Linking
Linking
gives you a general interface to interact with both incoming and outgoing app links.
Every Link (URL) has a URL Scheme, some websites are prefixed with https://
or http://
and the http
is the URL Scheme. Let's call it scheme for short.
In addition to https
, you're likely also familiar with the mailto
scheme. When you open a link with the mailto scheme, your operating system will open an installed mail application. Similarly, there are schemes for making phone calls and sending SMS. Read more about built-in URL schemes below.
Like using the mailto scheme, it's possible to link to other applications by using custom url schemes. For example, when you get a Magic Link email from Slack, the Launch Slack button is an anchor tag with an href that looks something like: slack://secret/magic-login/other-secret
. Like with Slack, you can tell the operating system that you want to handle a custom scheme. When the Slack app opens, it receives the URL that was used to open it. This is often referred to as deep linking. Read more about how to get the deep link into your app.
Custom URL scheme isn't the only way to open your application on mobile. You don't want to use a custom URL scheme in links in the email because then the links would be broken on desktop. Instead, you want to use a regular https
links such as https://www.myapp.io/records/1234546
. and on mobile you want that link open your app. Android calls it Deep Links (Universal Links - iOS).
Built-in URL Schemes
As mentioned in the introduction, there are some URL schemes for core functionality that exist on every platform. The following is a non-exhaustive list, but covers the most commonly used schemes.
Scheme | Description | iOS | Android |
---|---|---|---|
mailto | Open mail app, eg: mailto: support@expo.io | ✅ | ✅ |
tel | Open phone app, eg: tel:+123456789 | ✅ | ✅ |
sms | Open SMS app, eg: sms:+123456789 | ✅ | ✅ |
https / http | Open web browser app, eg: https://expo.io | ✅ | ✅ |
Enabling Deep Links
If you want to enable deep links in your app, please read the below guide:
- Android
- iOS
For instructions on how to add support for deep linking on Android, refer to Enabling Deep Links for App Content - Add Intent Filters for Your Deep Links.
If you wish to receive the intent in an existing instance of MainActivity, you may set the launchMode
of MainActivity to singleTask
in AndroidManifest.xml
. See <activity>
documentation for more information.
<activity
android:name=".MainActivity"
android:launchMode="singleTask">
NOTE: On iOS, you'll need to add the
LinkingIOS
folder into your header search paths as described in step 3 here. If you also want to listen to incoming app links during your app's execution, you'll need to add the following lines to your*AppDelegate.m
:
// iOS 9.x or newer
#import <React/RCTLinkingManager.h>
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application
openURL:(NSURL *)url
options:(NSDictionary<UIApplicationOpenURLOptionsKey,id> *)options
{
return [RCTLinkingManager application:application openURL:url options:options];
}
If you're targeting iOS 8.x or older, you can use the following code instead:
// iOS 8.x or older
#import <React/RCTLinkingManager.h>
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application openURL:(NSURL *)url
sourceApplication:(NSString *)sourceApplication annotation:(id)annotation
{
return [RCTLinkingManager application:application openURL:url
sourceApplication:sourceApplication annotation:annotation];
}
If your app is using Universal Links, you'll need to add the following code as well:
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application continueUserActivity:(nonnull NSUserActivity *)userActivity
restorationHandler:(nonnull void (^)(NSArray<id<UIUserActivityRestoring>> * _Nullable))restorationHandler
{
return [RCTLinkingManager application:application
continueUserActivity:userActivity
restorationHandler:restorationHandler];
}
Handling Deep Links
There are two ways to handle URLs that open your app.
1. If the app is already open, the app is foregrounded and a Linking 'url' event is fired
You can handle these events with Linking.addEventListener('url', callback)
- it calls callback({url})
with the linked URL
2. If the app is not already open, it is opened and the url is passed in as the initialURL
You can handle these events with Linking.getInitialURL()
- it returns a Promise that resolves to the URL, if there is one.
Example
Open Links and Deep Links (Universal Links)
- TypeScript
- JavaScript
Open Custom Settings
- TypeScript
- JavaScript
Get the Deep Link
- TypeScript
- JavaScript
Send Intents (Android)
- TypeScript
- JavaScript
Reference
Methods
addEventListener()
static addEventListener(
type: 'url',
handler: (event: {url: string}) => void,
): EmitterSubscription;
Add a handler to Linking changes by listening to the url
event type and providing the handler.
canOpenURL()
static canOpenURL(url: string): Promise<boolean>;
Determine whether or not an installed app can handle a given URL.
The method returns a Promise
object. When it is determined whether or not the given URL can be handled, the promise is resolved and the first parameter is whether or not it can be opened.
The Promise
will reject on Android if it was impossible to check if the URL can be opened or when targeting Android 11 (SDK 30) if you didn't specify the relevant intent queries in AndroidManifest.xml
. Similarly on iOS, the promise will reject if you didn't add the specific scheme in the LSApplicationQueriesSchemes
key inside Info.plist
(see bellow).
Parameters:
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
url Required | string | The URL to open. |
For web URLs, the protocol (
"http://"
,"https://"
) must be set accordingly!
This method has limitations on iOS 9+. From the official Apple documentation:
- If your app is linked against an earlier version of iOS but is running in iOS 9.0 or later, you can call this method up to 50 times. After reaching that limit, subsequent calls always resolve to
false
. If the user reinstalls or upgrades the app, iOS resets the limit.As of iOS 9, your app also needs to provide the
LSApplicationQueriesSchemes
key insideInfo.plist
orcanOpenURL()
will always resolve tofalse
.
When targeting Android 11 (SDK 30) you must specify the intents for the schemes you want to handle in
AndroidManifest.xml
. A list of common intents can be found here.For example to handle
https
schemes the following needs to be added to your manifest:<manifest ...>
<queries>
<intent>
<action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW" />
<data android:scheme="https"/>
</intent>
</queries>
</manifest>
getInitialURL()
static getInitialURL(): Promise<string | null>;
If the app launch was triggered by an app link, it will give the link url, otherwise it will give null
.
To support deep linking on Android, refer https://developer.android.com/training/app-indexing/deep-linking.html#handling-intents
getInitialURL may return
null
when Remote JS Debugging is active. Disable the debugger to ensure it gets passed.
openSettings()
static openSettings(): Promise<void>;
Open the Settings app and displays the app’s custom settings, if it has any.
openURL()
static openURL(url: string): Promise<any>;
Try to open the given url
with any of the installed apps.
You can use other URLs, like a location (e.g. "geo:37.484847,-122.148386" on Android or "https://maps.apple.com/?ll=37.484847,-122.148386" on iOS), a contact, or any other URL that can be opened with the installed apps.
The method returns a Promise
object. If the user confirms the open dialog or the url automatically opens, the promise is resolved. If the user cancels the open dialog or there are no registered applications for the url, the promise is rejected.
Parameters:
Name | Type | Description |
---|---|---|
url Required | string | The URL to open. |
This method will fail if the system doesn't know how to open the specified URL. If you're passing in a non-http(s) URL, it's best to check
canOpenURL()
first.
For web URLs, the protocol (
"http://"
,"https://"
) must be set accordingly!
This method may behave differently in a simulator e.g.
"tel:"
links are not able to be handled in the iOS simulator as there's no access to the dialer app.
sendIntent()
Android
static sendIntent(
action: string,
extras?: Array<{key: string; value: string | number | boolean}>,
): Promise<void>;
Launch an Android intent with extras.
Parameters:
Name | Type |
---|---|
action Required | string |
extras | Array<{key: string, value: string | number | boolean}> |