OneLink API 2.0: The new deep linking infrastructure built for growth and scale

TL;DR

• Growth in 2025 is multi-channel and programmatic. Owned-media conversions grew 67% and web-to-app journeys grew more than 250%, and manual link creation can no longer keep up.
• Deep linking is now infrastructure, not an add-on. It carries the context and personalization that decide whether your funnels convert.
• OneLink API 2.0 turns link creation into a scalable system with programmatic QR generation, custom TTL controls, and an upgraded developer experience.
• The new version unlocks three high-impact use cases: QR everywhere, personalized CRM and lifecycle journeys, and secure authentication and onboarding.
• Brands like Albertsons and Apartment List have already documented measurable gains after building on top of AppsFlyer’s Deep Linking Suite.

The way users reach your app has changed. Your linking layer should too

A user might find your brand in a CRM email on Monday, scan a QR code on a shelf on Wednesday, and tap a paid ad in a social feed on Friday. Each of those moments is a deep link. Each one carries intent. And each one needs to land the user in the right place inside your app, with the right context, at the right moment.

However, when teams generate millions of personalized links across UA, CRM, lifecycle, product, and offline channels, manual link creation breaks down fast. Scale, governance, and automation become essential. And the teams that win are the ones that treat link creation as a programmatic system, not a one-off task.

That is not a campaign problem. It is an infrastructure problem.

This is the context a new version of the AppsFlyer’s OneLink API was built to solve.

What is OneLink API 2.0?

OneLink API 2.0 is the programmatic layer that lets you create, govern, and scale deep links and QR codes across every channel you run.

It preserves the same fundamentals that already make AppsFlyer’s Deep Linking Suite the trusted choice for enterprises: broad partner coverage, reliable routing infrastructure, and unified measurement. On top of that foundation, version 2.0 adds three capabilities that turn link creation from a manual task into a system: programmatic QR generation, custom time-to-live (TTL) controls, and an upgraded developer experience.

In practice, it means your CRM, product, growth, and engineering teams can all generate the right links, with the right rules, at the right scale without each team building its own version.

Why OneLink API matters right now

In 2025 alone, AppsFlyer data showed owned-media conversions grow by 67% and web-to-app journeys grow by more than 250%. Across channels, teams that invest in smart deep linking consistently see higher conversion rates than those that don’t.

Three pillars shape the demand for a more advanced API layer:

• Scale. Dynamic campaigns generate personalized links for each user and session across email, push, onboarding, and QR.
• Context. Personalized deep links improve every KPI, including conversion and LTV.
• Governance. Enterprises require structured naming conventions, robust safety controls, and consistency across teams.

As AI agents and programmatic workflows become more common, link creation needs to keep up. A modern API layer is no longer optional.

What’s new in OneLink API 2.0

The new version expands the value of the API in three ways that directly unlock new growth opportunities.

Programmatic QR generation

You can now generate QR images for any API-generated short link. CTV, retail shelves, packaging, print, events, and desktop overlays all become measurable app entry points. QR-to-app journeys continue to grow rapidly across verticals, and API-generated assets turn them into reliable acquisition channels.

This also means engineering teams no longer need a separate vendor for link creation and QR creation. One tool, one less point of failure, one less line item in the stack.

Custom TTL controls

Links can now expire after one click, in minutes, hours, or never at all — depending on the use case.

This supports secure flows like login or KYC, where links should expire immediately. It also reduces operational work for long-lived links in retail, offline, or referral programs. The right link lifetime for the right job, controlled programmatically.

An upgraded developer experience

Higher rate limits, enhanced validations, clearer responses, and monitoring endpoints help engineering teams run OneLink at enterprise scale. The result is fewer failures, more accurate automation, and a better experience for the customer at the other end of the link.

Three high-impact use cases

OneLink API 2.0 supports a wide range of workflows, with the strongest impact across three areas.

1. QR everywhere: CTV, offline, retail, and print

QR has become a major cross-channel acquisition and engagement engine. More advertisers are turning CTV spots, product packaging, receipts, and store signage into measurable app entry points. OneLink powers this through highly scalable programmatic QR creation and flexible link logic.

Albertsons: turning offline touchpoints into a measurable acquisition channel

Industry: Retail

Problem: Limited visibility into how offline and cross-channel touchpoints drove app traffic

Intervention: OneLink-powered QR codes and deep links across marketing channels

Measured outcome: 113% increase in marketing-driven app traffic and over 1.2 million QR-driven app visitors in two months

2. Personalized CRM and lifecycle journeys

Deep links created at send time let CRM teams personalize every email, SMS, WhatsApp, and push message. These contextual links lead users directly to the right in-app screen, improving activation and long-term value.

Users who arrive from optimized deep links are roughly twice as likely to spend, and they spend almost three times more. That makes the CRM-to-app handoff one of the highest-leverage moments in your funnel.

Apartment List: lifting Day 0 engagement and long-term value

Industry: Real estate marketplace

Problem: High-value mobile web users failing to continue into onboarding in the app

Intervention: OneLink deep linking to stabilize entry-point continuity during onboarding redesign

Measured outcome: 2× increase in Day 0 logins, 10× increase in transferring highest-value web users to the app, 15% decrease in CPI, and 30% increase in user LTV

3. Secure and governed authentication, login, and onboarding

Short-lived, session-based links enable safe and seamless authentication. Teams handling KYC, login, or sensitive user identification can now deliver secure journeys without exposing identifiers in URLs — all created programmatically.

Governance capabilities also help large organizations maintain consistency across teams and channels. Major streaming platforms, for example, use per-session short links to simplify device pairing and login. The link is created on demand, used once, and expires — keeping the journey both seamless and safe.

Why AppsFlyer leads the deep linking infrastructure layer

Success across channels depends on reliability, scale, and confidence at every touchpoint. AppsFlyer’s market position, partner integrations, redirection quality, and unified measurement framework create a stable foundation for all deep linking and routing logic.

The new OneLink API builds on this foundation. It lets organizations future-proof their deep linking strategy across paid, owned, product, and offline channels — without rebuilding their stack every time a new channel appears.

Key takeaways

• Manual link creation can’t keep up with the pace of multi-channel, programmatic growth.
• OneLink API 2.0 turns link creation into infrastructure, with programmatic QR, custom TTL, and an upgraded developer experience.
• The three highest-impact use cases are QR everywhere, personalized CRM journeys, and secure authentication.
• Brands like Albertsons and Apartment List have already documented measurable gains by building on top of unified deep linking infrastructure.
• The teams that win treat link creation as a system, not a task — and they build it on a foundation they can trust.

Explore the Deep Linking Suite or talk to an expert about how to build OneLink API 2.0 into your growth stack.