When you tap an OutaStory link — in a message, in an email, in a search
result — it sometimes opens the app and sometimes opens your browser.
That split is deliberate, and it follows a simple rule.
Links that open the app
Reading and browsing links hand off to the installed app:
- the home page,
- a story:
/stories/…, - an author:
/authors…, - a category:
/category…, - the speaker marketplace:
/speakers…, - contests:
/contests….
These are the pages you want in the app, because that is where reading,
listening and offline downloads live.
Links that open a browser
These deliberately stay in the browser:
- help articles:
/help/…, - legal pages:
/legal/…, - your profile and its settings:
/profile/…, - your subscription page:
/subscription, - your credit balance:
/wallet.
They are long, form-heavy, document-style pages that behave better with
a full browser around them — back and forward buttons, text search,
printing, zoom, and links out to other pages. Squeezing them into the
app would make them worse, not better.
You stay signed in either way. Handing off to the browser does not
sign you out and does not lose your place.
Windows and macOS
On Windows there are no https deep links at all. Every OutaStory web
address opens in your browser, including story and author links. You can
still open the Windows app yourself and search for the story there.
On macOS the behaviour is not guaranteed — a link may open the app or
it may open your browser, depending on the system. Either way the page
works.
A story link opened the browser and you wanted the app
On Android, whether a link goes to the app is controlled by an operating
system setting, not by OutaStory. Open your system settings, find
OutaStory in the app list, and look for the open supported links
option (the exact wording varies by manufacturer). Make sure OutaStory is
allowed to open its own links, then tap the link again.
If a help, legal, profile, subscription or wallet link opens
the browser, that is not a fault — that is the rule above working as
intended.
Related
- What syncs across
devices explains why
switching between the app and the browser keeps your place. - Push notifications by
platform covers
another thing that differs between platforms.