Appy

Deep linking

What is a deferred deep link?

Short answer

A deferred deep link is a deep link whose destination survives the app install. Someone without the app taps it, goes to the store, installs, and on first launch the app opens the screen the link promised, such as a product, an invite or a promo code, instead of the home screen.

example.com/p/421App Store · Google Play2Install3First open4Product screen/p/425
The destination is kept while the person installs, then handed to the app on first open.

The gap in the middle

The sequence is always the same: tap, no app, store, install, first launch. The hard part is the store. It doesn’t pass your link on to the app, so something has to remember the destination during the install and hand it over the first time the app opens.

Android and iOS do it differently

On Android, the destination can travel through Google Play’s install referrer. You put it in the referrer parameter of the Play Store link, and the app reads it on first run.

iOS has no equivalent referrer. Tools rely on an SDK inside the app plus a link-open or matching step after the install. Apple forbids fingerprinting, so guessing by IP address and device model is not an acceptable shortcut. On Appy, deferred deep linking is part of the Enterprise SDK.

ExampleA link that should survive the install
https://example.com/invite/K42
Read moreDeferred Deep Linking: How It Works and When to Use ItHow the original link survives the install so new users land on the right screen, not a generic home tab.

Related terms

  • Deep link

    A deep link is a link that opens a specific screen inside a mobile app, such as a product page, an article or a saved cart, instead of a web page or the app’s home screen. It can be a custom URI scheme, an iOS Universal Link, an Android App Link or a deferred deep link.

  • Install referrer

    The install referrer is the referrer value from a Google Play link, which Google Play passes to your app after installation through the Play Install Referrer API. The app reads it once on first run, and it stays available for 90 days. It gives deterministic install attribution on Android; the App Store has no equivalent.

  • Fingerprinting

    Fingerprinting matches an app install to an earlier click by combining signals such as IP address, device model and operating system version, instead of a real identifier. Apple’s rules forbid fingerprinting for tracking, even when the user has agreed to tracking, and privacy regulators look at it closely.

All glossary terms

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.

Create a free link