iOS App Store Pass Parameters in Store Download Link

Question

Similar to this question: How to make ios App Store link with parameters?

I am interested in passing parameters to the download link in the iOS app store. From what I've read, it seems that the parameters are only passed to the application if it was already installed, and the user tapped the smart app banner.

What I want to do is pass parameters to the download link such that when a user downloads, the first time they open the app, the parameters will be passed.

Mainly, I want to allow users to invite their friends to play my app through email or facebook and when the friend downloads using their link, it will send a push to the original player to notify that their friend now has the app.

Thanks!

Answer 1

This is now easier with the coming iOS 9, because cookies can be shared between Safari and the in-app Safari View Controller! Simply keep a cookie in the browser and track the last link clicked on. Then when the user opens your app, open up an invisible Safari View Controller in the background while you show a spinner. As soon as you can inspect the cookie and see the last link clicked, you can stop the spinner--it should be a very fast operation.

We offer this for no cost at Branch, where we've had a customizable web banner for some time. Now we're excited to incorporate the Safari View Controller into our open-source SDK! We also have a version of digital fingerprinting that allows you to do the same on pre-iOS 9 devices. We use IP address, OS, OS version and more to compare a click in a browser to an open in an app. This approach has pros and cons.. happy to go into further detail if you're interested.