When does an iTunes link redirect to the iTunes app?

Question

When using the iTunes Link Maker one gets an http-Link, which is pretty nice, since it work also on non-iOS-devices.

But when exactly does the redirect to the app happen, when I use it on a web page?

• Does Safari interrupt the request?
• or does the iTunes website answer to the request with a redirect to a store:// URL or something?

Answer 1

Aparently it's the iTunes website which redirects based on user agent string – or a combination.

When opening the http-URL with a browser with the iPhone's user agent string I get a 301 return from the iTunes webserver to the App's URL scheme itmss://

Answer 2

It really depends on how the link is built and if you have iTunes installed on your machine.

itms-apps links would work only on iOS devices same as macappstore that would work on a mac. Both would open directly the store without browser first.

If you are a Mac/iOS developer I think you should use iLink which would figure out everything at run-time. This is the best solution for this complex issue.