This post will explain how to open a link from your Thunkable X app either in the corresponding app or in the device’s browser. For example, a link to twitter.com/thunkable will open up the account in the device’s Twitter app if the Twitter app is installed, or else will open the link in the device’s main browser if Twitter is not installed.
This is called Deep Linking, and was a function of the Activity Starter in Thunkable Classic.
Thunkable X makes deep linking extremely easy with the open link block, which can be found in the Control blocks menu.
This block will be demonstrated with a social media Screen that can be integrated into your app. Here is a link to this app.
Layout
The Layout for this app is super simple. We have a Label and three Buttons. The Vertical Layout of the Screen is set to space-around.
The Buttons are each 100*100px, with a Border Radius of 50 (half of 100). This creates circular Buttons. Read Domhnall’s post about circular Buttons here.
The Background Images of these Buttons were set to the logos of three social media brands: Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. I specifically looked for round .png versions of these logos online so that I knew they would fit my circular Buttons perfectly. These Buttons have also been named Twitter, Youtube and Instagram, as we will see in the blocks.
The Blocks
These blocks are extremely simple. When the user clicks on a branded social media Button, they will find Thunkable’s account on that platform. If they have the corresponding app installed, the app will be opened. If they don’t, the web page will be opened in their browser.
And that’s it! We know that users who are looking for the Activity Starter might not recognise that this is the block they want right away, but hopefully everyone will find this function to be really convenient and effective in their apps.
Happy Thunking!