Does Facebook Deferred Deep Linking on iOS work, and how to test it before publishing the app on Store?

Question

I have a problem with Facebook Deferred Deep Linking on iOS. DEEP LINKING WORKS, BUT DEFERRED DEEP LINKING DOESN'T WORK. I have read a lot about this problem and still cannot find the solution.

I have set up deep linking and it works. When I also try to test deep linking on App Ads Helper and click on "Test deep link", enter deep link and click on "Send notification", I receive a notification on Facebook which opens my app, and this deep linking works. But, when I click "Select Deferred", I don't receive anything. I try to delete app and reinstall it, but [FBSDKAppLinkUtility fetchDeferredAppLink:...]; method doesn't get any deferred deep link after new install.

[FBSDKAppLinkUtility fetchDeferredAppLink:^(NSURL *url, NSError *error) {
        if (error) {
            NSLog(@"Received error while fetching deferred app link %@", error);
        }
        if (url) {
            [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:url options:@{} completionHandler:^(BOOL success) {

            }];
        }
    }];

In this example, url is always nil.

Note: I still don't have app on Store, so I entered a Apple Id of another application. Even if I had my own app on Store, how could I test deferred deep linking without publishing app on Store?

Also, I have read on Facebook documentation that:

Beginning with iOS 10, iOS doesn't support deferred deep linking, so you can't open content other than the starting screen once people have installed the app. (Source)

So, I am not sure if this is even possible.

Also, I have read another articles on Stackoverflow, but there are not answer that I am looking for, i.e. they look incomplete, or I just don;t see the answer between the lines:

How to use facebook deferred deep linking feature for new installs and to test the same before publishing iOS App to appStore? -> Answers to this question aren't what I am looking for:

If you want to verify deferred links then check 'Send Deferred' in the dialog. So, after doing this you need to uninstall the app(if already present) and then install again from the app store. The device in which you will be testing this should have facebook app installed and logged in with the account from which you had sent the "deferred deep link request" from app-ads helper. Now when you open your app, you should bee able to see your deferred deep link functionality working.

This doesn't work, so that's why I am asking this question.

Also, I have found that I could use Tune SDK for deferred deep linking:

...this is not a problem with the iOS 10 operating system itself. Deferred deep linking works just fine for iOS 10 using the TUNE SDK. (Source)

Also, I have found that I could use Branch.io for deferred deep linking:

With Branch, you get all the basic routing of a Universal Link plus the deferred deep linking and install attribution for the new user acquisition flow. (Source)

I haven't tried Tune and Branch.io. I would like to use Facebook ads and perform deferred deep linking without third party solutions. Is it possible with Facebook, and how to test deferred deep linking for Facebook on iOS?

Answer 1

It worked for us after resetting advertising identifier. Maybe internally they are preventing attribution in the same app twice if it is the same advertising identifier. So go to settings and reset your advertising identifier before testing. Also make sure the phone has not opted out of tracking.