Deep links

A deep link is a link that opens the mobile app straight on the right screen: a product card, a catalogue section, a static page. It looks like an ordinary link, except that instead of https:// it starts with your app's scheme.

myshop://catalog/element/123

Deep links are for the cases where somebody reaches the app from outside: from a website, an email, an SMS, a QR code or a social media post.

When to use them

There are three different tools for opening a screen. Pick by where the person taps:

Your app's scheme

The scheme is unique to each shop and matches the app code: if the code is myshop, every link starts with myshop://. If you do not know the code, ask support.

Every example below uses myshop://: substitute your own scheme.

Address reference

There are no other addresses. The basket, stores, the loyalty card and search cannot be opened with a deep link: use commands in a push or in HTML blocks for those.

Where to find identifiers

An identifier is visible in the admin panel address bar when an item card is open.

For pages and post categories the type is prefixed to the number: static_page_5, news_3. That is not a typo: this is how the app tells content screens apart.

myshop://content/static/static_page_5
myshop://content/news/list/news_3
myshop://content/news/detail/news_3/456

If the app data comes from 1C-Bitrix, the content screen identifiers are plain numbers (content/static/100). Check them with your integrator.

Examples

A link on a website

<a href="myshop://catalog/element/123">Open the product in the app</a>

Replace 123 with your product identifier.

A button with a fallback

If the app is not installed, the link simply does nothing. To send such a visitor to a download page, add a fallback:

<a href="myshop://catalog/element/123" id="open-app">Open in the app</a>

<script>
    document.getElementById('open-app').addEventListener('click', function (event) {
        event.preventDefault();

        var opened = false;
        document.addEventListener('visibilitychange', function () {
            if (document.hidden) opened = true;
        });

        window.location.href = 'myshop://catalog/element/123';

        setTimeout(function () {
            if (!opened) window.location.href = 'https://example.com/app';
        }, 1200);
    });
</script>

Replace https://example.com/app with your own page carrying the App Store and Google Play links. This is a heuristic: the browser does not report whether the app opened, so the transition is inferred from whether the tab went into the background.

A QR code

Encode the whole address into the QR code:

myshop://catalog/section/12

Such a code is convenient to print in a shop window or on a flyer: the phone camera opens the catalogue section straight in the app.

Email and SMS

Insert the address as plain text:

Your order is ready: myshop://profile/orders/list

Not every mail client and messenger makes such links tappable. If reach matters, point people at a website page with the button from the example above.

Analytics tags

Parameters can be appended to the address: the app opens the same screen and ignores the extras.

myshop://catalog/element/123?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=sale

How to test

Open the link on a phone with the app installed: paste it into the browser address bar, into a note or into a chat with yourself and tap it. The app opens on the right screen, whether it was closed or merely in the background.

Limits

• The app must be installed. Without it nothing happens: the browser shows an error or ignores the link.
• The app does not intercept ordinary https:// addresses. A link must start with the app scheme.
• An unknown address does not break the app: it simply opens on the screen it was on.
• A webview screen (a page showing an external site) cannot be opened with a deep link.
• The order list opens empty for a shopper who is not signed in: a deep link does not ask them to sign in.

Related pages

• Push tap actions: opening a screen from a push notification
• Interactive HTML blocks: navigation from content inside the app