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You can do something similar with iOS as well - as far as handling parts of the url and query. One thing you can't do, unfortunately, is handle any url that sta

by bennyg 12y ago

You can do something similar with iOS as well - as far as handling parts of the url and query. One thing you can't do, unfortunately, is handle any url that starts with http - it has to be custom.

tadfisher 12y ago
...which is the main motivator for all of these deep-linking services. Having one URL that gracefully degrades to the browser when the user does not have your app installed is not currently possible without annoying server-side hackery on iOS.
danielrhodes 12y ago
Right. The problem that has arisen is creating that mapping between those HTTP urls and the app URL, especially since only the app developer knows that URL and how it is interpreted inside the app, is almost non-existent. What has resulted is a shadow set of URLs which only work if the app is installed (which you can't tell from the web). All the great network effects you get from hyperlinks on the web don't get passed over to the mobile ecosystem because of these properties (hidden URL structure, inconsistent with the web, etc.). When YouTube came pre-installed on iOS in the first few versions, when you clicked on an (HTTP) link to YouTube it would open the app. It was a great experience because the YouTube app had a nicer experience than the web. It would be great to be able to do this for more apps, if those apps wanted it.