The Basics

Guides

Guides (iOS)

Guides (Android)

Linking #

Linking gives you a general interface to interact with both incoming and outgoing app links.

Basic Usage #

Handling deep links #

If your app was launched from an external url registered to your app you can access and handle it from any component you want with

componentDidMount() {
  var url = Linking.getInitialURL().then((url) => {
    if (url) {
      console.log('Initial url is: ' + url);
    }
  }).catch(err => console.error('An error occurred', err));
}

NOTE: For instructions on how to add support for deep linking on Android, refer to Enabling Deep Links for App Content - Add Intent Filters for Your Deep Links.

If you wish to receive the intent in an existing instance of MainActivity, you may set the launchMode of MainActivity to singleTask in AndroidManifest.xml. See <activity> documentation for more information.

<activity
  android:name=".MainActivity"
  android:launchMode="singleTask">

NOTE: On iOS you'll need to link RCTLinking to your project by following the steps described here. In case you also want to listen to incoming app links during your app's execution you'll need to add the following lines to you *AppDelegate.m:

#import "RCTLinkingManager.h"

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application openURL:(NSURL *)url
  sourceApplication:(NSString *)sourceApplication annotation:(id)annotation
{
  return [RCTLinkingManager application:application openURL:url
                      sourceApplication:sourceApplication annotation:annotation];
}

// Only if your app is using [Universal Links](https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/ios/documentation/General/Conceptual/AppSearch/UniversalLinks.html).
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application continueUserActivity:(NSUserActivity *)userActivity
 restorationHandler:(void (^)(NSArray * _Nullable))restorationHandler
{
 return [RCTLinkingManager application:application
                  continueUserActivity:userActivity
                    restorationHandler:restorationHandler];
}

And then on your React component you'll be able to listen to the events on Linking as follows

componentDidMount() {
  Linking.addEventListener('url', this._handleOpenURL);
},
componentWillUnmount() {
  Linking.removeEventListener('url', this._handleOpenURL);
},
_handleOpenURL(event) {
  console.log(event.url);
}

Opening external links #

To start the corresponding activity for a link (web URL, email, contact etc.), call

Linking.openURL(url).catch(err => console.error('An error occurred', err));

If you want to check if any installed app can handle a given URL beforehand you can call

Linking.canOpenURL(url).then(supported => {
  if (!supported) {
    console.log('Can\'t handle url: ' + url);
  } else {
    return Linking.openURL(url);
  }
}).catch(err => console.error('An error occurred', err));

Methods #

constructor(0) #

addEventListener(type, handler) #

Add a handler to Linking changes by listening to the url event type and providing the handler

removeEventListener(type, handler) #

Remove a handler by passing the url event type and the handler

openURL(url) #

Try to open the given url with any of the installed apps.

You can use other URLs, like a location (e.g. "geo:37.484847,-122.148386"), a contact, or any other URL that can be opened with the installed apps.

NOTE: This method will fail if the system doesn't know how to open the specified URL. If you're passing in a non-http(s) URL, it's best to check {@code canOpenURL} first.

NOTE: For web URLs, the protocol ("http://", "https://") must be set accordingly!

canOpenURL(url) #

Determine whether or not an installed app can handle a given URL.

NOTE: For web URLs, the protocol ("http://", "https://") must be set accordingly!

NOTE: As of iOS 9, your app needs to provide the LSApplicationQueriesSchemes key inside Info.plist or canOpenURL will always return false.

@param URL the URL to open

getInitialURL(0) #

If the app launch was triggered by an app link, it will give the link url, otherwise it will give null

NOTE: To support deep linking on Android, refer http://developer.android.com/training/app-indexing/deep-linking.html#handling-intents

You can edit the content above on GitHub and send us a pull request!

Examples #

Edit on GitHub

'use strict';

var React = require('react');
var ReactNative = require('react-native');
var {
  Linking,
  StyleSheet,
  Text,
  TouchableOpacity,
  View,
} = ReactNative;
var UIExplorerBlock = require('./UIExplorerBlock');

class OpenURLButton extends React.Component {
  static propTypes = {
    url: React.PropTypes.string,
  };

  handleClick = () => {
    Linking.canOpenURL(this.props.url).then(supported => {
      if (supported) {
        Linking.openURL(this.props.url);
      } else {
        console.log('Don\'t know how to open URI: ' + this.props.url);
      }
    });
  };

  render() {
    return (
      <TouchableOpacity
        onPress={this.handleClick}>
        <View style={styles.button}>
          <Text style={styles.text}>Open {this.props.url}</Text>
        </View>
      </TouchableOpacity>
    );
  }
}

class IntentAndroidExample extends React.Component {
  static title = 'Linking';
  static description = 'Shows how to use Linking to open URLs.';

  render() {
    return (
      <UIExplorerBlock title="Open external URLs">
        <OpenURLButton url={'https://www.facebook.com'} />
        <OpenURLButton url={'http://www.facebook.com'} />
        <OpenURLButton url={'http://facebook.com'} />
        <OpenURLButton url={'fb://notifications'} />
        <OpenURLButton url={'geo:37.484847,-122.148386'} />
        <OpenURLButton url={'tel:9876543210'} />
      </UIExplorerBlock>
    );
  }
}

var styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    flex: 1,
    backgroundColor: 'white',
    padding: 10,
    paddingTop: 30,
  },
  button: {
    padding: 10,
    backgroundColor: '#3B5998',
    marginBottom: 10,
  },
  text: {
    color: 'white',
  },
});

module.exports = IntentAndroidExample;

Run this example

← Prev Next →