What is the Deeplinks & Smart App Banner Feature?
Deep linking refers to creating links that direct users to a specific location within an app, rather than just the app’s homepage. It’s like providing a shortcut that takes users directly to the most relevant content or feature they’re interested in.
Imagine a website link that doesn’t just bring you to the homepage, but lands you right on a specific article or product page. Deep linking functions similarly but within the app environment.
For Android and iOS, this is accomplished with the help of Android App Links and Universal Links respectively.
A smart app banner is a promotional message banner that appears at the top of a mobile webpage when a user visits the site using a smartphone or tablet. The primary function of a smart app banner is to encourage users browsing your mobile website to download your app.
Feature Highlights.
- Link Android App with your store domains with Android App Links.
- Link iOS App with your store domains with iOS Universal Links
- Context-aware Smart app banner that can detect the app installation status and display the message either to open app or to install app if user is browsing your store from the mobile device.
How to Enable Sorting and Filtering Feature?
You can simply click on the Enable button along with the Deeplinks & Smart App Banner Feature box from the Features page of Evlop Mobile App’s Shopify Dashboard and will need to configure Deeplinks and Smart App Banner separately for Android & iOS.
Highlights
1. Link Android App with your store domains with Android App Links.
Android App Links are a type of deep link that allows an Android app to associate itself uniquely with a website domain. To implement this feature, you need to enable Android App Links, verify and configure it with the Android app SHA256 fingerprint from your App on the Google Play console, This fingerprint verifies that you own both the website and the app. Once this is done, when a user clicks on a web URL, the Android system can automatically direct them to your app (if it’s installed) and display the corresponding content. If the app isn’t installed, the URL will open in a web browser as usual. This creates a smooth experience for the user, as they can be redirected from a web page to the relevant content in your app.
These steps can be followed to get the SHA256 fingerprint.
- Go to your Google Play Console
- Navigate Setup
- Click App Signing.
- navigate to the App signing key certificate section
- Copy the SHA256.
2. Link iOS App with your store domains with iOS Universal Links
Universal links are the iOS equivalent of Android App Links. They allow you to link to content deep within your iOS app by simply using standard HTTP or HTTPS links. When a user taps a universal link, iOS checks if the corresponding app is installed. If it is, the app is launched immediately to the specific content. If the app isn’t installed, the link opens the website URL in Safari. Universal links provide a secure and seamless user experience, ensuring that users can access your content in the most integrated way possible, whether through your app or website.
iOS universal links will be configured automatically if you click the checkbox to enable the option and save the changes.
3. Smart app banner for iOS and Android.
A smart app banner is a banner that appears at the top of a mobile webpage when a user visits the site using a smartphone or tablet.
Here’s the major functionality of a Smart App Banner.
Smart app banners are context-aware. They can detect if the user already has your app installed on their device.
- If the app is not installed: The banner typically displays a message like “Get App” or “Install Now” along with the app icon and a brief description. Tapping the banner redirects the user to the app download page in the relevant app store (e.g., Apple App Store or Google Play Store).
- If the app is already installed: The banner might change its message to “Open” or “Launch” and allow users to directly access the app from the mobile webpage.
These steps will need to follow to enable and configure Smart App Banners for iOS and Android.
- Enable Smart App Banner from the Evlop mobile app’s Shopify dashboard.
- Click the checkbox along with the ‘Enable android Smart app banner’ and ‘Enable iOS Smart app banner’
- Save The changes.
- Enable theme extension
- you will get the warning pop-up with the message “Smart app banner” theme extension is not enabled.
- Click ‘Go to theme setting’ Button available on the warning message box.
- you will be redirected to the theme settings page on a new tab and theme extension will now be enabled automatically.
- Save the changes to the Theme Settings page.
- Go back to the previous tab and click refresh.
How customers will see it?
