App stores
What is an app store link?
Short answer
An app store link is the address of an app’s page in a store. On the App Store it looks like apps.apple.com/<country>/app/<name>/id<number>; on Google Play, play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=<package>. The scheme versions, itms-apps:// and market://, open the store app itself instead of a web page.
The parts that matter
On the App Store, the number after id identifies the app and the country code picks the storefront. Leave the country code out and Apple sends visitors to their own country’s store, which is usually what a global campaign wants. On Google Play, the package name after id= identifies the app.
Web address or store scheme
The https versions work everywhere: in a browser, in an email, on a desktop. The scheme versions skip the web page and open the App Store or Play Store app directly, but only on a phone that has that store.
One link for both stores
An iPhone can’t use a Google Play link and an Android phone can’t use an App Store link. When there’s room for only one link, in a bio, on a poster or in a newsletter, a smart link sends each phone to its own store.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/example/id123456789Related terms
- Smart link
A smart link is one link, often with a matching QR code, that checks the device tapping it and sends each person to the right place: iPhones to the App Store, Android phones to Google Play or another store, desktops to your website, and straight into the app when it’s already installed.
- App Store campaign link
An App Store campaign link is an App Store URL with three extra parameters, pt (provider token), ct (campaign token) and mt=8, so App Store Connect can report impressions, product page views, downloads and sales for each campaign. The numbers are aggregate: they show how a campaign did, not who installed.
- Custom product page
A custom product page is an extra version of your App Store product page with its own screenshots, promotional text and app previews. You can create up to 70 of them. Each has a unique URL with a product page ID, so ads and links can send people to the version that matches the campaign.
One link for every phone
Create a free smart link and QR code that sends iPhones to the App Store, Android phones to Google Play and desktops to your website.