iOS versus Android store links

Same social apps, same WebViews, and the outcome differs because one platform gave the web a way out.

6 August 2026 · PAD team

The distribution

Of 9,798 taps arriving from inside social apps, 96.4% came from iOS. Android was a small remainder, and almost none of it needed rescuing.

What Android has

An intent:// URL names a target package and carries a fallback for when it is missing:

intent://details?id=com.example.app#Intent;scheme=market;
package=com.android.vending;
S.browser_fallback_url=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2F…;
end

If Play cannot take it, the browser opens the fallback. The tap is never lost.

What iOS lacks

No equivalent. When Apple redirects a store URL to itms-appss:// and the WebView cannot follow it, there is nowhere for the navigation to go and no documented way to declare a fallback.

The consequence for effort

If you are deciding where to spend engineering time, this ratio should decide it. Android link handling deserves correct assetlinks.json and a proper intent URL. iOS deserves an actual escape sequence with fallbacks and measurement.

One Android caveat

App Links still fail their own way when verification breaks, sending users to the browser instead of the app. That is a different problem with a different fix, covered in the App Links write-up.