man: Consider the simple URL.
A few years ago, these were pretty straightforward.
You clicked on one, and nine times out of ten,
you went to a Web page.
Then things changed.
People started using their mobile devices
for, well, everything,
and these devices, in turn,
start supporting the idea of deep links.
Click on one of these deep links,
and it could take you not just anywhere on the Web,
but anywhere in an app as well.
So you could use a deep link to point
directly to a specific restaurant
inside a reservation app
or give your new customers a personalized welcome
based on the link that brought them to your app
in the first place.
At least that's how they worked in theory.
In practice, deep linking had issues.
The same link wouldn't necessarily work
on an iOS or Android device,
and they behave very differently,
or didn't work at all,
for users who didn't have your app installed.
And for people who did install your app through a deep link,
all of that great link info was typically lost
during the installation process,
leaving your personalized warm welcome out in the cold.
So, while deep links were great in theory,
their uses were a little more limited in practice.
Enter Firebase dynamic links.
Firebase dynamic links are deep links
that work the way you want them to.
So you can create one single link
that behaves one way on iOS, another on Android,
and even a third on a desktop browser,
and it will take you to a place
that's appropriate to that platform.
You can also set up dynamic links
to change their behavior, depending on whether or not
your user has your app installed.
For users who don't have your app installed,
maybe you send them to your Website,
maybe you take them to the Play Store,
or maybe you show them an interstitial
describing the benefits of your app
before you take them to the app store
for a smoother transition.
More importantly, these links can survive
the app store installation process.
So, if your user installs your app
when clicking on a dynamic link,
all of that information is still available to you
when your user opens up your app for the first time.
So what does this mean?
It means you can use dynamic links
the way you've always wanted to use deep links.
You can use them in marketing campaigns,
from email to social media
to banner ads to, heck, even QR codes.
And in addition to install attribution tracking,
you know, the kind that lets you know
which campaigns are getting you the highest-quality users,
you could also give your users
a customized first-time experience
based on the campaign that brought them there.
So, if a user installs your music app
because you showed them an ad for classical music,
you can make sure your app takes them
right to Chopin's latest hits when they first open it up.
Dynamic links are great for sharing too.
Your users can use them to share recipes,
links to their favorite level in your game,
or even coupon codes.
In fact, dynamic links are the technology
that powers Firebase invites.
And because dynamic links are a Firebase product,
you can see their stats directly through the Firebase console.
Find out how many people clicked on a link
or use Firebase analytics to find out
which of your users first opened your app
through a particular link.
To find out more about dynamic links,
check out the documentation here and give them a try
and deep-link away.