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.
Related
Senario: User scans a QR code with a unique universal link into our app to "redeem" their code.
They scan the code which goes to a webpage with a link to download the app.
The user downloads the app.
Returns to the web page and there is a link within the page which is the same link as the QR code.
We assume tapping the (same) URL would trigger the universal link but it does not.
The universal link works fine from email or other apps (after its been installed)
How can we fix this bad UX, is there a HTML component or redirect we need to consider when tapping the basic link on the Web page. How can we make the link initiate the "deeplink" into the app now its installed. The banner at the top is displayed but its not the ideal flow.
The user cannot scan the QR code again - they must go through the download and "reopen" app in one flow.
Universal links do not trigger in Safari. This is intentional behavior confirmed by Apple engineers in the forums (sorry, don't have a link right now). Their reasoning: if you're already in the browser eco-system you usually do not want to be redirected to an app, but want to stay in the browser.
What you can do is have your app implement a custom URL scheme, and your web page can then check if your custom URL scheme is supported and open it.
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.
I'm trying to implement Firebase Dynamic Links in an iOS app. The goal is to have a clean URL for marketing purposes so folks can share links on social media. The idea is folks will share the clean URL that starts with my domain name.
When the app is installed following a click on that link, we want to be able to track who referred the app install by looking at the payload delivered by Firebase. I think this goal is similar to Firebase's use case to convert web users to mobile app users.
An example link I would like to provide for sharing on social media is: http://example.com/my-payload-here
I've tried several cases but I'm not able to get the behavior I'm looking for in any case. Has anyone implemented this successfully before?
Here is my test procedure:
Uninstall the app
Send the link to be tested in an iMessage to myself
Tap the link on my iOS device (not using a simulator)
Install the app from the App Store
Launch the app after download completes by tapping "Open" button in the App Store
Below are my findings:
Short link generated from the Firebase Console (https://xyz.app.goo.gl/ABCD) - Link opens in App Store. I install the app. When I launch the app after installing, the payload is not delivered. If I quit out of the app, go back to the link in iMessage, and launch a second time, the payload is delivered.
Long link identical to the "Long Dynamic Link" from the Firebase console for the link generated in #1 (https://xyz.app.goo.gl/?link=http://example.com/my-payload-here&isi=12345&ibi=com.example.MyApp) - behavior is identical to #1
Short link using my domain (http://example.com/redirect/my-payload-here, configured to 301 redirect to URL in #2) - Opens in App Store. I install. When I launch the app after installing, the payload is not delivered. If I quit out of the app, go back to the link in iMessage, and launch a second time, the link still goes to the App Store.
Some questions I have:
Why isn't the payload delivered on the first launch for cases 1 and 2?
How can we make this launch the app and deliver the payload instead of going to the App Store?
I've also consulted the Firebase flowchart for the deep link in case 2.
Google Firebase team added support for custom subdomains to Dynamic Links.
You can now specify up to five custom page.link subdomains for your Dynamic Links. Short links using these new custom subdomains look like the following example: https://example.page.link/abcXYZ
Firebase Dynamic Link domains assigned on projects couldn't be deleted at this time.( firebase team is working on it.)
You can now whitelist the URL patterns that can be used as a Dynamic Link's deep link (link) or fallback link (ifl, ipfl, afl, ofl). If you define a whitelist, Dynamic Links won't redirect to URLs that don't match a whitelisted pattern.
You can try both of these features in the Firebase console.
This is not currently possible with Firebase. If you need whitelabeled URLs, you either need to build it yourself or use a more powerful link platform like Branch.io (full disclosure: I'm on the Branch team).
To answer your questions specifically:
I have implemented Firebase Dynamic Links in a testbed app and can confirm that linking through installation the first time does work for both long and short URL variants. There is likely something wrong with your AppDelegate config, so we can take a look at that if you want to share code.
Firebase does not support custom domains at this time. In theory (if you can solve the first issue above) you could get this working for first install by using a redirect like you have tried. However, you'll never be able to get it to launch the app with Firebase link data once the app is installed. This is because Universal Links work based on the domain of the link, and don't even request the web destination. Even if you enable Universal Links manually on your own domain, the app will open immediately without ever calling Firebase and the link data will never be set.
I am trying to implement Branch marketing links in my app. I want for example to be able to create a link to share with users that will route them to a particular screen in the app. I noticed from the Branch docs that for some apps the link just opens the app store and not the actual app (even if it is installed). Being based in Asia I have the feeling that most of our customers will be wanting to share the link via an unsupported app such as Line. If a user is redirected to the app store via the link and then taps “open app”, what happens? Is the link meta data lost? Does the meta data only remain if the link is opened in an app such as mail or notes?
Alex from Branch.io here:
This list in the Branch documentation gives a partial list of apps that support Universal Links, but unfortunately it is not complete. We've tried to cover the most common apps.
Line is using a custom webview (not SFSafariViewController). It doesn't support Universal Links for the initial click, but this is one of the edge cases where Branch can detect the originating app and do some custom behavior. For Line, we trigger your app's URI scheme. This means the behavior your users see when clicking a Branch link from within Line is the same as Universal Links, even though Universal Links isn't actually the protocol being used.
If you want to handle other apps where Branch doesn't have a workaround like this, you could try enabling the deepviews feature. This will cause the link to open a content preview with a button to launch the app (or forward to the App Store if not installed).
When a user with the app already installed clicks the Open button on the App Store page, all the meta data is preserved and they will still be deep linked. Branch doesn't know (or care!) what happens between when the user clicks the link and the app launches, so that gives you plenty of flexibility.
Universal Links have some restrictions - not from Branch but from Apple's implementation. One of these restrictions is Universal Links cannot be opened from SFSafariViewController.
From Branch's docs, Line is not explicitly mentioned but other popular messaging apps may be of interest. I don't have Line myself but whether Line launches websites in it's own browser or the Safari app may give you a clue.
Facebook Messenger - works conditionally
WeChat - works conditionally
Twitter - works conditionally
LinkedIn - works conditionally
Any app using SFSafariViewController - works conditionally
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?