Smart QR code routing: send iPhone and Android to different links
Promoting an app with a QR code has always meant an awkward compromise: point the code at the App Store and half your Android audience lands on a page that isn't for their phone, point it at Google Play and the reverse happens to everyone with an iPhone. Reticle's dynamic links can route around that entirely, sending each scanner straight to the right store automatically, from a single code, free on every account.
How it works
Every dynamic link already has one required destination, the URL it redirects to when someone scans the code. Store routing adds two more, both optional: an iOS destination and an Android destination. When a scan comes in, Reticle reads the phone's browser signal to tell whether it's an iPhone, an Android device, or something else, and picks accordingly: an iPhone gets the iOS destination if you set one, an Android phone gets the Android destination if you set one, and everyone else, including desktop browsers and any phone with no matching override, gets your regular destination. Nothing about the QR code itself changes. It's still one image encoding one short link; the branching happens at scan time, on the server.
Step 1: create (or open) a dynamic link
Store routing rides along on Reticle's regular dynamic links, so you'll need one. Building a new one? Head to the generator, choose the URL content type, and select Create dynamic link before you generate it (free, sign-in takes a few seconds). Already have a dynamic link promoting your app? You can add routing to it without starting over, see Step 3.
Step 2: set your store destinations at creation
In the dynamic link creation panel, below the main destination field, there's a toggle: "Route iOS/Android to different stores." Open it and two more fields appear, an iOS destination for your App Store listing and an Android destination for your Google Play listing. Fill in either or both, whatever you leave blank simply falls back to the main destination for that platform. Generate the code once it's set, the routing is already live the moment the link is created.
Step 3: add or edit routing on an existing link
Already printed a code and want to add store routing after the fact? Open My codes, switch to the Dynamic tab, and select the link. The detail pane shows an iOS row and an Android row, each reading "Not set, click to add" until you fill them in. Click either one to set, change, or clear it, no need to touch the code you've already handed out. Because routing lives on the link rather than in the image, a store listing that moves, or an app that finally ships on the other platform, is a one-field edit away.
What scanners actually see
Someone scanning with an iPhone lands on your App Store page. Someone scanning with an Android phone lands on your Google Play page. Someone scanning from a laptop camera, an old phone, or any device Reticle can't confidently classify lands on your regular destination, which is why it's worth pointing that fallback somewhere sensible, a landing page that links to both stores, or wherever makes sense if the split doesn't apply. There's no interstitial page and no visible redirect step: the phone gets sent straight to the right place, and the whole thing still counts as one scan either way.
Where this is worth setting up
The obvious case is exactly what it sounds like: a poster, a table tent, a product insert, or a social post promoting a mobile app, where you'd otherwise have to pick one store link and hope, or print two separate codes and hope people pick the right one. It's also useful any time you have platform-specific content behind an otherwise identical call to action, not just app downloads. The iOS and Android fields are ordinary URLs, so whatever you'd normally split by platform works the same way.
A note on how detection works
Reticle classifies the scanner using the same signal every website already relies on to tell an iPhone from an Android phone: the browser identifies itself on the request. It's reliable for the overwhelming majority of real scans and requires no setup on your end, but it isn't a guarantee, a scanner running an unusual browser or a spoofed identifier could in principle land on the fallback instead of an override. That's exactly why the regular destination stays required and always live: it's not just a default for "everyone else," it's the safety net if detection is ever wrong.
Want more than two destinations?
Store routing splits by device only, App Store versus Google Play versus everyone else. For finer control, splitting by country, language, or the time of day too, see Smart routing, a Pro feature that layers an ordered list of rules on top of this one. A link with only iOS/Android destinations keeps working exactly as described here either way.
Frequently asked questions
Is store routing a paid feature?
No. It's included on every Reticle account, including the free tier, as part of any dynamic link. No Pro plan is required.
How does Reticle know which platform someone is scanning from?
The redirect reads the User-Agent header the phone's browser sends on the request, the same signal every website uses to tell an iPhone from an Android phone from a desktop. There's nothing to configure, it happens automatically the moment a destination override is set.
Do I have to set both an iOS and an Android destination?
No. Both are optional and independent. Set only iOS, only Android, or both, whatever you leave blank falls back to your regular destination.
What does someone on a laptop or an old feature phone see?
Your regular destination, the one every dynamic link already has. The iOS and Android fields are overrides, not replacements, so there's always a working fallback for everyone else.
Can I change the store links later without reprinting the code?
Yes. All three destinations live on the link, not in the QR code image, so you can update any of them from My codes at any time. The printed code never has to change.
Does this work for anything besides app stores?
The fields are just optional URLs, so they work for any pair of platform-specific pages, not only App Store and Google Play links. App download pages are simply the most common use.
Make a dynamic QR code, then turn on "Route iOS/Android to different stores" at creation, or add it later from My codes. Free, no Pro plan required.