5 Things You Didn’t Know About Deep Links

March 26, 2025

At buildbox.studio, we like to keep things real. No gatekeeping. Just tools that work.

Today we’re talking about deep links—those special URLs that teleport users straight into a specific place in your app or site. You’ve definitely used them, but there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes than just opening a page.

Here are 5 underrated things about deep links, with some chill, old-school dev examples thrown in.

1. 🧠 Deep Links = App Memory

Deep links are like bookmarks for state. They don’t just open a page—they carry context.

🧪 Example (PHP):

<?php
// resume.php?step=2&flow=onboarding
$step = $_GET['step'] ?? 1;
$flow = $_GET['flow'] ?? 'default';

echo "You're on step $step of the $flow flow.";
?>

A URL like resume.php?step=2&flow=onboarding drops the user right back where they left off. Super handy for onboarding or multi-step forms.

2. 🕸️ Deep Links = Hypertext 2.0

Remember when the web was just a bunch of linked documents? Deep links are like the app version of that—turning your app into a maze of meaningful locations.

🧪 Example (HTML):

<a href="app://profile/andrewnjoo">View Drew’s Profile</a>

In a mobile app, this might open the native screen. On web, you can route it to profile.php?user=andrewnjoo. It’s the same principle: navigate with meaning.

3. 🚀 They Supercharge Onboarding and Retention

Imagine you send a user an email like:

“Hey, pick up where you left off!”

That email includes a deep link that opens your app to the exact task or challenge they paused. Boom—instant re-engagement.

🧪 Example (Email link):

https://buildbox.studio/continue.php?session_id=abc123

Then in continue.php, just look up the session and drop them in.

4. 🛠 They’re Way More Powerful Than They Look

Deep links can carry a ton of context and work across web, iOS, and Android. If you’re doing native stuff:

🧪 Example (AndroidManifest.xml):

<intent-filter>
  <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW"/>
  <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT"/>
  <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE"/>
  <data android:scheme="myapp" android:host="profile"/>
</intent-filter>

Now myapp://profile/drew opens your app to the profile page. You can pass parameters with /profile/drew?ref=email.

5. 🎯 They Let You Build Sharable, Hackable URLs

This is the fun part—when your app’s internal pages feel linkable, everything gets more creative.

Share a task
Save a filtered search
Create easter eggs 🤫

🧪 Example (Plain ol’ HTML + Query Params):

<a href="/game.php?level=secret&mode=god">👾 Enter the secret zone</a>

URL as interface. It’s fun and useful.

Wrap Up

Deep links aren’t just for big teams or fancy stacks. They’re for anyone who wants to make their app smarter, more shareable, and easier to jump into.

Next time, we’ll show how to set this up in a janky-but-glorious PHP + JS stack, and maybe even sprinkle in some QR codes for good measure.

Stay scrappy,
—The Buildbox Studio crew 🛠

BuildBox Studio