expo-linking

Open Beta Documentation Amazon offers this technical documentation as part of a pre-release, open beta. The features described might change as Amazon receives feedback and iterates on the features. For the most current feature information, see the latest Release Notes.

@amazon-devices/expo-linking provides utilities for your app to interact with other installed apps using deep links. This library provides helper methods for constructing and parsing deep links into your app. This module is an extension of the React Native Linking module.

Installation
Examples
API reference
Supported versions
Related topics

Installation

Add the JavaScript library dependency in the package.json file.

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 dependencies: {
     ...
     "@amazon-devices/expo-linking": "~2.0.1",
     "expo": "~50.0.0",
     ...
 }

Reinstall dependencies using the npm install command.

Examples

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import * as Linking from '@amazon-devices/expo-linking';
import React, {useEffect, useState} from 'react';
import {Button, StyleSheet, Text, View} from 'react-native';

const URL = 'pkg://com.amazondeveloper.uisvg-demo.main';

export const App = () => {
  const [parsedUrl, setParsedUrl] = useState<string | null>(null);

  useEffect(() => {
    const parsed = Linking.parse(URL);
    setParsedUrl(JSON.stringify(parsed, null, 2));
  }, []);

  const onLinking = async () => {
    const supported = await Linking.canOpenURL(URL);
    if (supported) {
      await Linking.openURL(URL);
    }
  };

  return (
    <View style={styles.container}>
      {parsedUrl && <Text style={styles.text}>{parsedUrl}</Text>}
      <Button title="Link to application" onPress={onLinking} />
    </View>
  );
};

const styles = StyleSheet.create({
  container: {
    backgroundColor: 'white',
    flex: 1,
  },
  text: {
    color: 'black',
    fontSize: 32,
  },
});

API reference

See the documentation page for information about this library and API reference: Official Expo documentation for expo-linking.

Hooks

Hook	Description
`useURL`	Returns the initial URL followed by any later changes to the URL.

Methods

Method	Description
`canOpenURL`	Determines whether or not an installed app can handle a given URL. On the web this always returns `true` because there is no API for detecting which URLs can be opened.
`collectManifestSchemes`	Collects a list of platform schemes from the manifest. Based on the Scheme modules from `@expo/config-plugins`, which are used for collecting the schemes before prebuilding a native app.
`createURL`	Helper method for constructing a deep link into your app, given an optional path and set of query parameters. Creates a URI scheme with two slashes by default. The scheme in bare and standalone must be defined in the Expo config (`app.config.js` or `app.json`) under `expo.scheme`.
`getInitialURL`	Gets the URL that launches the app if launched by a link.
`hasConstantsManifest`	Ensures the user has linked the expo-constants manifest in the bare workflow.
`hasCustomScheme`	Returns whether the application is configured with a custom scheme.
`openSettings`	Opens the operating system settings app and displays the app’s custom settings, if it has any.
`openURL`	Attempts to open the given URL with an installed app.
`parse`	Helper method that parses out deep link information from a URL.
`parseInitialURLAsync`	Helper method that wraps React Native's `Linking.getInitialURL()` in `Linking.parse()`. Parses the deep link information out of the URL that opens the experience initially. If no link opened the app, all the fields are `null`.
`resolveScheme`	Returns a string representing the resolved scheme. If a custom scheme is configured, it returns that scheme.

Event subscriptions

Subscription	Description
`addEventListener`	Adds a handler to Linking changes by listening to the URL event type and providing the handler. However, use the `useURL()` hook instead.

Supported versions

Package Version	Based On	@amazon-devices/react-native-kepler version
2.0.x	6.1.1	2.0.x

Supported Third-Party Libraries and Services.

Last updated: Sep 30, 2025