Deep Links

Deep links are a type of project trigger perfected for launching experiences without the need for the end user to scan a code. Deep links are recommended for when you want to share experiences through social apps or an email.

If the deep link targets the WebAR platform, the user will be redirected to the WebAR page, prompted to allow camera permissions, and be asked to tap to launch the AR content.

If the deep link targets the Zappar app, and the app is already installed on the user's device, the app opens and the experience is launched. However, if the app is not installed on the device, one of two behaviors will occur:

  • If the device is supported by the Zappar app, the user will be directed to their app store to install Zappar.
  • If the device is not supported by the Zappar app, a message will be displayed listing device compatibility.

For more information on supported devices, please see this article.

As experiences can be launched without scanning a code, deep links work well for those that do not rely on a target image e.g. world or face tracked experiences, 360 panoramas, or those that solely display 2D content on the screen. This makes them particularly suitable for sharing via social media, email communication, or as links on an existing website.

For example, the following deep link below launches our Interactive 360 Panorama experience via WebAR: https://webxr.run/oyyzn2QoL14eW.


Under the hood, the webxr URL provided by a deep link (e.g. https://webxr.run/w2G2lkWAR60Az) is simply redirecting the user to either https://zpr.link/z/ if targeting the app, or https://web.zappar.com/?zid=z/ if targeting WebAR.

In order to specify a specific experience to launch, a project's unique Deep Link ID (e.g. nkQi1c) is passed at the end of the links mentioned above e.g. https://zpr.link/z/nkQi1c or https://web.zappar.com/?zid=z/nkQi1c. With a deep link trigger, this unique ID is passed in by default and does not need to be added to the webxr URL.

A project's unique deep link ID can be retrieved from its Project Overview page:

Deep Link IDs are required when:

  • Specifying an experience to launch directly into when your app is opened, if using our App Embed SDK.
  • Setting up a collection mechanic in Studio, to identify which experience the currently active one was launched from.

For more information on deep link usage in Studio, please see the following article.


Deep Linking Between Experiences

As deep links function as regular URLs, they can be used to launch a second AR experience from within another without having to rescan, by using the launch URL function from one of our ZapWorks tools.

Image tracked experiences require the user to aim their camera at the target image in order to launch the experience. If there is no guarantee that the user will be able to access the target image, it is recommended to avoid the use of a deep link trigger.

Using this method, it's possible to create a 'hub' experience that allows the user to launch into a selection of other AR experiences that you've built. If linking between Studio experiences using an experience's deep link ID, it's recommended to replace the https://zpr.link/ portion of the link with zappar:// to ensure that the transition is handled gracefully by the app.

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