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Deep Linking

Deep linking provides a mechanism to open an application to a specific resource. The Airship SDK framework supports the opening of deep links via the payload of a notification, a link from a Rich App Page, or the JavaScript Interface.

You must set up deep links for your project in the Airship dashboard and also set up their handling in your application.

The SDK provides a way to listen for deep links so you can handle them in your app.

Listening for deep links

The deep link listener should be set during the onAirshipReady callback.

airship.deepLinkListener = DeepLinkListener { deepLink: String ->
    // handle deepLink
    true
}

The deep link listener should be set during the onAirshipReady callback.

airship.setDeepLinkListener(deepLink -> {
    // Handle the deepLink
    return true;
});

Deep link listener should be set after takeOff.

@UIApplicationMain
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate, DeepLinkDelegate, ... {
    
    ...

    func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey : Any]? = nil) -> Bool {
        
        ...

        // Call takeOff
        Airship.takeOff(config, launchOptions: launchOptions)

        // Set deepLinkDelegate after takeOff
        Airship.deepLinkDelegate = self

        return true
    }

    @MainActor
    func receivedDeepLink(_ deepLink: URL) async  {
        // handle deep link
    }

    ...
}

Deep link listener should be set after takeOff.

@interface AppDelegate () <UADeepLinkDelegate, ...>

...

@end

@implementation AppDelegate

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions {

    ...

    // Call takeOff
    [UAirship takeOff:config launchOptions:launchOptions];

    // Set deepLinkDelegate after takeOff
    UAirship.deepLinkDelegate = self;

    return Yes;
}

...

- (void)receivedDeepLink:(nonnull NSURL *)url
       completionHandler:(nonnull void (^)(void))completionHandler {

    // Handle deepLink
    completionHandler();
}

...

@end
Airship.addListener(EventType.DeepLink, (event) => {
   const deepLink = event.deepLink; 
});
Airship.onDeepLink.listen((event) {
    var deepLink = event.deepLink;
    // handle deepLink
});
Airship.onDeepLink((event) => {
    var deepLink = event.deepLink
    // handle deep link
});
await Airship.onDeepLink(event => {
    var deepLink = event.deepLink
    // handle deep link
});
// Not available via Airship.NET. Use native bindings:
UAirship.Shared.OnDeepLinkReceived += (string deepLink) => {
    // handle deep link
};
// Not available via Airship.NETStandard. Use native bindings.
Airship.addEventListener(Airship.eventDeepLinkReceived, function (e) {
        var deepLink = event.deepLink
    // handle deep link
})
UAirship.Shared.OnDeepLinkReceived += (string deepLink) => {
    // handle deep link
};

The Airship SDK provides several internal deep links with the uairship:// scheme. These deep links are only handled through Airship messaging features and are not externally exposed.

Provided deep links:

  • uairship://preferences/<PREFERENCE_CENTER_ID> — Deep links to a preference center.
  • uairship://message_center — Deep links to the message center.
  • uairship://message_center/<MESSAGE_ID> — Deep links to a message within the message center.
  • uairship://app_settings— Deep links to the system app settings for the app.
  • "uairship://app_store?itunesID=<IOS_ITUNES_ID>" — Deep links to the app’s listing in the devices app store.

Any other uairship:// deep links that are not handled by Airship directly are delivered to the DeepLinkDelegate.

These deep links are common across devices with the Airship SDK, so do not expose them directly. Instead, an app can expose their own deep link that maps to an Airship deep link. For instance, you can expose myapp://airship/preference/<PREFERENCE_CENTER_ID>, and when the app handles the deep link, it can ask Airship to display the preference center.

Testing deep links is critical for ensuring the correct user experience in your app. After setting up deep links, you can use the Deep Link ActionA configurable behavior that occurs when a user interacts with your message, e.g., opening a web page. in messages.

You can select a deep link when configuring: