How Allegro Preserves User Context During Android App Installation
Original post Preserving User Context During Android App Installation
Article Summary
Ever lose a user the moment they install your app? That frustrating context loss between web and app has a surprisingly simple fix.
This article tackles a common mobile UX problem: users browse your mobile website, click to install your app, and completely lose track of what they were viewing. The solution uses Google Play's built-in referrer system to preserve context across the installation journey.
Key Takeaways
- Use utm_term campaign parameters in Play Store links to pass context data
- Implement a BroadcastReceiver to capture referrer data on first app launch
- Deep link users directly to content they viewed before installing
- Works with existing Google Play infrastructure, no third-party tools needed
You can preserve user context during Android app installation by passing campaign parameters through Play Store links and capturing them with a custom BroadcastReceiver.
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What This Article Covers
When users install Android apps from mobile websites, they lose track of what they were doing before. For example, someone might be looking at a real estate listing, click an install banner, and then forget which property they were viewing.
Krzysztof Kocel's team at Allegro used Google Play Campaign Parameters, specifically utm_term, to embed property IDs into Play Store links. They then built a custom BroadcastReceiver to capture this referrer data and deep link users back to the exact content they were viewing.
This approach uses Google Play's built-in referrer broadcast system without needing any third-party tools. Users stay connected to their original content from the moment they install the app through launch, which makes the experience feel seamless.
This page summarizes “Preserving User Context During Android App Installation” by Allegro, published Nov 19, 2014. All credit for the original work goes to the authors.
