Bitly Universal Link Example (iOS)

This iOS demo app shows how to use Bitly short links and custom domains to trigger universal link behavior in a mobile app. It’s meant for developers who want to understand how Bitly deep linking works with Apple’s native system.

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🔗 What This Project Demonstrates

• How to register a Bitly custom domain (e.g. b.yourdomain.com) for mobile deep linking
• How to open your iOS app from a Bitly link like:
  https://b.yourdomain.com/profile
• How to route based on URL path (e.g., /profile, /settings)
• How to integrate Apple’s Universal Links via Associated Domains

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⚙️ Setup Instructions

1. Clone This Repo

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/BitlyUniversalLinkExample.git
cd BitlyUniversalLinkExample

2. Create an Xcode Project

This repo contains the Swift source files — you'll create a new Xcode project to import them:

• Open Xcode and create a new iOS App project named BitlyUniversalLinkExample
• Use Swift and UIKit
• Replace the generated AppDelegate.swift, main.swift, and Info.plist with the ones in this repo

3. Configure Signing and Team

In your new Xcode project:

• Go to the app target → Signing & Capabilities
• Set your Apple Developer Team
• Update the Bundle Identifier to something unique, e.g.:

com.yourcompany.bitlydemo

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4. Add Associated Domains

Still under Signing & Capabilities:

• Click + Capability
• Add Associated Domains
• Add your Bitly custom domain:

  applinks:b.yourdomain.com
  

Replace b.yourdomain.com with your verified Bitly deep linking subdomain. Bitly will automatically serve the apple-app-site-association file from this domain.

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📱 Run the App

• Connect a physical iPhone (Universal Links do not work in the simulator)
• Build and run the app from Xcode
• Tap a Bitly short link (e.g., https://b.yourdomain.com/profile) in Safari or Notes
• The app should launch and log routing info to the Xcode console

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🔍 How Routing Works

The app inspects the incoming universal link path and logs a message accordingly:

switch url.path {
  case "/profile": print("→ Profile Screen")
  case "/settings": print("→ Settings Screen")
  default: print("→ Home or fallback")
}

You can swap these out with actual view controller navigation in your real app.

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🔧 Bitlink Setup Example

In Bitly, create a new short link:

• Domain: b.yourdomain.com
• Long URL: Can be any valid URL (e.g., https://example.com)
• Final short link: https://b.yourdomain.com/profile

This triggers routing to the “Profile” section of your app.

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🧪 Notes

• This demo uses Universal Links, not custom URL schemes
• Bitly must be configured with your custom domain
• No App Store publishing is required — use Xcode or TestFlight

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🤝 License

MIT — use freely for testing, demos, or production bootstrapping.