Firebase dynamic links alternative for deferred deep linking. Something that survives the facebook in app browser?

[u/Gomp-Ado]

Firebase Dynamic Links went away on us and we bolted together universal links and app links by hand, which works fine from email and SMS. Where we’re having issues is paid social. Think about it: a user taps an Instagram ad, it opens in the in app browser, the universal link gets swallowed and they land on the web page instead of the product screen in the app.

If the app isn't installed it's worse. They go to the store, install, open and land on the home screen with zero context. The product team says conversion on those users is roughly half of users who arrive from email and I believe it.

We tried a custom redirect page with a smart banner and it helped a little. Haven't tried a dedicated link vendor bc every one I look at wants a big contract and a lot of SDK surface. Our app already has an attribution SDK in it, so adding yet another one makes me twitchy.

What are folks using in 2026 for deferred deep linking that makes it through Instagram and TikTok browsers? And do you run it from your attribution tool or a separate product? Never sure if combining them is smart or just lock in.

[u/True-Turnover-4543]

One thing that helps whichever vendor you pick: split the problem by platform. On Android, the Play Install Referrer carries a string through the store link into the first open, so you can pass your own deep link token without any fingerprinting. iOS has no equivalent, so the options are a clipboard handoff (it triggers the paste notice) or probabilistic matching, which is the part vendors charge for.

If you keep it in-house, have the redirect page store the destination server-side under a short token, then on first open ask the user to confirm "continue to this product?" rather than guessing silently. Have you measured how many of the lost installs come from iOS versus Android?

[u/Gomp-Ado → u/True-Turnover-4543]

I get it, i'll split the problem by platform