Deep Linking iOS

[StevenRichards]

I am unable to get a deep link to open from email on iOS for my Canvas based app. The deep link will work fine if the Power Apps iOS app has already been launched and not closed but minimized manually by me. It also works fine in any web browser in Windows. If the app is closed, the deep link opens PowerApps then MS Authenticator then Power Apps iOS app again. The message in the Power Apps iOS app is 'switching organizations...' and never changes.

What I've tried so far:

- Clear the application cache from the Power Apps program.

- Re-installing PowerApps ios app.

- Removing Microsoft Authenticator app. (this just forces me to login using the web browser first before handing me back off to the Power App ios app for a forever 'Switching Organzations...' message.

- Replacing https: with ms-app:///... url scheme. Both link styles open the app eventually but hang forever on changing orgnizations.

What is really strange is that it works if I already have Power Apps iOS app open first in the background. I don't have to open the target app within PowerApps iOS app, it selects the right app and right record passed through by the parameter in my link.

Adding to this, I noticed that if the Power Apps iOS app is open from a deep link to a parameter specified record, no other deep link affect the selected record until closing and reopening the Power Apps iOS app.

Edit: the ms-app url scheme opens the same way as https. Both open the power apps ios app and not Safari. It's not the scheme causing this.

[WarrenBelz]

Hi @StevenRichards ,

To 'force launch" a power apps deep link in the app instead of the browser, replace

https://apps.powerapps.com/play/

with

msapps:///providers/Microsoft.PowerApps/apps/

in the URL. We use this successfully on iPads in the field.

See if this works for you.

Please click Accept as solution if my post helped you solve your issue. This will help others find it more readily. It also closes the item. If the content was useful in other ways, please consider giving it Thumbs Up.

[StevenRichards]

Sorry I forgot to mention, the current link is not trying to open in safari. I gave it a shoot anyways but the links both do the same thing :(. Thanks for responding anyways.

[nilanka]

I have the same issue with the mobile app on iOS devices. Deep links will only work if we have the app opened in the background, before clicking on the link on email. This is pointless as the whole point of sending someone a link to email is to help them to get to the app straight from email. Has anyone got a response from Microsoft regarding this issue?

[StevenRichards]

I did not. I didn't open a ticket either. I only really needed deep linking to work on in Windows so I gave up on it and let the stakeholders know it's not possible to open deep links on iOS reliably.

[nilanka · Accepted solution]

@StevenRichards I've found a solution to the issue. 

I noticed that when you remove the tenant id from the URL it works without any issues. I think we tend to copy the full URL from the app details page and this includes "?" within in already. And when you start adding more parameters we tend to always start with "?". Please try removing the tenantId altogether. 

https://apps.powerapps.com/play/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?tenantId=xxxxxxxxxxxxx?itemid=11223

Correct URL should be as follows: 

https://apps.powerapps.com/play/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?tenantId=xxxxxxxxx&itemid=11223

OR 

https://apps.powerapps.com/play/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?itemid=11223

Hope this works for you.

[StevenRichards]

Yup that did it. I replaced the ? with an & before my parameter and it now works in iOS (also Windows). Good find!

[F19270]

When the app is installed, this workaround works. But when the PowerApps app is not installed yet - it should open in the Safari Browser. But i am getting an error "Safari cannot open the page, because the adress is invalid". It asks to install die Mobile app in the app store, but in our case we have an own company app store. 

So, for the user who uses the app for the first time, it is very confusing

[Prerna_K]

Hi @WarrenBelz! We were trying to launch a deeplink to a app via iPad using Launch(https;/). We came across this post and tried Launch() with msapp just replaced https://apps.powerapps.com/play/ with msapps:///providers/Microsoft.PowerApps/apps/ but it doesn't work. Could you help me with what I'm doing wrong?

[nilankaperera]

Please share the full URL to see if you are making any mistakes in the URL formation.