firebase-ios-sdk Firebase Dynamic Links only working on iPhone devices

[REQUIRED] Step 1: Describe your environment

Xcode version: 11.3.1 (also 11.7)
Firebase SDK version: 6.32.0
Firebase Component: Firebase Dynamic Links
Component version: 4.3.0
Installation method: Carthage

[REQUIRED] Step 2: Describe the problem

We have created an app to use Firebase Dynamic Links. For iPhone devices, pre-install and post-install dynamic links work without issue on all our required iOS versions (iOS 11+). However, for iPad devices only post-install dynamic links work.

All deferred dynamic links result in the following URL

<bundle-id-based-url-scheme>://google/link/?request_ip_version=IP%5FV6&match_message=No%20pre%2Dinstall%20link%20matched%20for%20this%20device%2E

Steps to reproduce:

Delete app from device
Click a dynamic link and receive redirect
Reinstall app using Xcode / TestFlight / AppStore
On all iPhones, the link will be handled in the app correctly. On all iPads, there is "no pre-install link matched"

I will try to update with a sample project.

Relevant Code:

Here is roughly what the code looks like

func application(
        _ app: UIApplication,
        open url: URL,
        options: [UIApplication.OpenURLOptionsKey : Any] = [:]
    ) -> Bool {
        print("1. \(url)")
        if let link = DynamicLinks.dynamicLinks().dynamicLink(fromCustomSchemeURL: url) {
            print("2. \(url)")
            if let url = link.url {
                // ... 
            }
            return false 
        }
        // ... 
}

Here is the output

1. <url-scheme>://google/link/?request_ip_version=IP%5FV6&match_message=No%20pre%2Dinstall%20link%20matched%20for%20this%20device%2E
2. <FIRDynamicLink: 0x283858840, url [(null)], match type: none, minimumAppVersion: N/A, match message: No pre-install link matched for this device.>

Just to re-iterate, the above only happens on iPads.

Sep 17 '20 21:09 jtbergman

I found a few problems with this issue:

I couldn't figure out how to label this issue, so I've labeled it for a human to triage. Hang tight.
This issue does not seem to follow the issue template. Make sure you provide all the required information.

Sep 17 '20 21:09 google-oss-bot

Hi @jtbergman ,

I was not able to reproduce the issue on ipad and was able to get link matches (both strong and weak matches). Could you please try to reproduce the issue in the quick start app and let us know?

Sep 23 '20 18:09 eldhosembabu

Hi @eldhosembabu,

I was able to reproduce the issue with the quick start app and have more information / the cause of the issue. For our business use case, we want to skip the preview page. For links created via the console, "Skip the app preview page" is selected. Links created via the api will contain "navigationInfo":{"enableForcedRedirect":true}. This appears to be the cause of the issue.

Steps for Correct Behavior

Create a link that does not have forced redirect
Select the link and be redirect to the preview page
On the preview page, click open to be redirected to App Store
Install Quick Start Project via Xcode while in the App Store
The app will correctly display the dynamic link

Reproduce the Incorrect Behavior

Modify the existing link or create a new link so that forced redirect is enabled
Click the click and it will redirect either to the App Store or sometimes to the embedded link (inconsistent behavior)
Install Quick Start Project via Xcode while on the page that was redirected to
The alert will be empty and not contain the embedded link

Note that this only affects iPads. iPhones work fine with forced redirect enabled.

If you need additional information let me know and I can provide GIFs or code.

I also realized that given the behavior this may not be an iOS issue. If so let me know where to address it.

Sep 24 '20 18:09 jtbergman

Hi @eldhosembabu,

I was wondering if there were any updates on reproducing this or if the issue may need to be raised in another repo as well?

Thanks!

Oct 08 '20 15:10 jtbergman

Could someone help to resolve this issue. We still have the same one and it is critical for us. The Dynamic links don't work on the iPads, but work on the iPhone. We will have to move to another non-free solution if the issue is not fixed soon. Something like https://branch.io. Firebase, please do something with this! I've read a lot of related closed issues, like this one: https://github.com/firebase/firebase-ios-sdk/issues/1244 And it is still observed on the latest iOS version.

NOTE: The case is related only to the checked box in the Firebase console: "Skip the app preview page (not recommended)" The steps to reproduce:

Remove the app from the device if it is already installed.
Open the dynamic link on iPad.
Install the app from the AppStore
Open the app

Thanks!

Dec 30 '20 21:12 nahashsvb

Does that means for a Dynamic link with app preview disabled or navigationInfo":{"enableForcedRedirect":true}; the dynamic links are not retrieved in ipads but working for iphones?

I'm checking with backend teams on this and will keep you posted.

Jan 14 '21 00:01 eldhosembabu

Could you please confirm whether the bundle id for ipad and iphone are same?

Jan 14 '21 00:01 eldhosembabu

Hey @eldhosembabu! Thank you for your response!

Dynamic link with app preview disabled or navigationInfo":{"enableForcedRedirect":true};

Right, the app preview is disabled

The dynamic links are not retrieved in ipads but working for iphones?

Right

Could you please confirm whether the bundle id for ipad and iphone are same?

Confirmed, the bundle id is the same

Jan 14 '21 12:01 nahashsvb

If I set false for enableForcedRedirect, there is no link detected on iPhone. I have ios 14.1

Apr 11 '21 07:04 zhahaoyu

Even in iOS 14.6 iPhone, if the preview page is not skipped, means the checkbox is unchecked for Skipping the preview page in the dashboard and the preview page comes. Still, the first app install is giving the same issue

<mybundleidscheme>://google/link/?request_ip_version=IP%5FV4&match_message=No%20pre%2Dinstall%20link%20matched%20for%20this%20device%2E

po dynamicLink.url
nil

(lldb) po dynamicLink
<FIRDynamicLink: 0x28098ca00, url [(null)], match type: none, minimumAppVersion: N/A, match message: No pre-install link matched for this device.>

Update: The above scenario works well with firebase default dynamic links i.e yourAppname.page.link

But with custom domains, it gives the above error.

Jul 10 '21 20:07 RajanMaheshwari

I am also facing the same issue when configuring a custom domain and custom deeplink. ( iOS version 14.6 as well as 14.7 )

Running the diagnosis tool DynamicLinks.performDiagnostics(completion: nil) prints that I do have the correct configuration but still when trying to get the deeplink passed on the first installation step it retrieves the following:

<FIRDynamicLink: 0x281285680, url [(null)], match type: none, minimumAppVersion: N/A, match message: No pre-install link matched for this device.> [Firebase/Analytics][I-ACS023001] Deep Link does not contain valid required params. URL params: { "match_message" = "No pre-install link matched for this device."; "request_ip_version" = "IP_V4"; }

The incorrect received deeplink in the AppDelegate is the following :

<my_custom_domain>://google/link/?request_ip_version=IP%5FV4&match_message=No%20pre%2Dinstall%20link%20matched%20for%20this%20device%2E

instead of the expected short link:

"https://<my_custom_domain>/referralCode"

If I do click on the deeplink after the app is installed it all works as expected, but not when being redirected to the Apple Store and installing the app.

Could somebody please help out and solve this issue ?