iOS Linking getInitialURL() always null

[matthieupinte]

🐛 Bug Report

I can't get the deep link url that was called when my app is started on iOS.
Tried with Linking.getInitialUrl() promise and by listener addEventListener('url'...)
None of these methods return the initial url.

When the app is in background, the listener addEventListener('url', ...) is working well, and we can get the url. But when the app is launched via a deeplink, we don't have it.

I tried on React Native 0.53.3 it's working via getInitialUrl() and listener.
I tried on React Native 0.59.4 not working.

To Reproduce

1. Add URL type to info.plist.

2. Add this to your AppDelegate.m :

#import <React/RCTLinkingManager.h>
...
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application openURL:(NSURL *)url
  sourceApplication:(NSString *)sourceApplication annotation:(id)annotation
{
  return [RCTLinkingManager application:application openURL:url
                      sourceApplication:sourceApplication annotation:annotation];
}

3. and just to test, update your App.js to look like this :

import React, { Component } from 'react';
import {
  Platform,
  StyleSheet,
  Text,
  View,
  Linking
} from 'react-native';

type Props = {};
export default class App extends Component<Props> {
  componentDidMount() {
    Linking.getInitialURL().then((url) => { console.log('1', url) })
    Linking.addEventListener('url', this.handleOpenURL);
  }
  componentWillUnmount() {
    Linking.removeEventListener('url', this.handleOpenURL);
  }
  handleOpenURL(event) {
    console.log('2', event.url);
  }

  render() {
    return (
      <View style={styles.container}>
        <Text style={styles.welcome}>
          Welcome to React Native!
        </Text>
      </View>
    );
  }
}

Expected Behavior

I expect to get the initial URL called via deeplink via getInitialUrl or listener handler.

Environment

info
  React Native Environment Info:
    System:
      OS: macOS 10.14.4
      CPU: (8) x64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6820HQ CPU @ 2.70GHz
      Memory: 205.05 MB / 16.00 GB
      Shell: 5.3 - /bin/zsh
    Binaries:
      Node: 11.11.0 - /usr/local/bin/node
      Yarn: 1.15.2 - /usr/local/bin/yarn
      npm: 6.7.0 - /usr/local/bin/npm
      Watchman: 4.9.0 - /usr/local/bin/watchman
    SDKs:
      iOS SDK:
        Platforms: iOS 12.2, macOS 10.14, tvOS 12.2, watchOS 5.2
      Android SDK:
        API Levels: 19, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28
        Build Tools: 23.0.1, 24.0.1, 25.0.0, 25.0.2, 25.0.3, 26.0.1, 26.0.2, 26.0.3, 27.0.3, 28.0.3
        System Images: android-19 | Google APIs ARM EABI v7a, android-19 | Google APIs Intel x86 Atom, android-23 | Google APIs Intel x86 Atom, android-25 | Google Play Intel x86 Atom, android-27 | Google APIs Intel x86 Atom
    IDEs:
      Android Studio: 3.3 AI-182.5107.16.33.5264788
      Xcode: 10.2/10E125 - /usr/bin/xcodebuild
    npmPackages:
      react: 16.8.3 => 16.8.3
      react-native: 0.59.4 => 0.59.4
    npmGlobalPackages:
      create-react-native-app: 1.0.0
      react-native-git-upgrade: 0.2.7

Thanks for your time ;)

[dmitri-wm]

same here
https://github.com/dmitri-wm/deep-linking-sample sample fresh installed app with deep linking setup for IOS
@matthieupinte did you find workaround?

[dmitri-wm]

React native 0.58.5 works fine

[matthieupinte]

@dmitri-wm No, I don't have more information... and we can't go back to 0.58.5 because of Android requirements.

Android has supported 64-bit CPUs since 5.0 Lollipop, and the Play Store in 2017 announced that apps using native code must provide a 64-bit version in light of future chips that only support 64-bit code.

And I heard somewhere that only RN 0.59.x has support for Android 64-bit...

[alangumer]

On Android getInitialURL() works as expected, the issue is on iOS, url always comes up null.
react-native 0.59.x

[nicolegrinstead]

I just encountered the same issue. getInitialURL was always null on iOS with react-native 0.59.x. I downgraded to 0.58.5 and it works as expected.

[delch]

Have the same problem on RN 0.59.

npmPackages:
  react: 16.8.3 => 16.8.3 
  react-native: 0.59.4 => 0.59.4 

[jsellam]

Hi,
In my project with react-navigation 3.9.1 and react-native 0.59.5 deep linking don't work on ios simulator when "Debug JS remotely" is enabled, but work well when the debug is disabled.
Could you try getInitialURL() without debug mode ?

[jsellam]

I confirm getInitialURL() is always null when Debug JS remotely is enabled ( I use React Native debugger 0.9.7)

[MatthewPattell]

Hi,
I have same problem in IOS. (Working only when remote debugging is disabled)

  react: 16.8.3 
  react-native: 0.59.5 (and 0.59.8)

Xcode:

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application
            openURL:(NSURL *)url
            options:(NSDictionary<UIApplicationOpenURLOptionsKey,id> *)options {
  
  BOOL handledFB = [[FBSDKApplicationDelegate sharedInstance] application:application
                                                                openURL:url
                                                      sourceApplication:options[UIApplicationOpenURLOptionsSourceApplicationKey]
                                                             annotation:options[UIApplicationOpenURLOptionsAnnotationKey]
                  ];
  
  BOOL handleCustom = [RCTLinkingManager application:application openURL:url options:options];

  return handledFB || handleCustom;
}

[GioLogist]

I can second this. Working on Android, not iOS

"react": "16.8.3",
"react-native": "0.59.3",

Edit: Can also confirm that its only when remote debugging is enabled.

[ValerianThomas]

Hi,
In my project with react-navigation 3.9.1 and react-native 0.59.5 deep linking don't work on ios simulator when "Debug JS remotely" is enabled, but work well when the debug is disabled.
Could you try getInitialURL() without debug mode ?

I also confirm : Linking.getInitialURL() will return your url once Debug JS Remotely is disabled

[ducNgbk]

Confirm Linking.getInitialURL() and Linking.addEventListener('url', () => {}) not work

• iOS
• 0.59.5
• Simulator
• Universal Link

#UPDATE: my mistake. I solved it by adding this method to AppDelegate.m

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application continueUserActivity:(NSUserActivity *)userActivity restorationHandler:(void (^)(NSArray * _Nullable))restorationHandler {
  return [RCTLinkingManager application:application
                   continueUserActivity:userActivity
                     restorationHandler:restorationHandler];
}

[chenliez]

Confirmed Linking.getInitialURL() always returns null when remote debug is enabled.
iOS
0.59.8
Simulator
Universal Link

[r281GQ]

Strange enough. Android simulator, android real device works. Real iPhone works. Simulator only works when debugging disabled.

Info
React Native Environment Info:
System:
OS: macOS 10.14.4
CPU: (8) x64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700HQ CPU @ 2.60GHz
Memory: 74.79 MB / 16.00 GB
Shell: 5.3 - /bin/zsh
Binaries:
Node: 10.10.0 - /usr/local/bin/node
Yarn: 1.15.2 - /usr/local/bin/yarn
npm: 6.7.0 - /usr/local/bin/npm
Watchman: 4.9.0 - /usr/local/bin/watchman
SDKs:
iOS SDK:
Platforms: iOS 12.2, macOS 10.14, tvOS 12.2, watchOS 5.
IDEs:
Android Studio: 3.1 AI-173.4720617
Xcode: 10.2.1/10E1001 - /usr/bin/xcodebuild
npmPackages:
react: 16.8.3 => 16.8.3
react-native: 0.59.5 => 0.59.5
npmGlobalPackages:
react-native-cli: 2.0.1
react-native-git-upgrade: 0.2.7

[ryanliszewski]

I can also confirm it's not working on iOS when remote debugging is enabled.

"react": "16.8.3",
"react-native": "0.59.3",

[Bardiamist]

I checked in my application using react-native@0.59.8 and Xcode 10.2.1.

It works. Try it:

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)app openURL:(NSURL *)url options:(NSDictionary<UIApplicationOpenURLOptionsKey,id> *)options
{
  return [RCTLinkingManager application:app openURL:url options:options];
}

- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application continueUserActivity:(NSUserActivity *)userActivity restorationHandler:(void (^)(NSArray<id<UIUserActivityRestoring>> * _Nullable))restorationHandler
{
  return [RCTLinkingManager application:application continueUserActivity:userActivity restorationHandler:restorationHandler];
}

Update: I see what problem exist only when Debug JS Remotely enabled.
Suggestion: Use Reactotron for debug this.
Also I think it can be related with this commit.

[argentounce]

It also happens when Live Reload is active or with any instance that refreshes bundled JS. To test is needed to be disconnected from debug and reload react-native@0.59.9 && Xcode 10.2.1

[marf]

Same problem here

[uguraktas]

can you try ?

getInitialUrl = async () => { const url = await Linking.getInitialURL() return url }

[todorone]

Yeah, pretty annoying issue, does anybody tracked commit, that introduced this regression?

@iljadaderko I see You fixed universal links recently, maybe some ideas on where it has been introduced?

[xzilja]

@todorone hard to tell. My change didn't touch that area.

For iOS native code is defined here
https://github.com/facebook/react-native/blob/master/Libraries/LinkingIOS/RCTLinkingManager.m#L147-L161

And JavaScript implementation is here
https://github.com/facebook/react-native/blob/master/Libraries/Linking/Linking.js#L86-L92

Judging by what I can see, these are being worked on right now, there was also change to use TurboModules, perhaps that affected it somehow?

[KurtMakesWeb]

Same here, also getting null back from getInitialURL on iOS.

Edit: Seems to work but only when debug/live reload is not active.

[alexsoul95]

Any updates on this issue?
Can confirm that is not working on react-native: 0.59.10, iOS + debugging on
As a workaround, turn off debugging and use Reactotron or maybe Alert dialog to show urls.

[ghost]

I believe that we still have an issue with this.

I'm trying to implement OneSignal for React Native, but, I can't make DeepLinking work properly wen iOS app is closed / killed. Initial URL is always null in this scenario.

                                     Android | iOS
              Deep link (app in bg):    ✅   |  ✅
             Deep link (app closed):    ✅   |  ✅
 Notification Deep link (app in bg):    ✅   |  ✅
Notification Deep link (app closed):    ✅   |  ❌

I don't know if it is something related to RN or OS

Could anyone help me with that?

RN 0.63.2

[hellochirag]

Just discovered this gem. After trying to debug why our deep links don't work on iOS. and here is solution

import dynamicLinks from '@react-native-firebase/dynamic-links';

dynamicLinks().getInitialLink()
      .then(link => {
    // this method will call when app is closer or killed
        console.log('dynamicLinksnew :', link);
      });

dynamicLinks().onLink(async (link) => {
      // this method call when app is in background or foreground 
     console.log('dynamicLinks :', link);
 });

[yuriiforlita]

@emilioheinz Do you have any ways how to resolve this issue?

[ghost]

@yuriiforlita Nope, no idea!

[FFMerlin-aracom]

This is still an issue. I'm on react-native 0.61.5 and XCode 12.1. Even with the remote debugger disabled,Linking.getInitialURL()always returns null. I've debugged through the AppDelegate file and the RCTLinkingManager receives the correct deeplink url.

[hnqlv]

I can confirm that disabling the debug mode as suggested above was enough for me to get the initial URL 👍

"react-native": "^0.63.2",
"@react-navigation/native": "^5.7.4"

[joelrorseth]

I have been experiencing this issue as well, I can also confirm that Linking.getInitialUrl() always returns null when "Debug JS Remotely" is enabled. My experiments on iOS, with react-native 0.60.6:

	"Debug JS Remotely" disabled	"Debug JS Remotely" enabled
App running	✅	✅
App not running	✅	❌

However, I spent days trying every solution posted above, only to realize that I simply misunderstood how Linking works. From the docs:

1. If the app is already open, the app is foregrounded and a Linking event is fired
You can handle these events with Linking.addEventListener('url', callback).

2. If the app is not already open, it is opened and the url is passed in as the initialURL
You can handle these events with Linking.getInitialURL() -- it returns a Promise that resolves to the url, if there is one.

You must use the appropriate method of retrieving the url, depending on whether the app is currently open. In my experiments, if the app is already running, Linking.getInitialURL() will always return null. And if it is not running, Linking's url event won't be fired.

This is obviously a bit cumbersome if you are trying to accommodate deep linking regardless of whether the app is open. I would abstract this by calling Linking.getInitialUrl() and listening for the url event in your root App component, then seed your other components through props, redux, etc.

I imagine some other people here have also misunderstood this, hopefully this helps a few people out.

[pebehb]

I imagine some other people here have also misunderstood this, hopefully this helps a few people out.

@joelrorseth, Can you post here how did you solve it?

[dzpt]

got null result on release mode also if app is inactive / closed on iOS.
"react": "16.13.1",
"react-native": "0.63.4",
"@react-navigation/bottom-tabs": "^5.11.3",
"@react-navigation/drawer": "^5.11.5",
"@react-navigation/native": "^5.9.0",
"@react-navigation/stack": "^5.13.0",

[anija]

Disabling debug on simulator solved the problem for me.

[dzpt]

@anjia doesn't work for me.
if app is inactive or is killed (have you tested with these cases), notification will not pass any URL.
have to workaround with @melvynhills solution

[lrusso]

After three days, for me the solution in iOS was to:

• Go to the project target, then Build Settings / Search Paths / Header Search Paths and there add the path $(SRCROOT)/../node_modules/react-native/Libraries/LinkingIOS in recursive mode.
• Adding to the info.plist file the key FirebaseAppDelegateProxyEnabled with a false value.

In iOS, Firebase was blocking the Linking events and the documentation in the Linking page in the React Native website is incomplete regarding how to add the LinkingiOS module.

Hope it may help someone.

[Aurelienlajoinie]

Hello,
In my case the problem appears only with deeplink into push notifications (app open by click on notification).
I use a workaround in AppDelegate > didFinishLaunchingWithOptions. This patch allow to "translate" UIApplicationLaunchOptionsRemoteNotificationKey into UIApplicationLaunchOptionsURLKey. In that way RN Linking can consume it and then getInitialURL return the good value :

 NSMutableDictionary *newLaunchOptions = [NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithDictionary:launchOptions];
  if (launchOptions[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsRemoteNotificationKey]) {
      NSDictionary *remoteNotif = launchOptions[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsRemoteNotificationKey];
    
      // here goes specific selection according to your payload structure 
     // exemple here: { MySubObject : { MysDeeplinkUrlKey : 'my.url.scheme://zizou?number=10' }}
      if (remoteNotif[@"MySubObject"] && remoteNotif[@"MySubObject"][@"MysDeeplinkUrlKey"]) {
          NSString *initialURL = remoteNotif[@"MySubObject"][@"MysDeeplinkUrlKey"];
          if (!launchOptions[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsURLKey]) {
              newLaunchOptions[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsURLKey] = [NSURL URLWithString:initialURL];
          }
      }
  }

  RCTBridge *bridge = [[RCTBridge alloc] initWithDelegate:self launchOptions:newLaunchOptions];

Hope it can help someone :)

[lucafronterotta]

Aurelienlajoinie that's exactly what I was looking for my use case, you saved me a lot of time.
THANKS!

[manish-patwari]

Solved the issue by passing LaunchOptions in RCTBridge. In my case it was nil and hence breaking.

RCTBridge *bridge = [[RCTBridge alloc] initWithDelegate:self launchOptions:launchOptions];

[pantomath91]

After updating my pods with pod install --repo-update, its began to work for me

[fondue-tech]

This is still issue when you enable debugger.

[github-actions]

This issue is stale because it has been open 180 days with no activity. Remove stale label or comment or this will be closed in 7 days.

[github-actions]

This issue was closed because it has been stalled for 7 days with no activity.

[MatheusLima7]

Nothing worked for me

[gilons]

 
  NSMutableDictionary *newLaunchOptions = [NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithDictionary:launchOptions];
  // Check if launched from notification
  NSDictionary *notification = [launchOptions objectForKey:UIApplicationLaunchOptionsRemoteNotificationKey];
  if (notification) {
    NSDictionary *custom = notification[@"custom"];
    if (custom) {
      NSString *deepLink = custom[@"u"];
      if (deepLink) {
        if (!launchOptions[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsURLKey]) {
          newLaunchOptions[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsURLKey] = [NSURL URLWithString:deepLink];
        }
      }
    }
  }
  
  RCTBridge *bridge = [[RCTBridge alloc] initWithDelegate:self launchOptions:newLaunchOptions];
  
  BOOL didFinishLaunchingWithOptions = [super application:application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:newLaunchOptions];
  

[gilons]

Hello, In my case the problem appears only with deeplink into push notifications (app open by click on notification). I use a workaround in AppDelegate > didFinishLaunchingWithOptions. This patch allow to "translate" UIApplicationLaunchOptionsRemoteNotificationKey into UIApplicationLaunchOptionsURLKey. In that way RN Linking can consume it and then getInitialURL return the good value :

 NSMutableDictionary *newLaunchOptions = [NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithDictionary:launchOptions];
  if (launchOptions[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsRemoteNotificationKey]) {
      NSDictionary *remoteNotif = launchOptions[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsRemoteNotificationKey];
    
      // here goes specific selection according to your payload structure 
     // exemple here: { MySubObject : { MysDeeplinkUrlKey : 'my.url.scheme://zizou?number=10' }}
      if (remoteNotif[@"MySubObject"] && remoteNotif[@"MySubObject"][@"MysDeeplinkUrlKey"]) {
          NSString *initialURL = remoteNotif[@"MySubObject"][@"MysDeeplinkUrlKey"];
          if (!launchOptions[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsURLKey]) {
              newLaunchOptions[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsURLKey] = [NSURL URLWithString:initialURL];
          }
      }
  }

  RCTBridge *bridge = [[RCTBridge alloc] initWithDelegate:self launchOptions:newLaunchOptions];

Hope it can help someone :)

We are in 2024, I'm still experiencing this issue. In my case, I had deeplinking properly setup with applinks. I wanted to open deeplink from notifications. I'm using Onesignal to forward my notifications to APNs.

From the solution provided by @Aurelienlajoinie, I modified as follows

 
  NSMutableDictionary *newLaunchOptions = [NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithDictionary:launchOptions];
  // Check if launched from notification
  NSDictionary *notification = [launchOptions objectForKey:UIApplicationLaunchOptionsRemoteNotificationKey];
  if (notification) {
    NSDictionary *custom = notification[@"custom"];
    if (custom) {
      NSString *deepLink = custom[@"u"];
      if (deepLink) {
        if (!launchOptions[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsURLKey]) {
          newLaunchOptions[UIApplicationLaunchOptionsURLKey] = [NSURL URLWithString:deepLink];
        }
      }
    }
  }

[gilons]

PS: don't ask me how I managed to know where One Signal store the app_url 😆.

[adriancuadrado]

@gilons

From the solution provided by @adriancuadrado, I modified as follows...

What solution do you mean? I just got a notification and I have no idea what this thread is about. Did you @mention the correct username?

[gilons]

Apologies for the wrong mention. This thread is so long.