Hey Mark,
Thanks for the suggestion … but it didn’t work 
I also tried creating a timeline with a ‘go to url’ action on frame5 (paused at frame 1) and then placed an action on the button in the main timeline to trigger the sub-timeline to play that timeline (and ultimately trigger the action) … still no joy. [trying to think outside of the box - literally]
I have observed that the force-touch action only works with the div tag method of placing the tel link on the image/button. It seems that directly invoking a ‘go to url’ action on an element within hype does nothing.
I have uploaded a zip file containing both my Xcode project and my Hype file in the hope that you might be able to take a peek. I used your advice (and sample Xcode/Hype sample) previously to overcome the ‘open Safari’ issue - as the Trumpster would say: “So grateful … nobody is more grateful than me … nobody!”
http://sitedev.net.au/accesseap/hype_xcode_project.zip
Happy for you to charge me for your time/advice (if you’re inclined - really, more than happy). Seriously. I’m stumped (Trumped)!
Cheers,
Chris