When you have your own iOS or Android app, mobile deep links ensure that anyone opening your links on a mobile device will be taken directly to the app instead of a mobile website.
After you've added your mobile apps to your account, connect the apps to your custom domain. This creates the site association files for your apps, which are necessary for creating mobile deep links.
Make sure you've set up the mobile app in Bitly with Apple App IDs and/or Android SHA-256 Keys. This is required before you can proceed.
To configure your custom domain for mobile deep linking:
- Log in to your Bitly account.
- Click Settings in the left sidebar.
- Click Custom Domains below your account name.
- Click Manage on the Custom Domain to be used for deep linking.
- Scroll down to Mobile link behavior and click Select iOS Apps or Select Android Apps.
- Choose the apps to be configured for your domain.
Note: Only apps with Apple App IDs or Android SHA-256 Keys will appear in this list.
- Configure the mobile link behavior settings for the custom domain:
- App Priority: The order the mobile operating system will follow when trying to open apps. If an app with a higher priority order is not installed on the mobile device the OS will try the next app in the order listed. To change the order, drag and drop the app into the desired order.
- Install Preference: The mobile experience to be shown to a user with no listed apps already installed on the mobile device. The Install Preference can be unique for iOS and Android.
- Content in mobile web: They'll be taken to the correct page in their browser.
- App store (Google Play Store or Apple App Store): They'll be taken to the Install URL to download the app. If you have multiple apps configured, they'll be taken to the listing for the first app in the list.
- Interstitial: They'll be taken to an interstitial on mobile web where they can choose to go to the Install URL to download the app or be taken to the content in mobile web.
That's it! You can verify the apps are configured properly on the custom domain by viewing the site association files at:
- iOS: https://[INSERT_YOUR_CUSTOM_DOMAIN]/apple-app-site-association
- Android: https://[INSERT_YOUR_CUSTOM_DOMAIN]/.well-known/assetlinks.json
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- It can take up to 10 mins to see updates to the site association file due to caching.
- Once one or more apps are associated to a custom domain, all links created on that custom domain prior to and after configuring will be deep link enabled.
Keep these things in mind as you choose and set up a custom domain:
- The domain for your short links must be different than your website domain.
- It can't be more than 32 characters long, including the dot.
- If you don't have one yet, Bitly offers a complimentary domain.