Universal Links are properly configured for iOS

Without a valid apple-app-site-association file, iOS treats your HTTPS links as ordinary web URLs and opens them in Safari instead of launching your app. Users who tap a password-reset link, a share URL, or a post-purchase confirmation get dropped into a browser session with no app context — they abandon, or worse, complete a flow in an unsupported UI path. Apple's Universal Links spec (apple-universal-links) requires server-side verification; if /.well-known/apple-app-site-association is missing or misconfigured, the OS silently falls back to Safari with no error shown to the user or the developer.

Place the apple-app-site-association file at ios/apple-app-site-association and ensure it is also served at https://<your-domain>/.well-known/apple-app-site-association with Content-Type: application/json and no redirect.

{
  "applinks": {
    "apps": [],
    "details": [
      {
        "appID": "TEAM_ID.com.yourcompany.appname",
        "paths": ["/*"]
      }
    ]
  }
}

For Expo-managed builds, add the domain to app.json instead:

{
  "ios": {
    "associatedDomains": ["applinks:myapp.com"]
  }
}

Replace TEAM_ID with your Apple Developer Team ID. Verify the file is reachable and returns HTTP 200 before submitting to the App Store.

• ID: mobile-navigation-linking.deep-linking.universal-links-ios

• Severity: high

• What to look for: Check for apple-app-site-association file. This file should exist in your ios/ directory or be served at https://<your-domain>/.well-known/apple-app-site-association on your backend. The file should specify your app's team ID and associated domains. For Expo-managed projects, check app.json for ios.associatedDomains config.

• Pass criteria: Count all associated domain entries in app.json or apple-app-site-association. Either an apple-app-site-association file exists in the iOS build, or app.json contains at least 1 ios.associatedDomains entry pointing to your domain. The file/config includes your app's team ID or bundle identifier. Before evaluating, extract and quote the ios.associatedDomains array value if present.

• Fail criteria: No apple-app-site-association file or config found. iOS universal links are not configured.

• Skip (N/A) when: The app has no iOS support (no ios field in app.json), or universal links are not required (custom scheme-only deep links are acceptable).

• Detail on fail: "No apple-app-site-association file found in ios/ directory" or "app.json has no ios.associatedDomains configuration"

• Remediation: Configure Universal Links for iOS. In your ios/ directory, create apple-app-site-association (no file extension):

  {
    "applinks": {
      "apps": [],
      "details": [
        {
          "appID": "TEAM_ID.com.yourcompany.appname",
          "paths": ["/*"]
        }
      ]
    },
    "webcredentials": {
      "apps": ["TEAM_ID.com.yourcompany.appname"]
    }
  }
  

  Replace TEAM_ID with your Apple Developer Team ID and adjust the bundle ID. Alternatively, in app.json for Expo:

  {
    "ios": {
      "associatedDomains": ["applinks:myapp.com", "webcredentials:myapp.com"]
    }
  }