Linking

Linking

Deep link

Good scenarios of how to utilize it in project.

-   Create a deeplink as a quick action to log in using a specific account  
    E.g. `myapp://login?account=testaccount&password=StrongPassword`
-   Use a deeplink to switch between a staging and production environment  
    E.g. `myapp://switch-environment?target=staging`
-   Open a debug view based on a particular URL  
    E.g. `myapp://open-debug-view`

Above snippet from avanderlee.com

Good tutorial on how to achieve this.
Swift DC

Swift UI Deep links

var body: some Scene {
    WindowGroup {
        ContentView()
            .onOpenURL { (url) in
                // Handle url here
            }
    }
}

Can't use the same App Delegate methods lifecycle options in SwiftUI.
apple docs
apple forums

Check App installation

With javascript we could redirect the navigation window object to a specific url of the app & if it doesn’t work we would just run the app store url of the app.

setTimeout(function () { 
// Won't execute first due to timeout function
window.location = "https://itunes.apple.com/appdir"; }, 25);

window.location = "appname://";

SO Link

Universal Links

Supporting Universal links on iOS requires you to have access to Apple developer account, website domain, subdomain, write file access to public folder, SSL certificate for website to host over https.

It is a time consuming process but when configured properly it is seamless to work with. Since you won't have to worry about checking if the app is installed on the user device. Apple takes care of those underlying logic. With Deep linking apple first opens the URI callback on default web browser - Safari and then makes the call to open the app if installed. This requires very less effort.
But with Universal links apple is able to directly open the link on the app if supported.

Setting up Universal links Source: Branch-IO

Apple documentation

• Allowing apps and websites to link to your content

• Supporting universal links in your app

• Supporting associated domains
  Note
  If your site uses multiple subdomains (such as example.com, www.example.com, and support.example.com), each requires its own entry in the Associated Domains Entitlement, and each must serve its own apple-app-site-association file.

Subdomain help
multiple-associated-domains

Callback URL

The goal of the x-callback-url specification is to provide a standardized means for iOS developers to expose and document the methods they make available to other apps via custom URL schemes.

targetapp://x-callback-url/updateStatus?
   x-source=SourceApp&
   text=[User inputted string]

x-callback-url

Testing

Opening links without typing it in simulator for testing can be easily achieved using Xcode CLI.

Use this command to launch website or URL on simulator

xcrun simctl openurl booted "https://reddit.com/"

xcrun simctl openurl booted "com.trackvia://"

6-ways-of-launching-deeplinks-on-ios-simulator

Reference

defining-a-custom-url-scheme