Firebase Dynamic Links

Context

The Firebase Dynamic Links is a Google feature that enables Users to open links on different platforms.

If a User opens a Dynamic Link on iOS or Android, they can be taken directly to the linked content in our application. When they open the same Dynamic Link in their computer browser, they can be taken to the same content, just on our website.

In case they don't have your app installed on iOS or Android, they will be prompted to install it (by going to AppStore or PlayStore respectively). Then, after the installation, your app starts and the link works as it should - taking Users directly where you want them to go.

Setup

Before we can start using and handling these kinds of links on mobile applications, we need to set up a couple of things.

Firebase project set-up

Every Brand has to have its own Firebase project where Dynamic links can be created. The Brand's Mobile App needs to be configured and connected to the Firebase project. Here's how to do it on the iOS:

Example: iOS

1. Go to Project Settings → General → Select iOS application
2. When the iOS application is selected, this will be displayed:
   
3. Here's theApp Store ID. This value will be used to redirect the User to the AppStore if the application is not installed.

Create a Dynamic Link

1. Go to Engage → Dynamic Links → Add URL prefix
2. Before we can create a Dynamic Link, we first need to add a URL prefix. The project can have multiple URL prefixes. You have two choices for domain usage:
   - your own (for example yourdomain.com or app.yourdomain.com
   - a Google-provided domain at no cost (for example yourapp.page.link)
3. After creating the URL prefix, we can create a Dynamic Link by tapping on the button New Dynamic Link

4. Follow the instructions on the Firebase Console to create the Dynamic Link.
5. You will need to define the following to create the Dynamic Link:
   - the deeplink (this is the list of deeplinks we are currently supporting)
   - a short URL link (you can create a customized short link URL to make the link more professional and contextual to the customer)
   - the behaviour on the Android side
   - the behaviour on the Apple side