Every solution described below can simply open your app from a web browser or from other apps. Please contact our support if you need to enhance your app opening with more complex actions.

Deep link

 The deep link is set automatically by the platform, and it’s based on your app name, lowercased. For example, if your app is named “My Test App”, the resulting deep link should be:

my-test-app://

The app behavior depends on the platform where the link is used:

iOS: a security alert is shown (see image 1)

Android: the app is immediately opened, except for the case where there is another app listening for the same link. In this case, an app chooser is shown (see image 2)

iOS Universal link

iOS Universal links are disabled by default in your app. To enable it, you should do the following steps:

1. In Paperlit Dashboard, go to Publish App / Apple app store / Setup (see image 3)
2. Add the URL that you want to bind to the app (it must be a https:// URL)
3. Download the apple-app-site-association file
4. Place the file in your website root (make sure that the web server is configured to add the header “Content-Type:application/json” to this file)
5. Build and submit the app

During app installation, the iOS device will search for the apple-app-site-association file and binds the paths to your app. If the file is changed after installation, you need to uninstall and reinstall the app in order to detect the new paths.

If the app is installed, calling supported URL results in a direct app opening, without any alert.

Universal links are supported by iOS 9+. If the link is opened in a previous iOS version, a normal Safari page is opened, so keep in mind to create a proper landing page to inform that the feature is not supported (maybe with a button that fallbacks to the deep link).

Android app links

Android app links are disabled by default in your app. To enable it, you should do the following steps:

1. In Paperlit Dashboard, go to Publish App / Google play store / Setup (see image 4)
2. Add the URL that you want to bind to the app
3. Download the assetlinks.json file
4. Place the file in a folder named “.well-known” in your site root
5. Build and submit the app

 If the app is installed, calling a supported URL results in an app chooser (see image 2). To always open the app using the app link, the user should press “Always” in the app chooser.

 App links are supported by Android 6+. If the link is opened in a previous Android version, a normal Chrome page is opened, so keep in mind to create a proper landing page to inform that the feature is not supported (maybe with a button that fallbacks to the deep link).

Image 1. iOS security alert

Image 2. Android app chooser

Image 3. Apple App Store configuration

Image 4. Google Play store Configuration