Deeplink (in-app browsers & app opening)

What it solves: When someone taps your link inside Instagram, TikTok, or X, it opens in their in-app browser — a stripped-down browser that breaks logins, cookies, and payments. Deeplink routes them to their real browser instead — and when the destination is a known app (YouTube, Spotify, WhatsApp…), it opens the app itself.

The problem

Every major social app has an in-app browser (IAB): Instagram’s, TikTok’s, X’s, etc. These browsers:

Don’t share cookies with Safari or Chrome → logins fail, checkout sessions break
May block third-party cookies → affiliate tracking breaks
Show a different URL bar → users feel less safe and bounce
Can’t complete Apple Pay / Google Pay flows

The result: lower conversions even for visitors who are interested.

What OnLynk does

When deeplink is enabled on your link page, every outbound tap — link buttons, cards, social icons, and the automatic page-load redirect on direct-link pages — goes through the same launch logic:

Known app destination → OnLynk opens the destination’s native app directly (e.g. a YouTube link opens the YouTube app, a wa.me link opens WhatsApp). See the app catalogue below.
Any other destination → OnLynk hands the visitor off to their default system browser (Safari on iOS, Chrome / Samsung Internet or the user’s default on Android).

Every app-open attempt carries a built-in browser fallback: if the app isn’t installed or the handoff is blocked, the visitor lands in their native browser on the same URL. It is never worse than the plain browser escape.

The same launch logic powers the Deeplink action in Smart links.

App catalogue

OnLynk recognises ~46 destination apps by hostname and opens them natively when possible:

Category	Apps
Social & video	YouTube, YouTube Music, Instagram, TikTok, X, Threads, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitch, Vimeo, Weibo, Netflix, Dailymotion, Bilibili, Rumble, Kick, Discord, VK, Tumblr, Flickr, Patreon, Substack
Messaging	WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger, Instagram DMs, WeChat, LINE, Viber, Signal, KakaoTalk, QQ
Music & audio	Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, SoundCloud, Deezer, Tidal, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Shazam, Bandcamp, Audible
Podcasts	Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Castro, Pocket Casts, Castbox
Events & ticketing	Meetup, Eventbrite, Ticketmaster, AXS
Shopping	Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Best Buy, Wayfair, IKEA, Lazada, Temu, Mercado Libre

How the app gets opened depends on the platform:

Android — a package-targeted intent opens the app directly; Android itself falls back to the browser when the app isn’t installed (no flicker, no error).
iOS — where a reliable per-content mapping exists (YouTube, X, Spotify, WhatsApp, Telegram, Pinterest, Twitch, Instagram profiles…), OnLynk uses the app’s custom URL scheme. Otherwise the visitor is handed to Safari, where the app can still open through its universal link.

Short-link and regional variants (youtu.be, wa.me, t.me, amzn.to, pin.it, ebay.de…) are recognised too.

Affiliate link protection

Some merchants are recognised but never force-opened:

Amazon, eBay, Etsy, AliExpress, Shein, Shopee, LTK, Foot Locker, GameStop, Staples

Force-opening a merchant’s app can drop the click out of affiliate attribution and cost you the commission. For these destinations OnLynk keeps the visitor in their native browser with the full URL — affiliate parameters intact — instead of jumping into the app.

For affiliate creators: this is automatic. You don’t need to configure anything — your Amazon Associates / eBay Partner / LTK links keep their tracking, while your YouTube and Spotify links still open in-app.

Landing pages: escape on load, or stay in-app

By default, when a visitor opens your landing page from an in-app browser, OnLynk escapes to their default browser immediately on load (the historical behavior).

You can instead enable “Stay in the in-app browser” per page:

The landing page stays inside the in-app browser — no jarring jump to Safari/Chrome before the visitor has even seen your page
Each link still deeplinks to its destination app (or native browser) when tapped

Pages with a direct link always auto-open on load regardless of this setting — there is no landing to show.

You’ll find the toggle in the page’s Deeplink settings dialog.

Supported platforms

Platform	In-app browser	Deeplink support
Instagram	✓ IAB	✓ Supported (staggered handoff cascade on iOS)
Threads	✓ IAB	✓ Supported (staggered handoff cascade on iOS)
Facebook	✓ IAB	✓ Supported
X (Twitter)	✓ IAB	✓ Supported
Telegram	✓ IAB	✓ Supported
LinkedIn	✓ IAB	✓ Supported
YouTube	✓ IAB (partial)	✓ Supported
TikTok	✓ IAB (restrictive)	Manual “exit steps” shown; taps still deeplink
Snapchat	✓ IAB (restrictive)	Manual “exit steps” shown; taps still deeplink
WhatsApp	Links open externally by default	Not needed
Standard browser	No IAB	Not intercepted — a real tap opens apps natively

Note: Platform app updates may change IAB behavior. OnLynk tracks these changes and updates its deeplink logic accordingly — no action needed on your end.

iOS vs Android behavior

OS	App opening	Browser escape
iOS	App custom schemes (`youtube://`, `spotify:`, …)	Safari (`x-safari-` handoff), Chrome (`googlechromes://`) if the visitor uses Chrome for iOS
iOS in Instagram/Threads	—	Meta’s external-browser scheme with a staggered fallback cascade
Android	Package-targeted intents with built-in browser fallback	Intent URL to the default browser
Android (Samsung)	Same intents	Samsung Internet scheme

Fallback behavior

Deeplink never dead-ends:

Every app-open attempt is paired with a native-browser fallback — if the app doesn’t take over, the visitor lands in Safari/Chrome on the original URL
If even the browser handoff is blocked (older app version, unsupported device), the visitor stays in the in-app browser and the destination still loads
In restrictive webviews (TikTok, Snapchat, some Meta cases), OnLynk shows manual exit steps instead of a failed automatic attempt
No error is ever shown to the visitor

Configuration

Enable deeplink in the link editor:

Open your link page in the dashboard → Edit
Find the Deeplink toggle (requires a plan that includes deeplink)
Optionally enable Stay in the in-app browser for landing pages (see above)
Save

See Create your first link page for the full editor field reference.

How to test deeplink

Share your onlynk.me/<slug> link in an Instagram DM (or Story, or Post) to yourself
Tap the link inside the Instagram app — the in-app browser opens briefly
You should be redirected to Safari (iOS) or your default browser (Android); if your page links to a known app (e.g. YouTube), tapping that link should open the app itself
Compare the experience with deeplink off: the page stays inside Instagram’s in-app browser

Tip: Test on both iOS and Android if your audience uses both platforms. The behavior can differ slightly between them.

Works with other features

Deeplink is compatible with and enhanced by:

Direct link — Deeplink + direct link = the visitor exits the IAB and skips the OnLynk landing page; if the destination is a known app, it opens directly in that app
Smart links — The Deeplink flow action uses the same launch logic (app opening + browser fallback)
AI Shield — Bots are never redirected by deeplink; only real browsers are
Analytics — REDIRECT events are still recorded even when deeplink is active

Glossary — Definition of deeplink and in-app browser
Direct link — When to use a landing page vs a naked URL redirect
AI Shield — How bots are handled in redirect flows