Android Firebase Dynamic Links, A way to simulate Play Store install via deeplink

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We have couple of Firebase Dynamic links defined in our native Android application. For the first time users coming from a dynamic link and install the application, we would like to understand which dynamic link they're coming from.

My question is in order to do that, is there any way to fake the Play Store install from the dynamic link ? Because for the testing purposes I need to check which data is coming.

Example :

Is it possible to know which URI does that Open button passes the app ?

In iOS it's easier to test. When user clicks a dynamic link and goes to App Store, you can run the codebase and install the app. And when app opens it still behaves like it's installed from App Store. But from Android side it doesn't work like that.

Hope it was explanative enough. Looking forward for suggestions.

firebase-dynamic-links firebase google-play android
1 Answers

For those who might be struggling about the same problem, here how I solved it.

First of all even though in the Firebase Dynamic Links Documentation it says that links will survive the Play Store installation process, it is not completely true. Like in my case

After the steps above when user opens the app, Firebase dynamic links listener will only get the base landing page which you set from Firebase console. So if you have a link link like this https://myapp.page.link/qr/?id=123456 your query params will get lost !

However it's still possible to understand which deeplink path did user click and install the application. Long story short it's the utmParameters. That variable is a Bundle comes with couple of extras and one of them is utm_campaign key. Which includes your deeplink name. See the code below :

Firebase.dynamicLinks
        .getDynamicLink(intent)
        .addOnSuccessListener(activity) { pendingDynamicLinkData ->
            Log.v(
                TAG, "pendingDynamicLinkData link : ${pendingDynamicLinkData?.link}" +
                        "pendingDynamicLinkData utmParameters : ${pendingDynamicLinkData?.utmParameters}"
            )

            pendingDynamicLinkData?.let {
                // Check if it has your desired utm name
                if(it.utmParameters.get("utm_campaign") == "Your Dynamic Link Name") {
                    //Do the job
                }
            }
        }
        .addOnFailureListener(this) { e -> Log.v(TAG, "getDynamicLink:onFailure $e") }

After the implementation, you can create an internal release for yourself and test the download flow from the Play Store.

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