A customer tapping a reminder expects to see the relevant booking, not the app's home page. A staff member opening a shared job link expects the right job, not a search exercise. Deep links connect an external message to a specific place in the app. The useful experience includes everything around that connection, especially when the app is absent or the customer is signed out.
Define the destination as a task
For a swimming school, a reminder might open a lesson's date, venue and preparation instructions. Decide whether the destination is a view, an editable form or an action awaiting confirmation. Avoid treating the link itself as authorisation to change anything. Android documents app links and other deep-link mechanisms, including their relationship to web addresses. Ask the team to demonstrate the chosen behaviour on supported devices, with and without installation. A successful technical handoff is only useful if the person lands on content that answers the original message.
Keep identity and context together
If sign-in is required, preserve the intended destination through the access flow. Explain when the signed-in account cannot view the linked item without revealing another customer's details. A parent may tap a lesson link on a partner's phone or use a different account from the one that booked. Give a clear account-switching route where appropriate. After opening the item, make navigation understandable: returning should lead somewhere useful rather than trapping the person on an isolated detail screen with no explanation of the surrounding app.
Design for old and imperfect links
A cancelled lesson, archived job or expired offer needs a helpful destination. Show what changed and how to find current information. If the app is not installed, provide a browser route that meets as much of the original need as practical, rather than an unexplained store redirect. Test links from email, text messages and a copied browser address, because the arrival context differs. Keep link wording specific enough that customers can anticipate what will open. Review shared links after major navigation changes so existing reminders do not silently lose their usefulness.
- What question should the linked screen answer immediately after it opens?
- Does the intended destination survive sign-in or account switching?
- What useful information appears when the original item has expired or changed?
- Can a person without the app still understand and act on the message?