How to Open Links in App Instead of Browser: Instagram to the Amazon App
Why social in-app browsers strand shoppers on a logged-out web page, how Linkly's Open in app interstitial hands the tap to the Amazon app with the affiliate tag intact, and the store fallback when the app isn't installed.
Transcript
The full spoken transcript, split by chapter.
- 0:00The sale that dies in the in-app browser
- You put an Amazon link in your Instagram bio. Someone taps it. And instead of the Amazon app, where they're already signed in and one tap from checkout, they get a tiny web page inside Instagram's own browser. Logged out. Half the buttons missing. That's where your sale goes to die. Today I'll show you how to make that link open the real app instead, using Linkly. And your affiliate tag survives the trip.
- 0:23Why links open in the wrong place
- Here's what's going on. Social apps like Instagram, TikTok and Facebook open links in their own built in browser. That browser ignores the normal app handoff your phone would do, so the Amazon app never gets a look in. Linkly fixes it with a small interstitial page. It tries the app first. If the app is installed, it opens straight to the product, in the right regional store. If it isn't installed, it sends people to the app store, or to the website. And every tracking parameter on your link rides along.
- 0:53Build the link in Linkly
- Let me build one. In Linkly, I create a new link and paste the Amazon product URL, with my affiliate tag on the end. Linkly spots that this is an Amazon product and offers to open it in the app. One click. I give it a short slug, echo dot. Further down, the Open in app section is already filled in. The app schemes for iPhone and Android, plus the store fallbacks. If you're curious, the details are right there. You never need to touch them. And save.
- 1:23Instagram to the Amazon app
- Now the real test. Here's that link in an Instagram message. I tap it. Instagram opens its in-app browser, and Linkly steps in with one button. Open app. Instagram asks if I want to leave, I say yes, and there's the product, in the Amazon app. Where your customer is already signed in, with one tap checkout. That's the difference between a browse and a sale.
- 1:46Recipes, pixels and the written guide
- Two things worth knowing. Linkly ships recipes for Amazon, YouTube, Spotify, TikTok, eBay, Etsy and more, so most links are one click. And because the interstitial is a Linkly page, your click tracking and retargeting pixels fire before the handoff. You still get the data, and the sale. The written guide, with the Amazon link format and the affiliate notes, is at go.linklyhq.com/ open-in-app. If this saved you a sale, subscribe. I'll see you in the next one.
