Deep linking explained
A normal link to an app at best opens its home screen. A deep link opens a specific place inside the app: a product, an article, an order, a playlist, a settings page. The term comes from the web, where a deep link points to a specific page instead of a site's home page.
Deep links make every channel that points to your app more useful: emails, push notifications, ads, QR codes and links people share with each other.
Types of deep links
| Type | Example | Works when the app is not installed? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| URI scheme | myapp://product/42 |
No, shows an error | Oldest kind; any app can claim the same scheme |
| Universal Links (iOS) | https://shop.example.com/product/42 |
Yes, opens the website | Standard on iOS |
| App Links (Android) | https://shop.example.com/product/42 |
Yes, opens the website | Standard on Android |
| Deferred deep link | Any of the above, through an install | Yes, opens the target after install | Needs a provider or your own matching |
Universal Links and App Links are ordinary https URLs. If the app is installed, the system opens it at the right screen; if not, the same link opens your website. That is why they replaced URI schemes for most use cases.
How Universal Links and App Links work
- Your website declares which apps may open its links. iOS reads an
apple-app-site-associationfile and Android anassetlinks.jsonfile, both under/.well-known/on your domain. - Your app declares which domains it handles. On iOS via Associated Domains, on Android via intent filters with autoVerify.
- The app maps paths to screens.
/product/42opens product 42; unknown paths fall back to a sensible screen.
Most "deep link doesn't work" problems come from a missing or misconfigured association file, or from links wrapped by email trackers that change the domain.
Where deep links are used
- Email and push notifications: "Your order has shipped" opens order tracking.
- Ads and campaigns, together with mobile attribution.
- Sharing: "check out this recipe" opens the recipe in the friend's app.
- QR codes and App Clips in the physical world.
- Replies to reviews and support: a link to the exact settings screen that solves a user's problem.
Deep linking tools
You can implement Universal Links and App Links yourself. Providers such as Branch, AppsFlyer and Adjust add deferred deep linking, link analytics and attribution. Firebase Dynamic Links, once a popular free option, was shut down by Google in 2025, so teams that relied on it have had to move to another provider or their own setup.
Why deep linking matters
Every extra tap between a link and the content loses users. Deep links shorten that path, which raises conversion from campaigns and improves engagement and retention. For new users, deferred deep links do the same through the install.
Example
An email says "Your order has shipped". Tapping it on a phone opens the order tracking screen in the shop's app via a Universal Link; on a desktop computer the same link opens the tracking page on the website.