I use the cordova plugin "ionic-plugin-deeplinks" (to my knowledge also works with a plain cordova app).
On Android, links when clicked let users choice between chrome and my application.
=> I suppose that app links works
=> As I'm able to access window.IonicDeeplink and redirect the user to the right page
I'm not able to have the same behavior on iOS, when I click a link I always get the app open in Safari.
How can I find clue on issues ?
More context:
apple-app-site-association is got with a HTTP 200 (over https only), it's located in /.well-known/apple-app-site-association:
I checked TeamID and BundleID 5 times (at least);
with the branch.io validator i get all validations green:
Your domain is valid (valid DNS).
Your file is served over HTTPS.
Your server does not return error status codes greater than 400.
Your file's 'content-type' header was found :)
Your JSON is validated.
with the apple validator, I got : "Action required
Could not extract required information for Universal Links. Learn how to implement the recommended Universal Links.
Error no apps with domain entitlements
The entitlement data used to verify deep link dual authentication is from the current released version of your app. This data may take 48 hours to update." (but some devs said that working app add the same error) what to do with that result?
when monitoring server's log while installing the app with Xcode I see a request get a HTTP 200 on apple-app-site-association
while installing the app with Xcode I got no logs referring to swcd in Xcode (I read here that I should if I had error while installing the app). Is a successful installation silent?
I followed that guide to setup entitlements, but some things feel odd with it:
Unlike the snapshot in the guide, I didn't found any *.entitlements file in my project. Should I have one with cordova? (my xCode seems to remember my setting though). Is it possible to check that installed app get entitlements?
I did set my domain in Xcode like this: applinks:mydomain.com and the switch is ON. But I never uploaded any thing from my local dev environment to apple services. Should I have? If yes, how ?
My current interrogations are highlighted but any explanations on any lack of understanding will be more than welcome!!!
Until then I started a verification for testFlight looking for more info.
while installing the app with Xcode I got no logs referring to swcd in xCode
I implemented Universal Links manually, but situation was similar. Particularly I mentioned empty swcd process log while installing the app, and it turned out that most likely iOS didn't even try to download apple-app-site-association file, like if responsible process wasn't run. In my case device restart helped and deep-linking began to work.
Thus I think restarting device is one another step in troubleshooting when you are sure about all your setup.
For anyone trying to debug this in development:
In XCode, ensure you're editing the Debug version of Signing & Capabilities.
To bypass the Apple Universal Links CDN, configure your Debug domains like applinks:?mode=developer -- adding that query string in development is important.
On your iOS Device, go to Settings->Developer->Universal Links and ensure the Associated Domains Development toggle is switched on.
On your iOS Device in Settings->Developer->Universal Links->Diagnostics, enter your Universal Links URL and ensure you get a green checkmark.
After following all of these steps, Universal Links work locally.
Related
I'm currently working on implementing universals links into my App, they work perfectly on my simulators whether using command line xcrun simctl openurl booted or by tapping on links from messages
BUT I cannot run them on real devices (3 differents iPhones tested with 3 differents iOS 14.X versions)
App configuration > Signing and Capabilities > Associated Domains are correctly setup as applinks:<domain_name>.
I've already tried to :
uninstall/reinstall the App
clean my build repository
reboot my device
wait 5 minutes after installing the App
use another HTTP protocol for the route https://<domain>/.well-known/apple-app-site-association
tap the link from many apps (messages, discord, notes...)
expose my site with ngrok / localtunnel / apache server (in prod)
turn on/off "Associated Domains development" in Developer settings
I've verified on AASA validators sites like branch.io or appsflyer.com and everything is OK, once I reinstall the App to my iPhone, the aasa file is requested and it returns a 200 OK http response with the correct Content-Type : application/json
I ran out of idea to solve this issue. I really want to make it works before deploying the app on the Appstore even if it is working fine on simulators.
Thanks for your future help
Unfortunately, Universal links are not reliable for everyone, this seems to be an issue where the AASA files are not getting downloaded in the device.
Known Bug
There is a known universal bug for Apple where devices for iOS version 11.x+ , the AASA files do not get fetched and thus causing the Universal Links to fail.
Validate the issue
Normally, the Apple OS looks into retrying to fetch the AASA file at some time interval but the workaround might help for a test condition.
Inside the app, check if the AASA files were downloaded successfully or not. To do this:
Copy the link into your notes app.
Long-press the link till a dropdown appears. If the dropdown shows 'Open link', then Universal Links are not working for that device. If the link shows 'Open in app name', the configuration is working fine.
Backup plan
Also you can implement a fall back deeplink call on your sercerside with the help of user-agent and other stuff
In your apple-app-site-association file check if you are using "appID":".bundleid". If so, try replacing it with "appID":".bundleid" or vice-versa.
I'm trying to set up Associated Domains in my unpublished app for iOS 14. I followed the documentation as good as possible. I'm testing locally with my local dev web server and the app itself in simulator and a real iPhone.
Not only are links not opening in my app, the app does not even attempt to request the file https://mycomputer.local/.well-known/apple-app-site-association from my local web server (I let the web server print a debug message whenever it is requested, but the message is only printed when I manually load it from a web browser).
This is a list of things I have done/checked:
Xcode 12.2:
Under Signing & Capabilities added Associated Domains
Added to Domains: applinks:mycomputer.local?mode=developer (I also tried IP address)
I disabled Automatically manage signing and instead created a Profile on https://developer.apple.com/account/resources/profiles/list (type Development, platform iOS, it has Associated Domains amongst other enabled capabilities and it's linked to my app bundle ID) and selected that profile for the debug build.
I made sure that the URL https://mycomputer.local/.well-known/apple-app-site-association is accessible from all devices involved, i.e. my computer, Safari in simulator, Safari on real iPhone (all are connected to the local network and successfully display my JSON file).
Screenshot:
As mentioned above, I can pretty much rule out that the problem lies with the JSON file itself as I can proof that the device is not even accessing it. Am I missing something or misunderstanding the concept?
My own answer: Using the query string ?mode=developer in the entitlement as described in the documentation simply appears not to work at all.
To verify this I have set up a real server that can be publicly reached on the internet and tried both variants:
applinks:example.com
applinks:example.com?mode=developer
Number 1 works, but the JSON is loaded via Apple's CDN and you cannot use it for local development or for quickly testing different versions of the JSON file as Apple will cache the file for probably one day.
Number 2 does not work at all, no request to the server will be made.
Also, good to know these requirements when testing on actual devices. (And using a domain thats not publicly available in testing period.)
Turn on Developer Mode on the device.
Turn on Associated Domains Development in the Developer settings. (Developer settings will first occur after you have turned on Developer Mode).
Build the app using developer certificate. (Enterprise will not work).
Add ?mode=developer to the domain in entitlements if you are testing with a domain thats not publicly available (Behind VPN..)
Trying to implement universal links in my iOS app running iOS 10, whenever a click a link in my webpage I get the following message in the device log:
Feb 24 15:07:11 iPhone swcd(CoreUtils)[10142] <Notice>: Get info for service 'applinks', app ID '<<NULL>>', domain 'www.redacted...'
My app is setup with the required entitlements and capabilities for this domain. My associated domains entitlements key contains these domains:
applinks:redacted.com
applinks:www.redacted.com
The server is hosting the apple-app-site-association file on the root folder over https. I made sure the content-type of the file is set to application/json and there are no redirects leading to it. The contents of this file are:
{
"applinks": {
"apps": [],
"details": [
{
"appID": "teamid.redacted-app-id",
"paths": ["*"]
}
]
}
}
The way I'm testing this is by going into my site and tapping the first link I find, every time I tap this link I get the message I pasted above and the link opens in safari.
Your description of the problem does not provide any smoking gun indicator of what the issue might be. As I indicated in my previous comment, to really work through Universal Linking issues it is best to know everything that was configured and have a proper test plan that allows the configuration and the testing to be reproduced. There are just too many areas that could be causing problems.
Generally, issues with Universal Linking fall into being either setup issues or testing issues:
Setup Issues
Is the AASA file properly named and properly signed, is it being served from the correct location, are all entitlements correct?
Are the device and provisioning certificates all error-free?
Are you testing with a link that the app has been properly configured to support?
Testing Issues
Are you testing with a physical device? (some say Universal Links now work consistently in the simulator with iOS 10, but I'd still use a physical device)
What links are you testing? You indicate that you are "going into my site and tapping the first link I find." Are these links you are finding in the "redacted.com" domain? I would not use "www.redacted.com" as "www" gets special treatment by many systems and may not work as anticipated.
Could the AASA file have failed to update when the app was first installed/launched due to an issue with the testing environment's network connectivity? I find that the AASA will fail to download if Charles Proxy is capturing traffic, for example. If the AASA file does not make it to the device, Universal Linking will not work.
When testing, it sounds like you are not first pasting the link into Notes and then long-pressing on it. I would strongly recommend that you always test in this fashion first, so as to rule out the issue being related to your website, the application from which you are tapping the link, or the manner in which you are deploying the link (Universal Links will not behave as expected if you paste them into the Safari address bar, for example). When you do test by long-pressing on a link in Notes you should see "Open in App" menu option. If you do see this, but tapping on the link does not open the app, this would indicate that Universal Linking has been disabled on the device.
What is the behavior you are expecting to see when you tap on these links, and what is the actual behavior you are seeing? I often encounter people who believe Universal Linking is broken because they are testing a scenario that Universal Linking does not support. Are you sure the behavior that you are testing for is supported?
Are you using a device and an iOS version that supports Universal Links? Testing should be performed on physical devices, as mentioned earlier, and on iOS versions after 9.0 (where Universal Linking was introduced).
When Universal Linking does not work, there are a lot of things to check. I recommend running through Alex Austen's super blog post on this topic, as doing so may help you spot the problem (here: https://blog.branch.io/how-to-setup-universal-links-to-deep-link-on-apple-ios-9/).
Branch also has a number of tools/resources for identifying Universal Linking issues. They are specifically intended for use with Branch links, but you may still find them helpful:
AASA Validator: https://branch.io/resources/aasa-validator/
Universal Link Validator: https://dev.branch.io/getting-started/universal-linking-validator/guide/
Universal Linking Troubleshooting Guide: https://support.branch.io/support/solutions/articles/6000153326-ios-universal-links-troubleshooting-guide
Look at the logs here is how (taken from SO):
Xcode –> Windows –> Devices & Simulators
Click on device in the left
pane Click Open Console
From there, filter on "swcd" (SharedWebCredential Daemon). Keeping this console open.
You might need to open the console before installing your app dunno if it saves history while closed.
My problem:
I had my apple-app-site-association file hosted on subdomain.mydomain.com but then in Xcode I had Associated Domains set to applinks:*.mydomain.com. In the console mentioned above I saw that in this case the app was trying to get its apple-app-site-association file from mydomain.com. So I changed the Associated Domains to applinks:subdomain.mydomain.com
If none of the above workarounds work for you, please check if you have added activitycontinuation in associated domains or not.
Below is the picture showing the exact place where you have to add that.
(of course you haven't done that already).
Since iOS9, universal links work on iOS, but I am wondering if there is something like that on macOS? We have an application that is a macOS-App with a corresponding Web-App, and we would love links clicked by the user to open in the Mac-App instead of opening the browser with the target-link.
Is that anyhow possible on macOS? I just found samples for iOS, but none for macOS?!?
Supporting Universal Links on macOS requires support from both your app and your website (and macOS 10.15+).
See Apple's documentation Allowing Apps and Websites to Link to Your Content for details (the article deals with iOS, tvOS and macOS deep links), and its sub-articles Enabling Universal Links as well as Handling Universal Links.
Quick overview:
Basically, it's the same as on iOS: you need to create an apple-app-site-association file that is hosted on your server either in the root directory or in the .well-known directory (described in "Enabling Universal Links" linked above). It describes which URL paths can be passed to your app. It's important that this file is valid JSON (validate it!) and is served via HTTPS with a valid certificate and without any redirects!
You need to enable the "Associated Domains" capability in your provisioning profile. Details depend on whether Xcode manages your profiles or not. In your entitlements file (usually editable via the "Signing & Capabilities" tab of your target in Xcode) you need add the corresponding associated domain, like applinks:my.domain.example (no https:// or anything, just the raw domain name).
Then you need to implement application(_:continue:restorationHandler:) in your app delegate to handle the Universal Link.
It can be annoying to make macOS pick up the association for the first time during development. Debugging hints:
Open Console.app and filter for swcd, that's the daemon responsible for associated web credentials and Universal Links. Sometimes you see hints why it did not work (like refusing the apple-app-site-association file).
Also I had to kill the swcd daemon to make it get restarted by launchd and then pick up changes/fixes I did to the apple-app-site-association file. Both iOS and macOS should usually reload this file on "app installation"1 (haven't seen this getting specified more clearly; I guess they mean App Store installs/updates but I don't know about when this is loaded for macOS apps distributed outside the App Store).
Also, be aware that entering a Universal Link in Safari will not hand off to your app: Apple has stated in the dev forums2 that they believe if a user is already in the browser environment they want to stay there and not suddenly move to an app. Therefor, to test the Universal Link, open Notes.app, create a new note and enter/paste the Universal Link you want to test there. You can then click it and get asked whether you want to open this in your app.
1) Sorry, don't have a dev forum link where I read this.
2) Again, sorry, don't have a link right now. Saw this stated at least two times by Apple employees, both cited the Notes trick. Even though they were talking about iOS there, this behaviour is the same on macOS as well.
I'm having trouble getting universal links to work
We have added the json content to our site https://couchsurfing.com/apple-app-site-association
I have double checked that it's using the correct team ID and bundle ID
Universal links is enabled in itunesConnect
running the apple validation fails with the following error:
Error no apps associated with url
I thought maybe the validator doesn't work, but running on iOS 10 device (universal link capability on, with added correct domain to it) clicking a valid link does not trigger the delegate methods in AppDelegate
Any thoughts?
After 3 weeks... It turned out my path was incorrect. My suggestion:
set paths to ["*", "/"] while debugging, get everything to work and test, then as the final step update the path and only include supported paths.
To be more specific the link I was trying to register was
site.com/events/123123 so I would add a path for /events which is wrong that would register site.com/events. I had to register /events/* instead
Also the easiest way to test it is to enter the expected links into the Notes app, because Safari has some weird logic on when links should be handled as deeplink.
Apple's app-site-association validator is useless, it's still failing for me complaining about my App id, when deeplinks actually work. Instead use https://limitless-sierra-4673.herokuapp.com/
I've recently had issues debugging the Universal Link functionality of my app.
I was able to get deep linking to work but it seemed to only work 10% of the time. Since I had just updated to iOS 12, I wanted to make sure there was nothing else I had to do as a developer to ensure the feature worked.
So what was causing intermittent failure?
It seems that iOS has a somewhat strict policy engine for determining when background threads can run.
I was able to observe this by USB tethering to my phone and opening up the debug console for my device
Xcode –> Windows –> Devices & Simulators
Click on device in the left pane
Click Open Console
From there, I was able to filter on "swcd" (SharedWebCredential Daemon). Keeping this console open, I was able to see the daemon at work during app install which is when iOS attempts to pull down the apple-app-site-association file for my app.
As it turns out, dasd (DuetActivitySchedulerDaemon) was failing to run the SharedWebCredential Daemon because my phone had restarted recently, then later it was determined that my phone was too hot...
e.g.
{name: ThunderingHerdPolicy, policyWeight: 1.000, response: {Decision: Must Not Proceed, Score: 0.00, Rationale: [{deviceInUse == 1 AND timeSinceThunderingHerdTriggerEvent < 900}]}}
], FinalDecision: Must Not Proceed}
{name: ThermalPolicy, policyWeight: 5.000, response: {Decision: Absolutely Must Not Proceed, Score: 0.00, Rationale: [{thermalLevel >= 20}]}}
], FinalDecision: Absolutely Must Not Proceed}
Developers beware!
I step through Apple's troubleshooting universal links procedure as already mentioned in other answers.
If still not working, and long-pressing the link in mail or notes app fails to show "Open with [your app]" then try restarting your phone. More than a few times this has been the solution for me!
The Apple validator checks some other things that are not necessary for Universal Links to work, and unfortunately that often results on false positive error messages. The file at https://couchsurfing.com/apple-app-site-association looks good to me, and it passes this validator just fine.
When clicking on a valid link, does the app not open, or just the delegate methods don't fire? These are two very different issues and would have different solutions. There are some troubleshooting steps you could try here, though some of those are specific to the Branch.io (full disclosure: I'm on the Branch team) linking platform.
As some sort of completion to the answers above (took me hours to find out):
The app needs to be installed AFTER you added your "apple-app-site-association" file to the server, as the file initially got fetched / checked after the installation.