HybridApp deep link always opens OldDot, ignoring tryNewDot NVP

Clone of internal issue

Problem

Tapping a deep link such as expensify.com/inbox from a native app opens the Expensify OldDot inbox even when the user is set to the NewDot experience. We need to fix this generally, but specifically forAuris who want a single URL for a button in their mobile app.

Solution

Apply the tryNewDot NVP check to the incoming expensify.com/inbox (and equivalent) deep links in HybridApp and route NewDot users to NewDot Home, matching web.

For a wider solution I created a long list of expected deep link behaviour here.

@trjExpensify

FYI @trjExpensify

@war-in

Perf, thank you and thank you @war-in for picking it up. For some added context, we're getting a new partner up and running on an integration in the coming weeks and they're going to use this one - so we need to get the redirect working reliably as some mutual customers might be on NewDot and others Classic. Thanks!

Discussing some of the details here in the slack thread

I deep-dived into the codebase and prepared a plan for implementing that feature:

Align apple-app-site-association with AndroidManifest so Android and iOS handle the same links
Move deeplink handling logic to JS side of OldDot from native, so the behaviour stays aligned between platforms. Also, deeplink resolving logic for locked users is already defined on JS side.
Implement deeplink translation for all ND users

Splitting that work into multiple PRs will allow for better readability and will simplify reviewing & testing process.

PR looking good, added 2 comments about the app lifecycle.

@Julesssss

PR looking good, added 2 comments about the app lifecycle.

@Julesssss comments addressed; thank you!
Also, how do you feel about testing the app? I know there are issues with testing the iOS app on adhocs but android should be testable. Could we ask the QA team to perform deeplink-related regression testing on the PR, so we catch all errors early?

For testing I think the tests I really trust will be on staging/production so we should keep an eye out for those deploys and be quick to resolve/revert, I think we may be missing some of the Apple route that are defined in the site-association-something file that lives on our web app. Let me know if I'm mistaken there though please.

I can generate AdHocs as a first pass, I would love to generate a production Android build locally too but sadly don't think I'm going to find time for that 😞

@Julesssss

@Julesssss I think that we can test on staging if you're fine with it 👍 We can also ask a C+ for the first look on adhocs which should make us a bit more confident before the merge. Could you trigger an adhoc on the PR and ask someone to test Android?

@Julesssss

This still applies. @Julesssss can we make it at least weekly?

@Julesssss

This issue has not been updated in over 15 days. @Julesssss, @war-in eroding to Monthly issue.

P.S. Is everyone reading this sure this is really a near-term priority? Be brave: if you disagree, go ahead and close it out. If someone disagrees, they'll reopen it, and if they don't: one less thing to do!

Assigning myself since I reviewed the linked PR

@war-in

Updated todo list:
Sorry for delays @war-in @aimane-chnaif, I think these are the next steps:

Wildcard deeplinks #99347 && https://github.com/Expensify/Mobile-Expensify/pull/14073 PR was waiting on me, we can update and request 2nd reviewer
https://github.com/Expensify/Expensify/issues/676211 PR was reverted and resubmission is in progress, this shouldn't block the wildcard PRs

We're close to the Wildcard deeplinks PR, it's now in final review. But if merged today it will hit prod until Thursday at the earliest.

This is a big change to many flows including unknown cases, so that isn't enough time for us to verify and catch regressions. I'm going ooo starting Thursday so to be safe we'll hold the changes until I'm back.

I thought about handing over but this is a pretty annoying mobile task with a chain of PRs and lots of testing needed on prod, pretty tough people unfamiliar with HybridApp 😕

Here's the plan and next steps:

Review Mobile-Expensify PR
Run test steps on AdHoc build (posted on App PR)
Review linked App PR and merge both together
- Await prod deploy, because staging is not fully testable
- QA need to test thoroughly,
Work on https://github.com/Expensify/Expensify/issues/676211
Resubmit App PR that was reverted previously
Work on Switch to Classic on mWeb opens the HybridApp instead of staying in the browser #99588:
- Backend needs AASA change in Web-Expensify
- Continue with draft App PR
Run through our expected deeplink testing flows with one-off QA run: Improve app deep link behaviour and test suite #98061

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HybridApp deep link always opens OldDot, ignoring tryNewDot NVP #98153

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HybridApp deep link always opens OldDot, ignoring tryNewDot NVP #98153

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Julesssss commented on Aug 10, 2026

trjExpensify commented on Aug 11, 2026

Julesssss commented on Aug 11, 2026

war-in commented on Aug 12, 2026

Julesssss commented on Aug 17, 2026

war-in commented on Aug 18, 2026

Julesssss commented on Aug 18, 2026

war-in commented on Aug 19, 2026

15 remaining items

war-in commented on Sep 10, 2026

melvin-bot commented on Oct 5, 2026

aimane-chnaif commented on Oct 11, 2026

Julesssss commented on Oct 15, 2026

Julesssss commented on Oct 20, 2026

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