One Download Button That Opens the Right App Store

If you build an app, your link-in-bio page has probably carried two buttons for it: Download on the App Store and Get it on Google Play. Every visitor has to read both, work out which one is theirs, and tap. Some pick the wrong one, land on a store that cannot install anything on their phone, and leave.

App links replace the pair with a single button. A visitor on an iPhone who taps it lands on your App Store page, a visitor on Android lands on your Google Play page, and everyone else opens the link's main address.

How to set it up

1. Open the link in your editor, or add a new one with your website or one of your store addresses.
2. Tap App links.
3. Paste your App Store address into iPhone (App Store) and your Google Play address into Android (Google Play).
4. Save.

Both fields take an https:// address, which is exactly what the stores give you when you share a listing: https://apps.apple.com/… and https://play.google.com/store/apps/….

If you paste a store link as the link's main address, the editor notices. A line under the address offers to add the other store. Tap it, and the store you pasted is copied into its own field while the cursor waits in the other one.

Who goes where

• iPhone opens your App Store link.
• Android phone opens your Google Play link.
• Everyone else opens the link's main address: a computer, an Android tablet, and most iPads, which identify themselves to websites as a computer.

That last group is why the main address matters. If you have a website for the app, use it: someone on a laptop gets a page they can actually read, with your store badges on it. If you do not, use the store most of your audience is on.

What works the same way

• Locked links. If the button sits behind a code, a password or a subscribe check, the visitor unlocks it first and is then sent to their own store.
• Just one store. Fill in only one field and that platform gets its store, while everyone else gets the main address. Useful while your Android version is still in review.
• Collections. A link inside a collection routes the same way as one on its own.
• Your analytics. A tap counts as a click on that link, whichever store it opened.

Included with Pro

App links are part of Linkhiver Pro. If your plan ends, nothing breaks: the button opens its main address for everyone, and your App Store and Google Play links stay saved, so the routing comes back the day you return.

Sharing the app somewhere other than your page?

Your bio page is one place people find your app. For an ad, a QR code on packaging or a link in a newsletter, a smart short link does the same routing at an address of its own. We explained how in one link for the App Store, Google Play and the web.

Frequently asked questions

What if someone taps the button before the page has finished loading?

The button picks the store once your page has loaded on the visitor's phone, which takes a moment. A tap before that opens the main address. It is one more reason to make the main address somewhere useful.

Can I use an address that opens my app directly, like myapp://?

No. Both fields take https:// addresses only. A custom scheme shows an error on any phone that does not have your app installed, which on a public page is a dead tap. If your app supports universal links or App Links, those are https:// addresses: they open the app when it is installed and the web when it is not.

Why did my iPad open the main address?

Since iPadOS 13, Safari on an iPad tells websites it is a Mac, so your page cannot tell it apart from a computer. It opens the main address, the same as a laptop.

Does a link shown as a QR code send people to their store?

No. A QR code drawn on your page carries the main address, because the page cannot know which phone will scan it. For a printed code that routes by device, use a smart short link.

Try it on your own link

Open the link you use for your app, tap App links, and paste the two store addresses. Then send your page to one friend with an iPhone and one with Android, and ask where they landed.