Deep Link Debugger

A free, public tool at zipthe.link/debugger. No login, no plan, no API — it runs entirely in your browser. Paste any URL and it shows you, before you share the link anywhere, exactly what a tap does inside the Instagram or TikTok in-app browser.

That matters because the in-app browser is where links go to die: the visitor is logged out, can't follow, can't buy, and bounces. The debugger shows you whether your link gets stuck there — and what Zippy does about it.

What it checks

1. Which native app owns your URL. The debugger runs your URL against the same deeplink table Zippy's production redirect engine uses — YouTube, Spotify, Amazon, TikTok, and the rest. Not a lookalike list; the real table.
2. What happens on tap, side by side. The plain link vs the same link zipped, inside an in-app browser.
3. The exact links Zippy fires to spring the app — nothing hidden, nothing hand-waved.

Reading the verdict

The side-by-side is the heart of it:

• Plain link — tapped inside Instagram or TikTok, it stays trapped in their webview. Your visitor lands in a stripped-down browser where they're logged out of everything.
• Zipped link — the same URL through Zippy fires the destination app's own iOS URL scheme or Android intent://, and the real app opens — visitor already signed in, one tap from following or buying.

Same destination, completely different outcome. That's the whole product in one screen.

The exact-forms panel

For every URL an app owns, the debugger shows the three link forms Zippy actually uses:

• iOS scheme — the app's own custom URL scheme (e.g. vnd.youtube://…).
• Android intent — an intent:// link that opens the app directly, with a built-in fallback to the device's native browser if the app isn't installed.
• Web fallback — the plain https URL that always works, everywhere, no app required.

Zippy picks the right one per visitor at redirect time; the debugger just shows you all three up front.

Honest edge cases

Not every URL gets the full spring, and the debugger says so instead of pretending:

• App exists, but no custom scheme — some platforms (GitHub, for example) only support Universal Links and publish no scheme. Zippy won't invent a fake one. Instead you get the Safari punt: the link still escapes the in-app browser into real Safari, where Universal Links can do their job. Out of the webview either way.
• No app owns the URL — your link is just a normal Zippy redirect. Still short, still trackable, still editable after you've shared it — there's simply no app to open.

Results = real behavior

The debugger isn't a simulation of what Zippy might do. It reads the production engine's actual deeplink table (mirrored from the open-source redirect engine), so what it shows you is what a real visitor gets when they tap your zipped link. If the debugger says your link springs the app, it springs the app.

Read more

• Blog: See exactly why your link dies — free, no login
• Changelog: Deep Link Debugger