Fallback link on desktop

[phillipcmittmann]

So, I'm trying to figure out how to configure a fallback link, when I manually create a dynamic link, that redirects in desktops. When using fallbackUrl in the builder, the Promise returned contains both AFL and IFL parameters not encoded.

const link = await dynamicLinks().buildLink({
                link: `https://myapp.example.com/todayEdition/${Moment().format('YYYYMMDD')}`,
                domainUriPrefix: 'https://myapp.example.com',
                android: {
                    packageName: 'com.myapp.example,
                    fallbackUrl: 'www.google.com.br'
                },
                ios: {
                    bundleId: 'com.myapp.example',
                    fallbackUrl: 'www.google.com.br'
                },
            });

The snipped above results in:

https://myapp.example.com?afl=www.google.com.br&apn=com.myapp.example&ibi=com.myapp.example&ifl=www.google.com.br&link=https%3A%2F%2Fmyapp.example.com%2FtodayEdition%2F20210923

When opening in mobile, the links redirects/open the application like it should. On desktop, it says: "Dynamic Link Not Found
Failed to resolve uri domain prefix: https://myapp.example.com/todayEdition", instead of redirecting to Google as expected.

The domain prefix is already registered in the console.

React-Native - 0.64.2
Dynamic Links - 12.1.0

[mikehardy]

Hi there!
Interesting - first thing I can say is in general approaching support in any fashion with outdated versions is always going to result in an immediate request to update and make sure you still reproduce. 12.8.0 is current

I don't want to spend any more time on it really until I know it's still valid in current versions. Past that - I think the assumption is that you need to url-encode all links that you send in to the builder? Does it work if you do that?

[phillipcmittmann]

First, sorry about the issue. Couldn't figure out how to delete a discussion because I created by mistake and didn't know if this was the right place to have this conversation.

When opening in mobile, the links redirects/open the application like it should.

Again, sorry. I meant redirects to the store* like it should.

After updating the dependency, all the parameters passed to the build are encoded.

https://myapp.example.com/?ibi=com%2Eexample%2Emyapp&apn=com%2Eexample%2Emyapp&afl=www%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Ebr&ifl=www%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Ebr&link=https%3A%2F%myapp%example%2Ecom%todayEdition%2F20210923

[mikehardy]

Oh great - so, this appears resolved via current version? Just want to make sure before marking it as answer

[phillipcmittmann]

Not yet. On desktops still Dynamic Link Not Found. The redirect was already working as intended for mobiles (redirecting for the store as expected). Now, with 12.8.0, it stopped working.

EDIT: the link works if I already have the app installed. Otherwise, it doesn't open the browser on android, and loads into Dynamic Link Not Found on iOS.

[mikehardy]

Hmm - have you tried putting the link into a browser URL with ?d=1 on it? https://firebase.google.com/docs/dynamic-links/debug
I could have sworn I tested all this for my own work project when I integrated it, but it appears from 12.1.0 to 12.8.0 perhaps there were behavior changes, and/or perhaps something is wrong here, I'm just not sure sorry. May be that your opening an issue was actually the correct course as this could be a bug

[phillipcmittmann]

In https://myapp.example.com/todayEdition?d=1 shows the debug as expected. Adding a parameter (/todayEdition/20210923?d=1) results in Dynamic Link not found, as it should because this link isn't registered on the console, just /todayEdition. Still, wont redirect to the store on mobile like before. Removing the OS specific parameters didn't made a difference.

[phillipcmittmann]

After a bit more of testing I got to redirect on desktops after manually adding &ofl=ENCODED_FALLBACK_LINK at the end of new dynamic link.
I'm not sure how the links are encoded in the builder even after looking at the source code. It's a bit of work, but I can manually encode the links I need in the app, verifying which one I need per occasion.
On that note, in my opinion, it should be created a optional parameter desktop at buildLink like android or ios to act as fallback link for desktops.

EDIT: formating and semantics
EDIT 2: encodeURIComponent doesn't encode dots, but resolved the problem anyway

[harrysayers]

@cristiam86 Thank you for the reply.

I've used my website as the link property and the domainUriPrefix handles the deep link as below:

link: `https://www.mywebsite.com`,
domainUriPrefix: `https://myapp.page.link/${suffix}/${params}`

However I'm getting a "The operation couldn’t be completed. Long link is not parsable" error returned when I'm trying to create a link... so what I'm doing above can't be correct.

[cristiam86]

Can you please paste the actual code? Also, I'm not using the fallbackURL property since it doesn't redirect users to the Play/Apple Stores.
Also, please note that on iOS, you are missing the appStoreId property.

[harrysayers]

@cristiam86

Yes, of course. This is the function which I pass some params to and it returns a link, I've currently got the link and domainUriPrefix setup as you suggested.

I've replaced the actual website link with www.mywebsite.com and the app deep link with myapp.page.link.

Yes, good spot about the appStoreId... I've added that in, thank you.

async function buildLink(suffix, params, campaign, socialTitle, socialImage, descriptionText) {

  const link = await dynamicLinks().buildShortLink({
    link: 'https://www.mywebsite.com',
    domainUriPrefix: 'https://myapp.page.link/${suffix}/${params}',
    social:{
       title: socialTitle,
       imageUrl: socialImage,
       descriptionText: descriptionText
    },
    ios:{
      bundleId: '12345',
      appStoreId: '12345',
      fallbackUrl: 'https://mywebsite.com',
    },
    android: {
      packageName: 'myappname',
      fallbackUrl: 'https://mywebsite.com',
    },
    analytics: {
      campaign: campaign,
    },
  });

  return link;

}

Thanks for any help. :)

[cristiam86]

@harrysayers do you own myapp.page.link as URL prefix in Firebase? Otherwise, you need to create one in the web console and use it here.

[harrysayers]

@cristiam86 yeah I own myapp.page.link ( its registered in firebase) and it works when its set as the link parameter however when moved to the DomainUriPrefix it does not

[cristiam86]

@harrysayers domainUriPrefix should be only that prefix. The ${suffix}/${params} should be included in the link property

[harrysayers]

@cristiam86 I've tried this but I'm just receiving a 404 on my website when the link is clicked because "https://www.mywebsite.com/suffix/params doesn't exist and the app doesn't open the correct page because it's not receiving the suffix and params. I do apologies, but something isn't right here.

link: `https://www.mywebsite.com/${suffix}/${params}`,
domainUriPrefix: `https://myapp.page.link`,

[cristiam86]

https://www.mywebsite.com/suffix/params should exist on your website.
The app should also handle this URL to know to which screen send the user to.
I'm sorry I'm not able to help you better. Maybe explaining the whole app can help, and also provide any code example or prototype.
For me it works as expected :)

[harrysayers]

@cristiam86 thanks for your help.

I got it working, I forgot to add my https://www.mywebsite.com to my app.js linking prefixes, it now opens the correct screen with params in app like it used too. My website still doesn't handle suffix/params correctly and returns a 404, I don't know what's going on there.... as a hacky fix I've just redirected all 404's to the homepage (my website is just a landing page, so it doesn't do anything fancy with content or require the params).

Hope this helps someone, maybe :)