Universal Links, iOS 9, and Mobile Advocacy
In the most recent update of their popular mobile operating system, iOS 9, Apple quietly included a feature that few outside of the developer community have noticed. Apple doesn’t even have a page for it outside of their Developer Documentation.
Released on September 16, the software now supports Universal Links — a feature that allows any native, App Store app hand off web links to a corresponding app.
Translated: When you open Twitter.com, or click a link to a Pinterest.com post, it’ll now open in the native Twitter or Pinterest apps, rather than Safari.
What does it mean for advocacy and engagement?
There are dozens of uses for Universal Links, but one of the most immediately useful is the ease of sharing content on social media. To better understand the change, see the illustration below:
On older versions of iOS, links to share content — say, on Twitter — would open in Safari. If you have the native Twitter app installed, chances are you’re already logged in to your Twitter account there, but not in Safari, which can’t access your Twitter login credentials. Thus, clicking a share link would present you with an ugly login page. And since you only had to log in once to the native Twitter app, possibly months ago, you may not remember your password. Presented with this extra hurdle, you abandon the share and move on to something else.
With Universal Links, that very same link to share content on Twitter now opens directly in the Twitter app, not in Safari, which allows it to securely employ your existing Twitter credentials. Not only that, but Universal Links will take you straight to the “Post Tweet” screen that you’re already accustomed to seeing within the app, and all you have to do is press “Tweet” before being given the option to return to the page you were on.
This is a win for any digital campaign trying to drive social content sharing from Mobile Web.
It not only provides a much more seamless transition to share, by removing the login step, but also presents a consistent, familiar and more immersive user experience that ultimately will drive increased conversions. And since new versions of iOS boast such a fast adoption rate (close to 60% of iOS users are already on version 9 as of this morning), expect to see this being widely used very soon.
Using Phone2Action
We were happy to see that social shares on Phone2Action’s campaigns already support this new iOS feature out-of-the-box. Twitter was one of the first apps to make use of the feature (along with Pinterest and a few others), and as more apps release updates for iOS 9 in the coming weeks, you can be sure Facebook will follow suit. And we’re already thinking about other ways we can leverage this unique bridge between the mobile web and native.
While we always recommend it, it makes sense now more than ever to include social share options on your advocacy campaigns in Phone2Action. Over the next couple of months, prepare to see increased conversions and engagement on social media as a result of this change.
We can’t wait to see what you create with us.
-PS
