Does deep linking my app with social media still work on iOS? - ios

I am trying to make my app open whenever I open a shared link of the website on social media, especially Facebook. However, it's not working.
I actually tried opening common websites like a youtube. link shared on FB using my iPhone, however, it always opens in the FB browser!
Isn't there an option to cancel in-app browser on FB on iPhone like there was on android? Is there a new policy against such a thing I am not aware of?
Same goes for Twitter

There is no option to cancel in-app browser in fb in iOS and deep linking for your application still works from any social media platform.
Below is a great reference to understand how the deep linking works in iOS.
https://medium.com/#stasost/ios-how-to-open-deep-links-notifications-and-shortcuts-253fb38e1696
Hope this would be some help for you.

Related

Does Google Search App block universal links

I am implementing Firebase App Indexing as mentioned in official firebase documentation here: https://firebase.google.com/docs/app-indexing/ios/app.
The universal links are enabled and work fine for search results from different browsers like Safari and Chrome. They also work for other applications. But when I tap on a search result from the Google Search App in iOS. It does not take me to my app. Also on long pressing a link in the Google app does not provide an option to open link using my App. This option is however shown when I long press on links from other applications.
Does it have something to do with the Google Search app disabling the universal links deliberately. Is it possible for individual applications to prevent Universal Links from opening other applications?
Or does Apple apply restrictions itself for certain apps?
Indeed, some apps disable the capability of deep linking using Universal Links. Some notable examples: Facebook, Instagram.
Some of these apps allow deep linking via URI schemes (the old iOS 9- way of deep linking), but there is no promise that this behaviour will be persisted.
I'm guessing most of these apps would like to have the user stay within their own in-app browser instead of switching to another app.
I never tried the Google Search app, but if your universal link works perfectly in Safari and not in the Google Search app, that may be the case. In that scenario you'll need your click domain server to redirect the user to the store or some landing page, based on the User Agent of the incoming browser.

Google Analytics for Email Tracking when using Universal Links on iOS

I would like to track button clicks in emails using Google Analytics. Let's say I would like the button to have a Universal Link, which when clicked, will open an iOS app directly with no browser redirect. (https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/General/Conceptual/AppSearch/UniversalLinks.html)
However, if my URL is a Universal Link, i.e. www.xyzxyz.com/openApp?campaign=promo&source=email, and an email recipient clicks the link from their iPhone with the installed app, no call is made to the server, and therefore the click is not tracked.
Has anyone experienced a way of tracking Universal Link clicks?
Universal Links are handled on the frontend by the device without ever interacting with a server if the app is installed. The AASA file is stored on the device at install and allows the device to check whether the link can open the app before passing the link onto safari. If the app is not installed and the link is passed onto Safari then the Google analytics tags will be processed. The only way to accomplish this is to send the GA request from the app if you register that a Universal Link was clicked.
I recommend looking into a deep linking service like Branch. They have a Google analytics data integration that will handle all of this tracking for you.

Firebase dynamic link does not navigate to ios app/ appstore from facebook post in iOS

I have to implement navigation from facebook post to my native iOS app or app store if the app is not installed. For that, I have tried Facebook APP Link feature but it did not work. Then I created Firebase Dynamic link and post it on facebook app directly. After tapping on posted link, it shows one pop up saying "Leave Facebook? This webpage is trying to open an app outside of Facebook. Are you sure you want to open it?"
After tapping on Yes, it does nothing. I have cross verified the created link with https://app_id.app.goo.gl/apple-app-site-association It shows associated bundle id, team id, app store id.
Can anyone please suggest me the proper pathway to implement deep linking with facebook post to the app?
Also, can we test deep linking with the app which is not on the App Store?
Thanks in advance.
Facebook doesn't like users to leave their app. They stopped supporting App Links in their iOS app almost a year ago, and have never supported Universal Links (which is what Firebase Dynamic Links uses).
The only workaround is to send users to a landing page with a CTA button, and put another deep link behind that button (on a different domain than the one on which you're hosting this landing page). It's an extra step for the user, but currently the only option. Branch.io (full disclosure: I'm on the Branch team) does this via the Deepviews feature. Dynamic Links currently doesn't have an equivalent, so you'd need to build something yourself.

Facebook Messenger App Link [iOS]

I'm creating an iOS application where I'd like to integrate Facebook Messenger for users to message each other. I've tried deeplinking via fb-messenger://user-thread/{user-id}, which works as intended. When I open the URL via my app, it switches over to Facebook Messenger. However, as this type of link seems undocumented by Facebook, I'd rather not risk using it as they might change it at any given time.
I've then looked into Facebook App Links, but as they're very few examples of how to actually use it, I'm not completely sure how to use it for a simple case of switching from my own app to messenger with a user-id as a parameter.
Any comments on this matter will be much appreciated.

How to publish link from iOS app to Facebook app with custom URL scheme?

I am creating an iOS app (using Adobe AIR) and I want to put a share button to my game that will allow the player to share a link to my game. I can do it with Graph API using my app's token, but I don't want a story published by my app. I want the native Facebook app to open and bring a share dialog. All my research concluded me to use the custom URL scheme such as fb://publish/?text=my_text but I couldn't get it working. I tried typing exactly that in Safari, it brings the native Facebook app, but no publish dialog or anything. All the sources online tells this, but it is not working. What could I be possibly doing wrong?

Resources