Articles on: Native: Building

Understanding Dynamic Links (i.e. Programmable Deeplinks)

This article used to be about Firebase Dynamic Links, which shut down on August 25, 2025. Our alternatives are Branch and ChottuLink. If your app used Firebase Dynamic Links, read this article.



A deep link is a link that opens your app at one exact page: a product, a booking, a post, an invite. (Firebase called these 'dynamic links'.) It behaves differently based on the platform it is opened on.


With deep links, your users get the best available experience for the platform they open your link on. If a user opens the link on iOS or Android, they can be taken directly to the linked content in your native app. If a user opens the same link in a desktop browser, they can be taken to the equivalent content on your website.


Your link provider (Branch or ChottuLink) can also help with users who don't have your app yet, by sending them to install it. What each provider offers depends on its plan, so check their docs.


Can you explain using an example


  1. Let's say we want to share an event page of our bubble app, like /event/123, with our friend Superman.
  2. Instead of the plain link, we create a deep link for that page (see the plugin documentation linked below).
  3. We share the deep link with Superman (maybe via email, social media or text message).



On a Desktop:
It opens the page in a browser.


On a Mobile / Tablet device:

  • if your app is already installed: your app opens on that page, instead of its usual launch page
  • if your app is not installed: depending on how you set up the link with your provider, he's taken to the store to install your app, or to a web page you choose


Now think how awesome it would be if you can leverage these capabilities in your own app.


What does this mean for my app


Turn more of your visitors into app users.


Building a marketplace? Every listing shared by your users can bring viewers into your app, just like Airbnb...
Building a social platform? Each post can lead to an app install, just like Twitter...
Even your password reset emails can bring your web app users into your installed app !!


And since you can send native push notifications to installed app users, you have a direct line of communication with your customers.


Here are some example use cases


1. Converting web users to app users


A deep link opens your installed app right on the page your user was looking at. If they don't have the app yet, your provider can send them to install it.


2. Social, email, and SMS campaigns


Send promotional offers using links that work on any platform. Current and future users can redeem your offers whether they use iOS, Android, or a web browser. A link can even carry a promo code, like https://your.site/products/oak-desk?promo=OAK10. Your bubble app reads the code and applies it, just like it would on the web.


3. User-to-user sharing


Make it easy for your users to share your app's content with their friends, no matter what platform their friends use, or whether their friends already use your app.


BDK Pro tip: When you have a content (i.e. 'thing') such as event, recipe, product etc. in your app that is viewed by users and potentially shareable by them with others, use a deep link instead of a direct link to that page. Also, its best to generate the deep link when the thing is created & store it, so that when the user tries to share, the link is already ready.


4. Converting desktop users to app users


Generate deep links when web users bookmark a page or send themselves a link. When they open the link on a different device, they get the best experience for that device.


5. Real-world app promotion


Put a QR code with your deep link on your physical displays: a table, a shelf, an expo stall. Imagine if a starbucks could convert every user payment from mobile device into an app installed user, how valuable its app would be today.


E.g. Imagine you have a coffee app. Your customer scans a QR code (which contains your deep link) with their phone camera, taps the popup, and your app opens on that page.


6. Customized user referrals


Encourage your users to invite their friends. Invitation links based on deep links work across platforms, and the invited friend lands on the right page of your app. Your bubble app takes care of the referral itself (who invited whom, and any reward).



You can use your native app build for a 'version-test' environment


  • Instead of relying on preview, you can get a full testing experience of your native app, just like bubble's development and live mode.
  • Create a deep link pointing to the version-test link of your site. Paste this in your notes app or email / message it.
  • When you open the app through that deep link, you can view and test changes to your bubble app without having to deploy the changes to live version.
  • To view the live version, simply launch the native app as you would normally instead of using the deep link



  • Sign up with Branch or ChottuLink, then add your account details in the build settings on your bdk project page.
  • Those details are built into your app. So if you add deep links after your first build, it takes a rebuild. Planning links or QR codes? Set this up before you order your build.
  • Then create links with the provider's workflow, without any code: see the plugin documentation.
  • Haven't ordered your builds yet? No problem. You can try deep links in preview. In preview they run on our own account and carry our branding.



Yes. Instead of a deep link, you specify the page URL directly in the BN - Push notification step. See the plugin documentation.



Check your link provider's dashboard (Branch or ChottuLink). We don't add link analytics of our own.

Updated on: 11/04/2026

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