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Comment by pipes | Hacker News Reader

Have I got this right: the software provides search results that brings you to pages in apps?!

Surely that's what the web and web search is for? I don't need to install your app I just need a web browser.

You're missing the whole picture. Branch.io was actually quite popular among a number of big app developers. A big part of what they did was deep linking into your app, and I may have the timing on this wrong but I think it was before iOS or Google had any deep linking functionality released. For example, you see this all the time on normal Android searches now, where if I have an app already installed and I search for, say, "Miami real estate", since I have the Realtor app already installed, Google's results come back and say "App installed", and when I click on the result it opens the Realtor app to Miami.

A big part of Branch's product, IIRC, was their "deep linking through install" functionality. That is, if I search for Miami vacation rentals, and I don't have the app installed, it would just open, say, the realtor.com website for Miami. But there would be a prominent "install app" suggestion, so I could then download the app from the App or Playstore. Importantly (and, again, I may be getting the timing wrong), at that time there was no way to "pass through" a desired landing page after the app was installed. Branch's links allowed that information to be passed through, so when I opened the newly installed Realtor.com it would open right to Miami. I can't remember all the tech details of how they did this but I believe it was some form of device fingerprinting.

I hate this on iPhone, I want the GitHub app because of the notifications and the authentication capabilities. But repositories are much easier to read in the web version, and it forces every GitHub link to go to the app. I wanted some control, like only going to the app if I touch hold something ("right click") and purposefully chose this option.

Couldn't agree more. I can't remember which app it was, but I had a similar situation where I installed the app for some limited specific reason, but then all my web searches ended up opening the app when I didn't want it to.

Ironically, I ended up installing the app to "fix" my broken search experience.

Exact same boat. I found this behavior to be really user hostile as a default. Recently switched to Orion (browser from Kagi), and they’ve got a much more agreeable flow for this.

When a link in Orion takes you into another app, there is a popup available when you return to Orion, allowing you to disable opening in the external app. Additionally, long-pressing always provides an “Open in…” option to purposefully choose the GitHub app.

If you long press on a link and choose open in Safari it will remember your preference and not open the app going forward.

Terrible UX, but it works.

Oh, this worked! This is the most not intuitive thing they could have done. Why not a simple setting?

Thank you anyhow, as I wouldn't discover this in a billion years.

Honestly, for all the praise about Apple's "great UIs", in feels like over the past 10 years or so they got addicted to all these "hidden" action entry points: long presses, random swipes in every direction, and weird menu locations (I for the life of me have no idea why the "install to home page" button for a PWA website is in the "share" action screen).

Often referred to as "deferred deep linking" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_deep_linking#Deferred_d...

As a user, I'm glad this didn't make it into phones. We have enough "install our app" bullshit already.

Thanks :)

Businesses don't like the web because every time you search you have competitors next to the results. Getting users to install an app massively increases the lifetime value of that user. Consequently if search can take you directly to the app, businesses will pay more for search ads.

Perhaps, but that's not the point.

The point is that you can't have this software, because the monopolies in this space have formed a trust to prevent it from being an option.

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