How to Get Apple Music Links to Open the App Directly

When a fan taps your Apple Music link, you want the album to open in the Music app — where they're signed in and can add it to their library — not in a web preview. Apple Music is one of the friendlier apps for this: on iPhone, a simple protocol swap works. This guide covers that, the Android side (which most guides get wrong), and how to handle listeners who don't have the app.

The catch: Android, fallbacks, and in-app browsers

The music:// trick is iOS-only. Older guides suggest musics:// for Android, but there's no evidence the Android Apple Music app supports it — the reliable Android route is an Intent URL (below).

If Apple Music isn't installed, a music:// link does nothing — no error, no web page, just a dead tap.

And the in-app browsers on TikTok and Instagram ignore the automatic app-opening that Safari performs, so a plain music.apple.com link tapped from a link in bio opens the web preview inside the social app.

Linkly's Open in app feature covers all three: paste a normal Apple Music URL and it opens the app on iPhone and Android when installed, falls back to the App Store, Google Play, or the website when it isn't, and works from social in-app browsers — with your click tracking and retargeting pixels firing on the way through. You can preview the generated links with the free deep link tester.

Platform-specific information for developers

iOS: Universal Links

In Safari, Messages, and the Camera app, standard https://music.apple.com links already open the Music app via Universal Links. The music:// scheme matters in the contexts that ignore Universal Links — chiefly social in-app browsers.

Android: Intent URLs

Apple Music for Android responds to its https App Link. The robust form pins the intent to the package with an explicit fallback:

intent://music.apple.com/us/album/1989-taylors-version/1708308989#Intent;scheme=https;package=com.apple.android.music;S.browser_fallback_url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apple.android.music;end

This opens the app when installed and sends everyone else to Google Play (or any fallback you choose).