Comparative examples for Branch and Firebase

AppDelegate_Branch.swift

import UIKit
import Branch

@UIApplicationMain
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {

    var window: UIWindow?

    func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplicationLaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {

        // Set up the SDK
        let branch: Branch = Branch.getInstance()
        
        // Get a bunch of extra logging output
        branch.setDebug()

        // No need to manually configure any transitions, because the Branch SDK can do that automatically
        // Of course, you can do it manually too if you need more flexibility
        let controller = UIStoryboard.init(name: "Main", bundle: Bundle.main).instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "roomDetails")
        branch.registerDeepLinkController(controller, forKey: "room_name")

        // Start the session and get all the link data. This occurs on every launch, even if a link was not opened
        // This is also where the link data from a new install is captured
        branch.initSession(launchOptions: launchOptions, automaticallyDisplayDeepLinkController: true) { (params, error) in
            if (error == nil) {

                // We can look at the contents of the link, and a bunch of other interesting things
                dump(params)
            }
        }
        
        return true
    }
    
    // Here, we check for URI scheme links
    func application(_ application: UIApplication, open url: URL, sourceApplication: String?, annotation: Any) -> Bool {

        // If we find one, pass it back to the deep link handler for unpacking
        Branch.getInstance().handleDeepLink(url);
        
        return true
    }
    
    // Also check for Universal Links
    func application(_ application: UIApplication, continue userActivity: NSUserActivity, restorationHandler: @escaping ([Any]?) -> Void) -> Bool {

        // If we find one, it goes back to the deep link handler for unpacking too
        return Branch.getInstance().continue(userActivity)
    }

}

AppDelegate_Firebase.swift

import UIKit
import Firebase

@UIApplicationMain
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {

    var window: UIWindow?
    let customURLScheme = "branchmaps" // Hmmm...why?

    func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplicationLaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {

        // Set up the SDK
        FIROptions.default().deepLinkURLScheme = self.customURLScheme
        FIRApp.configure()
        
        return true
    }

    // This extra call to the open url method often causes confusion...but both are necessary!
    func application(_ app: UIApplication, open url: URL, options: [UIApplicationOpenURLOptionsKey : Any]) -> Bool {
        return application(app, open: url, sourceApplication: nil, annotation: [:])
    }

    // Here, we handle URI scheme links, and (more importantly) the initial launch after a new install
    // This can also cause confusion, because the initial launch is not a URI link and yet is still handled here
    func application(_ application: UIApplication, open url: URL, sourceApplication: String?, annotation: Any) -> Bool {
        let dynamicLink = FIRDynamicLinks.dynamicLinks()?.dynamicLink(fromCustomSchemeURL: url)
        if let dynamicLink = dynamicLink {

            // We can see the URL of the link...
            dump(dynamicLink.url)
          
            // ...and then pull it apart to use the pieces
            let deepLink = URLComponents(url: dynamicLink.url!, resolvingAgainstBaseURL: false)!
            let deepLinkQueryString = deepLink.queryItems
            
            // Filtering through the results to see if they contain the parameter we want
            if let roomID = deepLinkQueryString!.filter({$0.name == "roomID"}).first?.value {
              
                // Set up the transition
                let destination = self.window?.rootViewController?.storyboard?.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "roomDetails") as! ViewController
                destination.roomToShow = String(describing: roomID)
                self.window?.rootViewController?.present(destination, animated: true, completion: nil)
                
            }
            
            return true
        }
        
        return false
    }

    // Aaaaand now do it all again for Universal Links
    @available(iOS 8.0, *)
    func application(_ application: UIApplication, continue userActivity: NSUserActivity, restorationHandler: @escaping ([Any]?) -> Void) -> Bool {
        guard let dynamicLinks = FIRDynamicLinks.dynamicLinks() else {
            return false
        }
        let handled = dynamicLinks.handleUniversalLink(userActivity.webpageURL!) { (dynamicLink, error) in

            dump(dynamicLink!.url)

            let deepLink = URLComponents(url: dynamicLink!.url!, resolvingAgainstBaseURL: false)!
            let deepLinkQueryString = deepLink.queryItems
            
            if let roomID = deepLinkQueryString!.filter({$0.name == "roomID"}).first?.value {
                
                let destination = self.window?.rootViewController?.storyboard?.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "roomDetails") as! ViewController
                destination.roomToShow = String(describing: roomID)
                self.window?.rootViewController?.present(destination, animated: true, completion: nil)
                
            }
            
        }
        
        return handled
    }
    
}

ViewController_Branch.swift

@IBAction func shareButton(_ sender: UIButton) {

    // Set up some basic info about the link we are going to create
    let linkProperties = BranchLinkProperties()
    linkProperties.feature = "sharing"

    // Define a container to store link data
    let branchUniversalObject = BranchUniversalObject()

    if let selectedRoom = (RoomData.allRoomsArray().filter{ $0.roomName == roomToShow }).first {

        // Insert all the link data...these are just few of the options
        // Many configuration items can be omitted because they are inherited from the main Branch app config
        branchUniversalObject.canonicalIdentifier = "room/\(selectedRoom.roomID)" // This one lets us dedup the same piece of content across many links
        branchUniversalObject.title = selectedRoom.roomName
        branchUniversalObject.addMetadataKey("room_name", value: selectedRoom.roomName) // We can have as many of these as we want

        // Use the pre-packaged share sheet method
        branchUniversalObject.showShareSheet(with: linkProperties, andShareText: nil, from: self, completion: { (activity, finished) in
            print("Generated sharing link for \(selectedRoom.roomName)")
        })
    }
}

ViewController_Firebase.swift

@IBAction func shareButton(_ sender: UIButton) {
    
    if let selectedRoom = (RoomData.allRoomsArray().filter{ $0.roomID == roomToShow }).first {

        // We need to specify everything for each link...so let's start with the base URL on the web
        // Also need to manually append any custom data params we want passed through
        let roomLink = "https://branch.io/room?roomID=\(selectedRoom.roomID)"

        // Next, wrap that URL into the Firebase link and add required control params
        let firebaseLink = "https://x2z5q.app.goo.gl/?link=\(roomLink.addingPercentEncoding(withAllowedCharacters: .alphanumerics)!)&ibi=io.branch.branchmap"

        // Configure and display the stock iOS share sheet
        let shareSheet = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: [ firebaseLink ], applicationActivities: nil)
        shareSheet.popoverPresentationController?.sourceView = self.view
        self.present(_: shareSheet, animated: true, completion: {
            print("Generated \(firebaseLink) sharing link for \(selectedRoom.roomID)")
        })
    }
    
}