Marketing

How do I send an app download link by SMS that works on iPhone and Android?

A text message carries no device information. One link that decides when it is opened sends each phone to its own store.

Short answer

A text message carries no information about the recipient's phone, so send one link that picks the store when it is tapped. OneStoreLink (onestore.link) gives you that link for free: iPhones go to the App Store, Android phones to Google Play, computers to a page with both buttons and a QR code, and your utm parameters reach the Google Play Install Referrer.

Last reviewed 2026-11-03

Text messages are a good way to get an app onto a phone: the message lands on the device that will install it, and the person reads it within minutes. But you write the message once and send it to everyone, without knowing who has an iPhone and who has an Android phone. Sending both store links makes the message long and asks people to pick; sending one strands the other half. This guide shows how to send a single link that works for both, and how to measure what it brought.

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The problem

An SMS carries no information about the recipient's device, so the message cannot contain "the right" store link.
Two store links in one message make it long, look like spam, and ask the reader to choose.
A single store link opens the wrong store for everyone on the other platform.
Without tags on the link, installs that came from the SMS are mixed with every other install.

With onestore.link

Send one onestore.link URL: the store is chosen at the tap, from the phone that opens the message.
The link is short, a six-character address such as onestore.link/k7bm29, so it fits in a message with room to spare.
Add utm parameters to the link you send: onestore.link forwards them to Google Play as the Install Referrer, readable in the Play Console and through the Install Referrer API.
On iOS, App Store campaign reporting needs a provider token from your App Store Connect account: add it once in the link's settings and the App Store link carries your campaign too.

How to do it

No SDK, no rebuild. Just a URL.

1
Create one link for both stores
On onestore.link, search your app or paste its App Store and Google Play URLs, then activate the link from the email you receive.
2
Tag the link for this campaign
Add utm parameters to the link you put in the message, so the SMS shows up as its own source in your statistics and in the Play Install Referrer.
```
https://onestore.link/k7bm29?utm_source=sms&utm_campaign=invite
```
3
Send it and read the result
Put the link in your message. Each phone that taps it is sent to its own store. The visit count appears in your dashboard, and the Android installs in the Play Console under the referrer you set.

Frequently asked questions

Can an SMS link know whether the recipient has an iPhone or an Android phone?

Not when you send it. It finds out when the link is opened: the browser that opens it says which system it runs, and the link sends it to the matching store at that moment.

Should I put both store links in the message?

It works, but it makes the message longer and asks the reader to pick the right one. One link that picks for them is shorter and leaves nobody on the wrong store.

How do I know how many installs came from the SMS?

Tag the link with utm parameters. onestore.link passes them to Google Play as the Install Referrer, which the Play Console reports and your app can read after install. On iOS, the same works once you add your App Store Connect provider token to the link.

Will the link preview in the messaging app count as a visit?

Previews fetched by messaging apps that announce themselves as such are counted apart, as share previews, not as visitors. Only people who open the link count as visitors.