We have several landing pages that link to Google Play and iOS App Store. I would love to know the landing page that a person came from within the app code. I have searched around and can't find any clear answer. Lots of gray area.
I just want to access the landing page URL in Java or Swift.
I realize iOS and Android are two separate beasts. But does anyone know how I could achieve this?
You will need to use Firebase Dynamic Links this helps you create various links using various alternatives as shown in this quote from the official Firebase source:
You create a Dynamic Link either by using the Firebase console, using a REST API, iOS or Android Builder API, or by forming a URL by adding Dynamic Link parameters to a domain specific to your app.
Then your app can access the link in code using Java or Swift and the link will work even if the user has your app already in their phone and you can set a logic to handle that too and the links are also automatically direct the user to AppStore or PlayStore depending on which device is used.
Dont worry about whether the link will work for both Android and iOS and you can use the api to access the link as this quote says.
With Dynamic Links, your users get the best available experience for the platform they open your link on. If a user opens a Dynamic Link on iOS or Android, they can be taken directly to the linked content in your native app. If a user opens the same Dynamic Link in a desktop browser, they can be taken to the equivalent content on your website.
In addition, Dynamic Links work across app installs: if a user opens a Dynamic Link on iOS or Android and doesn't have your app installed, the user can be prompted to install it; then, after installation, your app starts and can access the link.
You can get more information on dynamic links here and check if it will solve your problem.
Related
as for the title.
I have to place a simple link to an app on a website. The app has 2 versions, ios and android, so I should put 2 links, one to itunes and the other to gplay. ok.
Is there a way to create a single link that will send the user to the proper store?
User Firebase Dynamic Links which are match for your scenario.
As per firebase documentation:
With Dynamic Links, your users get the best available experience for
the platform they open your link on. If a user opens a Dynamic Link on
iOS or Android, they can be taken directly to the linked content in
your native app. If a user opens the same Dynamic Link in a desktop
browser, they can be taken to the equivalent content on your website.
Source: https://firebase.google.com/docs/dynamic-links
Firebase dynamic links is one way. I would like to recommend Branch.io, they do the same but more efficiently and the links that are generated don't look like spam. I did a huge study comparing both and found Branch to be better.
One cool thing, they even handle desktop deep linking i.e. they enable users to send the app link as an SMS from a custom designed page that gets loaded if they click the link on a desktop machine.
For example, i have case in my flutter app when user can recover his password.
In that case user will receive link on e-mail, and i want by clicking on that link, my flutter app will open, and route to specific screen.
You'll want to view this from the perspective of: How do I open my iOS/Android app from a URL, ie. App Deep Linking.
They each have their own respective implementations:
android/app-links
apple/allowing_apps_and_websites_to_link_to_your_content
Or you can go with more comprehensive SDKs that are capable of doing both for you:
Firebase Dynamic Links
Branch.io Deep Linking
There is a nice plugin for this,
https://github.com/avioli/uni_links
it also has a detailed explanation on how you need to configure iOS and Android for it to work (which is the hardest part imho); another nice source of information is this blog post
So here , you must use a dynamic link.
The best solution is the use of Firebase Dynamic Links .
One of the advantages of Firebase Dynamic Links: Convert mobile web users to native app users
With Dynamic Links, you can seamlessly transition users from your
mobile website to the equivalent content within your app. And because
the links survive the app install process, even new users can pick up
where they left off on your mobile site without missing a beat.
Another solution is to switch to native solutions: Android and iOS.
You can use app_links, that supports Android App Links, Deep Links, iOs Universal Links and Custom URL schemes handler (desktop included) for Android, iOS, macOS, web and Windows.
I want to create a dynamic link with two different original links.
One original link for Android, e.g: android://mePage/account
One original link for ios, e.g: https://mePage/account
From the docs of Firebase Dynamic-Links, I found there is a optional parameter al, and al=android_link.
So I create a Dynamic Link by manually constructing a URL:
https://myapp.app.goo.gl/?link=https://mePage/account&al=android://mePage/account
But maybe I misunderstand, it doesn't work.I have no way to resolve the android link from the al key.
So:
What does the al parameter really mean?
Any way I can acquire the parameter?
If it does not work, is there any way I can create a Dynamic Link with two different links?
There is a image to show what I saw.
And I found some extra information from another page.
There is no al parameter, did you meant afl? afl specifies the link, where navigation will happens if your App is not installed on Android. So that instead of navigating to PlayStore you can navigate to your page.
Answering your question about Android and iOS specific deep links: we do not have such feature. The same deep link will be passed to Android and iOS Apps.
If you want to separate the data for your Apps, you can use deep link constructed like this:
https://mePage/account?ios=<ios specific base64 data>&android=<android specific base64 data>
Than you can wrap this deep link inside Firebase Dynamic Link.
Not sure this provide enought value, but I do not know your requirements.
If you feel that you need this feature and Firebase Dynamic Links do not support it, feel free to open support ticket or describe your use case here. We always open to improvements and new feature suggestions.
Update
For those who are still looking like me,
as per the docs, https://firebase.google.com/docs/dynamic-links/create-manually
You can specify a different fallback link for IOS/Android using IFL/AFL params.
ifl
The link to open when the app isn't installed. Specify this to do
something other than install your app from the App Store when the app
isn't installed, such as open the mobile web version of the content,
or display a promotional page for your app.
afl
The link to open when the app isn't installed. Specify this to do
something other than install your app from the Play Store when the app
isn't installed, such as open the mobile web version of the content,
or display a promotional page for your app.
Can anyone explain in real life example what is the difference between
App Links - https://developer.android.com/training/app-links/deep-linking.html
Deep links - https://developer.android.com/training/app-links/index.html
App Indexing - https://developer.android.com/studio/write/app-link-indexing.html
in Android?
Have read too many posts and documentations, but still cannot get the exact gist.
I understand that App links works with Android 6.0 and Deep Links with 4.2. but in performance, they are doing the similar task.
App Indexing allows Google to crawl your app content (as it would on a website).
Deep Links vs Android App Links:
App Links are just deep links that have been verified for a website, AND allows opening URLs in the associated app directly without asking the user to select the app (via the disambiguation dialog). With App Links, your app designates itself as the default handler of a given type of link (though the user can override it from device system settings)
A nice overview of the differences is at https://developer.android.com/training/app-links/verify-site-associations?authuser=0
Also see comparison table below, lifted from the above link at the time of writing
If you have an app or are developing an app, app indexation and deep
linking are things you definitely need to be paying attention to.
Basically, Google wants to treat your app like a website. It wants to
crawl it and index it so that search results can return specific pages
from an app in mobile searches. That ability to return specific pages
within an app? That’s deep linking.
What is Deep Linking?
Deep linking, in a general sense, involves linking to specific content
within a website or app, rather than to the homepage. Here we’re
talking in particular about getting specific elements of an app to
show up in search results on a mobile device, allowing users to open
an app directly from a search results page. Note: Users will only see
this prompt if they have the particular app installed.
Photo:
What Is App Indexing?
App indexing is the result of getting your app in Google’s index to
enable deep linking. By allowing Google to index pages within your
app, features (or promotions) within the app can begin showing up in
users’ mobile searches, driving visits (and hopefully conversions) to
the app.
What is an App Linking with the example of Facebook
When someone shares content from within an app that has Facebook App
Links applied, anyone clicking on that link will be able to access
that content through the app. This can be done using an app
alternative to existing web content, or app-only content, and works
either from ‘web to app’ or ‘app to app’. The feature works with
Android, iOS and Windows phones
Photo:
I am implementing Google App Indexing in my app. I have followed the tutorials and my app support this kind of deep links:
http://mywebsite.tk
And I have the required code so that it supports also:
android-app://com.my.package/http/mywebsite.tk/
I can open with my app any link with both structures, opening urls from an email, and even pasting the deeplink in Chrome directly. I have also passed the tests for Google App Indexing in Android Studio.
But what I want is the following button:
I have a custom parameter inside the url so that I can show different info. How can I make Google show that button? I don't have a website, only a domain to handle the deep link, but a website is not required.
Unfortunately you can't 'make' Google show this button. All you can do is set out the bait (which you have done in spades, based on everything you've mentioned above — the only thing I can think of is that you didn't mention whether you've set up Digital Asset Links or not) and hope they eventually bite. It takes some time for them to find and then recognize the App->URL association you've set up.
Is your content currently showing in the results list at all, even without that button?