Dynalinks offers two methods for Android deferred deep linking, giving you flexibility in how you handle app installations from links.

Method	Complexity	Best For
Android SDK	Simple	Full SDK integration with automatic handling
Manual Integration	Advanced	Custom implementations

---

Method 1: Dynalinks Android SDK

The Dynalinks Android SDK provides automatic deferred deep linking using the Google Play Install Referrer API. It handles all the complexity of referrer retrieval and link attribution for you.

Installation

Add the SDK via JitPack:

// settings.gradle.kts
dependencyResolutionManagement {
    repositories {
        maven { url = uri("https://jitpack.io") }
    }
}

// app/build.gradle.kts
dependencies {
    implementation("com.github.dynalinks:dynalinks-android-sdk:1.0.0")
}

Quick Start

// Configure on app launch (Application.onCreate)
Dynalinks.configure(
    context = this,
    clientAPIKey = "your-client-api-key"
)

// Check for deferred deep link (MainActivity)
lifecycleScope.launch {
    val result = Dynalinks.checkForDeferredDeepLink()
    if (result.matched) {
        navigateToDeepLink(result.link?.deepLinkValue)
    }
}

Advantages

• Automatic Install Referrer handling
• Built-in retry logic with exponential backoff
• Also handles App Links via handleAppLink(intent)
• Java callback API available

Full documentation: Android SDK Integration Guide

---

Method 2: Manual Install Referrer

For custom implementations, you can directly use the Google Play Install Referrer API.

You can create a deferred deep link with an additional referrer parameter. This value can be passed either through the Dynalinks console when creating the link or via the Dynalinks REST API.

Once the user installs your app through the Play Store, you can retrieve the referrer value using Google Play Install Referrer Library. Here’s how to read it:

1. Add the dependency in your build.gradle:

   implementation 'com.android.installreferrer:installreferrer:2.2'
   

2. Read the referrer in your app code:

   private lateinit var referrerClient: InstallReferrerClient
      
   referrerClient = InstallReferrerClient.newBuilder(this).build()
   referrerClient.startConnection(object : InstallReferrerStateListener {
   
    override fun onInstallReferrerSetupFinished(responseCode: Int) {
        when (responseCode) {
            InstallReferrerResponse.OK -> {
                // Connection established.
            }
            InstallReferrerResponse.FEATURE_NOT_SUPPORTED -> {
                // API not available on the current Play Store app.
            }
            InstallReferrerResponse.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE -> {
                // Connection couldn't be established.
            }
        }
    }
   
    override fun onInstallReferrerServiceDisconnected() {
        // Try to restart the connection on the next request to
        // Google Play by calling the startConnection() method.
    }
   })
   

After you have established a connection to the Play Store app, get the details from the install referrer by completing the following steps:

   val response: ReferrerDetails = referrerClient.installReferrer
   val referrerUrl: String = response.installReferrer
   val referrerClickTime: Long = response.referrerClickTimestampSeconds
   val appInstallTime: Long = response.installBeginTimestampSeconds
   val instantExperienceLaunched: Boolean = response.googlePlayInstantParam

If you’re using React Native, there’s a dedicated package that wraps this functionality: react-native-play-install-referrer. You can install it via npm and follow the instructions in the README to access the referrer data from JavaScript.

This lets you persist attribution or campaign info from a deferred link.