How to Use Dynamic Links Console in Firebase?

The need for a Share this Post/Product/Item button in your app is obvious; after all, thousands of users may have already utilized your favorite social media platform’s Share Link feature by the time you read this. On iOS or Android, users can be routed immediately to the related content in your native app by clicking on a Dynamic Link. The same Dynamic Link can direct users to the same page on your website if they access it in a desktop browser. Your users benefit from the greatest experience possible for the platform they open your link on when you use dynamic links.

Additionally, Dynamic Links function across app installs. If a user accesses a Dynamic Link on iOS or Android and does not already have your app installed, they may be prompted to do so. Once your app is installed, the user can access the link after your app has started working. It has several advantages, including a larger likelihood that my user’s friend will download the app since the link will direct them to download my app or visit my website. For my future users, it will be a positive experience if a suitable preview of the shared content (for instance, the image) is visible.

How Do Dynamic Links Work?

You can establish a Dynamic Link by adding Dynamic Link parameters to a domain specific to your app, the Firebase console, a REST API, the iOS or Android Builder API, or by constructing a URL. If your app isn’t already installed when a user clicks one of your Dynamic Links, they are directed to the Play Store or App Store to do so (unless you specify differently), after which your app launches. After that, you can get the URL that was given to your app and handle the deep link in the way that works best for it. Depending on the user’s platform and whether your app is installed, these parameters describe the links you want to open.

Typical use cases for Firebase Dynamic Links can be:

1. If a user clicks the shareable link (which they may have received from their friends) but does not have their app installed, nothing will happen, which is a loss for you and a bad experience for your future users. This is one of the reasons you should switch to Firebase since it will automatically redirect you to either your website or the Google Play Store where you can download your app.
2. Second, if you do not utilize Firebase, your link may include some (perhaps private) actual data, such as the id of your post, product, or item, and your user may attempt to manipulate the link by altering the id or performing other similar actions.
3. Not to mention, if you don’t use Firebase for this feature, you might miss crucial link analytics like total clicks.

How to Implement Firebase Dynamic Links with your project

Step #1: Creating the link

For starters, we need to start by clicking on the Dynamic Links section from the Firebase console located in the right tab of the screen.

Image #1: Shortening the link.

Step #2: Setting up the link to work

After you have created your custom link, you need to press ‘Next’ after which you will be posted to the next step which is to set up the link that you have just created.

Image #2: Choosing the redirect link, setting up

Step #3: Choose the default behavior for the link

You need to next specify what tapping the link would do, you have two choices to choose from, choose from any of them

Image #3: Choosing behavior for Apple Devices.

Step #4: Create the link, and see it in action

That’s it, that is all that you need to create a dynamic link to your listing and start using it straight away, the whole process is simple and easy to set up, also it does not require any additional steps like connecting the app to Firebase, etc.

Image #4: Creating the link.

Conclusion

You can direct both current and potential users to any location within your iOS or Android app using dynamic links, which are clever URLs. Even new users see the content they’re looking for when they open the app for the first time because they survive the app installation process. Dynamic Links are always free, regardless of scale.