Design Deep Links and App Links

Mobile · mobile, navigation, onboarding

Updated 2026-07-28

Land people on the exact content, never on the home screen. A link that opens the app and forgets what it was pointing at wastes the intent that made someone tap it.
Handle the four states a link can arrive in:

Preserve the destination through installation and sign in. The user should arrive at the shared item after authenticating rather than at a generic start screen.
Keep the web version working for the same address. Not everyone will install, and a link that only functions in an app is a dead end in every other context.
Never interrupt with an install prompt before showing the content. Prove the value first, then offer the app.
Give the user a way back to where they came from, because a link opened from a message that cannot return to it strands them.
Handle content they cannot access with a real explanation and a route to request access, rather than a blank screen or a false not-found.
Test links from the places people actually share them, including messaging apps, email clients, and in-app browsers, each of which handles them differently.

A shared link is the cheapest growth channel a product has, and most of its value is lost between the tap and the content.