Every link lives on your link domain: https://go.yourbrand.com/<code>. When someone taps it, Dropplink records the tap and sends them on in a few milliseconds. The redirect never waits for the tap to be saved.

Where a tap goes#

Visitor	Goes to
Android, app installed	Your app, through App Links (once deep links are set up).
Android, no app	The link's Android fallback if it has one, otherwise the Play Store, with a `click_id` in the install referrer.
iOS, app installed	Your app, through Universal Links.
iOS, no app	The link's iOS fallback if it has one, otherwise the App Store.
Desktop and anything else	The link's web fallback, otherwise your app's web fallback, otherwise a store page.
Link-preview crawler (WhatsApp, Instagram, iMessage…)	The same place, or a preview card with the link's title and image. Recorded as a bot.
Unknown, archived or expired code	Your app's web fallback. Not recorded.

Android fallbacks skip the Play Store

An Android fallback replaces the Play Store redirect, so it carries no click_id, and installs from it can't be attributed. Use it only for installs outside Google Play.

What's recorded for each tap#

Each tap gets a unique click ID and is stored with its channel (how channels are detected), platform, device and OS version, country, and whether it was a bot. IP addresses are hashed with a salt that rotates daily and are never stored as they are.

Why the Play Store referrer matters#

On Android, the Play Store hands the referrer from the store URL to your app after it's installed. Your app reads the click_id from it and sends it to Dropplink, which matches the install to that exact tap. This is deterministic: no guessing. iOS has no equivalent, so iOS installs will be matched with device signals within your attribution window.

How links work

Where a tap goes#

What's recorded for each tap#

Why the Play Store referrer matters#