloads in progress or in error) through the
     downloadingAssets property of the- NKLibraryobject representing the Newsstand app’s library.
Not too much more to say about that. 
Bluetooth 
iOS 7 introduced functionality that allows apps to be relaunched by
Bluetooth peripherals. 
If an app launches, instantiates a 
CBCentralManager
or 
CBPeripheralManager with a
particular identifier, and connects to other Bluetooth peripherals, the app can
be re-launched by certain actions from the Bluetooth system. Depending on
whether it was a central or peripheral manager that was notified, one of the
following keys will be passed into 
launchOptions:
- UIApplicationLaunchOptionsBluetoothCentralsKey:
     Indicates that the app previously had one or more- CBCentralManagerobjects and was relaunched by the Bluetooth system to continue actions
     associated with those objects. The value of this key is an- NSArrayobject
     containing one or more- NSStringobjects. Each string in the array represents the restoration identifier
     for a central manager object.
- UIApplicationLaunchOptionsBluetoothPeripheralsKey:
     Indicates that the app previously had one or more- CBPeripheralManagerobjects and was relaunched by the Bluetooth system to continue actions
     associated with those objects. The value of this key is an- NSArrayobject
     containing one or more- NSStringobjects. Each string in the array represents the restoration identifier
     for a peripheral manager object.
@import CoreBluetooth;
 
@interface AppDelegate () <CBCentralManagerDelegate>
@property (readwrite, nonatomic, strong) CBCentralManager *centralManager;
@end
 
self.centralManager = [[CBCentralManager alloc] initWithDelegate:self queue:nil options:@{CBCentralManagerOptionRestoreIdentifierKey:(launchOptions[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsBluetoothCentralsKey] ?: [[NSUUID UUID] UUIDString])}];
 
if (self.centralManager.state == CBCentralManagerStatePoweredOn) {
    static NSString * const UID = @"7C13BAA0-A5D4-4624-9397-15BF67161B1C"; // generated with `$ uuidgen`
    NSArray *services = @[[CBUUID UUIDWithString:UID]];
    NSDictionary *scanOptions = @{CBCentralManagerScanOptionAllowDuplicatesKey:@YES};
    [self.centralManager scanForPeripheralsWithServices:services options:scanOptions];
}
 
Keeping track of all of the various ways and means of application launching
can be exhausting. So it's fortunate that any given app will probably only have
to handle one or two of these possibilities. 
Knowing what's possible is often what it takes to launch an app from concept
to implementation, so bear in mind all of your options when the next great idea
springs to mind.