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What You Need To Know About Apple iOS App Search & Universal Links

How To Optimize Apps for Apple iOS

Search & iOS 9 Universal Links

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#SMX #32A @goutaste

#SMX #32A @goutaste

“75%  of  Google  Search  Revenue  in  2014  came  from  ads  on  iPhones  &  iPads.”  

-­‐  Goldman  Sachs  -­‐  

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Safari Market Share in Mobile

Worldwide Mobile Browser Market Share 2/2014

http://bit.ly/mobile-browser-share-2014

53.52%  

23.84%  

4.57%  

12.09%  

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#SMX #32A @goutaste

“Apple’s  App  Store  commission  is  now  at  a  run-­‐rate  of  $9  billion,  more  than  its  total  revenue  in  the  year  the  

iPod  launched.”  -­‐  Benedict  Evans,  @BenedictEvans  -­‐  

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APP   WEB  

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362359/  

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“One  Link  to  Rule  Them  All”  

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SPOTLIGHT SAFARI SIRI

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High-­‐Engagement  App  Screens  Suggested  in  

‘Siri  Suggestions’  on    iOS  9  Spotlight  

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Universal Links 101

#SMX #32A @goutaste Source:  https://dev.branch.io/recipes/branch_universal_links/ios/#which-­‐appsbrowsers-­‐support-­‐universal-­‐links  

Universal  Links  Are  Not  100%  “Universal”  Yet  “Conditionally”  means  issues  like…  

•  Will  NOT  work  when  pasted  into  URL  field  

•  Will  work  with  a  <a  href=“..”>  click  across  domains  (ie  Google  à  IMDB)  

•  Will  NOT  work  with  a  <a  href=“…”>  on  the  same  domain  (ie  IMDB  à  IMDB)  

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Google  App  Indexing  for  iOS  Apps    Requires  Universal  Links  

Source:  bit.ly/GoogleAppIndexing-­‐iOS  

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https://subdomain.domain.com/path/subpath/  

Scheme  “http”  or  “https”   Domain  or  Host  Name   Path  or  Prefix  

Anatomy  of  a  Universal  Link:  

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Requirements:    

• A  registered  domain  • SSL  access  to  your  domain  • Ability  to  upload  a  JSON  file  to  your  domain  

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1  

•  Modify  your  application  delegate  

•  Adopt  an  entitlement  in  Xcode  that  lists  each  domain  associated  with  your  app  

   READ:  http://bit.ly/ios9universallinks    http://bit.ly/UIApplicationDelegate-­‐Reference  WATCH:  http://bit.ly/appleuniversallinks  

 

Prepare  App  

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{ "applinks": { "apps": [], "details": {  »ABC0123.com.domain.App": { "paths":[ "*" ] } } }}    

Create  an  apple-app-site-association file  for  each  associated  domain  with  the  content  your  app  supports  and  host  it  at  the  root  level.  

NOTE:  The  association  file  must  be  hosted  on  a  domain  that  supports  HTTPS/TLS,  even  if  the  HTTP  deep  links  are  not  themselves  served  via  HTTPS.  

2   Associate  App  With  Website  

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{ "applinks": { "apps": [], "details": {  »ABC0123.com.domain.App": { "paths":[

”/folder/subfolder/”,”/folder2/subfolder2/*”,

] } } }}    

Modify  apple-app-site-association file  to  specify  only  the  content  that  is  parallel  between  the  app  and  the  website.  

3   Control  Paths  

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Universal  Links    

Services:  

 

1-­‐click  and    

you’re  done  

 

 

Branch.io  

Yozio  

Deeplink.me  

HOKO  

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Apple Search App Indexing

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CoreSpotlight   NSUserActivity   Web  Markup  

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Core  Spotlight   NSUserActivity   Web  Markup  

Used  for…    Indexing  public  app  screens  that  mirror  content  on  the  web  

DOES  require  corresponding  web  content  

Add  code  to  WEB  

Public  Cloud  Index  

Used  for…    Indexing  app  screens  that  contain  private/  personal  data  

Does  NOT  require  corresponding  web  content  

Add  code  to  APP  

Private  Device  Index  

Used  for…    Indexing  private  and  public  navigation  points  in  the  app  

Does  NOT  require  corresponding  web  content  

Add  code  to  APP  

Private  Device  Index  and/  or  Public  Cloud  Index  

Private   Public  

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TYPE  OF  SCREEN   API  TO  USE  

Content  that  the  user  views   NSUserActivity  

Frequently  used  navigation  points  and  features     NSUserActivity  

Content  created  or  curated  by  the  user,  such  as  photos  or  a  list  of  favorites   Core  Spotlight  

New  messages,  content,  or  items  that  arrive  on  the  device   Core  Spotlight  

Content  that  lives  in  both  your  app  and  your  website   Web  Markup  

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#SMX #32A @goutaste

Travel  App:  Reservation  Confirmations  Screen  

?

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Core  Spotlight!  

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Travel  App:    Flight  results  for  previously-­‐searched    

travel  dates      

?

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NSUserActivity!  Bonus  Points:  Private  

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Travel  App:      Hotel  Info  Screen  

?

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Web  Markup!    Bonus  points:  with  schema  on    

ratings  &  prices  

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NSUserActivity

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Private  or  Public  Public  Only  

Search  results    meta  data  for  display  and  rankings  

‘Canonical’  

More  info  here:  bit.ly/NSUserActivity  

NSUserActivity  

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CoreSpotlight   NSUserActivity   Web  Markup  NSUserActivity  

var  eligibleForSearch   var  eligibleForPublicIndexing  

Private/  Device  Index  

Public/  Cloud  Index  

PRIVATE  APP  SCREEN   PUBLIC  APP  SCREEN  

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CoreSpotlight

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Search  results    meta  data  for  

display  and  rankings  

More  info  here:  bit.ly/corespotlight  

CoreSpotlight  

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Web Markup

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Web  Markup  

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Twitter  Cards   AppLinks  Smart  App  Banners  

Web  Markup  

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Twitter  Cards   AppLinks  Smart  App  Banners  

Web  Markup  

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Twitter  Cards   AppLinks  Smart  App  Banners  

Web  Markup  

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Web  Markup  –  Visual  Presentation  

SCHEMA  

SCHEMA  

SCHEMA  SCHEMA  

OG  TAG  

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bit.ly/applesearchvalidator  

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bit.ly/universal-­‐links-­‐tool  

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Further Reading

•  Universal  Links:  •  https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/General/Conceptual/AppSearch/

UniversalLinks.html  

•  https://developers.google.com/app-­‐indexing/ios/app  

•  https://blog.branch.io/how-­‐to-­‐setup-­‐universal-­‐links-­‐to-­‐deep-­‐link-­‐on-­‐apple-­‐ios-­‐9  

•  https://blog.branch.io/best-­‐practices-­‐for-­‐ios-­‐9-­‐universal-­‐links  

•  http://support.hokolinks.com/ios/universal-­‐links  

•  https://dev.branch.io/recipes/branch_universal_links/ios/#which-­‐appsbrowsers-­‐support-­‐universal-­‐links  

•  https://blog.branch.io/ios-­‐9.2-­‐deep-­‐linking-­‐guide-­‐transitioning-­‐to-­‐universal-­‐links  

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Further Reading •  Apple  App  Indexing:  •  http://searchengineland.com/app-­‐indexing-­‐new-­‐frontier-­‐seo-­‐apple-­‐search-­‐ios-­‐app-­‐indexing-­‐223880  

•  https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/General/Conceptual/AppSearch/Activities.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40016308-­‐CH6-­‐SW1  

•  https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/Foundation/Reference/NSUserActivity_Class/  

•  https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/General/Conceptual/AppSearch/AppContent.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40016308-­‐CH7-­‐SW1  

•  https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/CoreSpotlight/Reference/CoreSpotlight_Framework/  

•  https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/ios/documentation/CoreSpotlight/Reference/CSSearchableItemAttributeSet_Class/index.html#//apple_ref/occ/instp/CSSearchableItemAttributeSet/title  

•  https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/General/Conceptual/AppSearch/WebContent.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40016308-­‐CH8-­‐SW1  

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Emily  Grossman  emily@mobilemoxie.com  @goutaste    www.mobilemoxie.com  2  Months  Free  Code:    SMXWEST16    facebook.com/mobilemoxie  @mobilemoxie  

#SMX #32A @goutaste SEE YOU AT THE NEXT #SMX!

THANK YOU!