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[Bug] [iOS] App delegate swizzler has no UIScene equivalent — cold-launch & universal links miss Analytics/Dynamic Links on scene-based apps

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Assessment

Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Newbie friendliness
45/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Needs clarification
Activity status
Active
Tech stack
cpp, firebase, ios, unity

Research direction

Start in app/src/invites/ios/invites_ios_startup.mm, reading RunOnAppDelegateClasses and HookAppDelegateMethods alongside the listed UIApplicationDelegate hooks. Trace the scene-delegate delivery paths in the issue and determine how coverage could reach Dynamic Links and Analytics while preserving the original implementation; done means the reported cold-launch and connected-scene URL and user-activity paths are no longer silently dropped.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

new type: question
Environment
  • Platform: iOS (scene-based lifecycle, UIWindowSceneDelegate)
  • Firebase C++ SDK version: (also consumed via Firebase Unity SDK 12.10.1)
  • Installed via: Unity (FirebaseCppApp / FirebaseCppAnalytics), with FirebaseAnalytics/FirebaseCore pods 11.14.0, GoogleUtilities 8.1.2
  • Relevant products: Analytics (campaign attribution)
Problem Description

The C++ SDK's iOS app-delegate swizzler (app/src/invites/ios/invites_ios_startup.mm, hooking installed via +load → RunOnAppDelegateClasses → HookAppDelegateMethods) only replaces UIApplicationDelegate methods:

  • application:openURL:options:
  • application:openURL:sourceApplication:annotation:
  • application:continueUserActivity:restorationHandler:
  • applicationDidBecomeActive:

There is no UISceneDelegate/UIWIndowSceneDelegate handling anywhere in the C++ SDK (looking at unity-v12.10.1 and v13.10.0)

On modern scene-based apps (UIWindowSceneDelegate), URL/NSUserActivity delivery moves off the app delegate onto the scene delegate. The C++ SDK adds nothing on top. As a result these link-delivery paths reach neither the C++ Dynamic Links machinery nor Analytics:

  • scene:willConnectToSession:options: — cold-launch deep links (connectionOptions.URLContexts) and cold-launch universal links (connectionOptions.userActivities)
  • scene:openURLContexts: — deep links delivered while the scene is already connected
  • scene:continueUserActivity: — universal links delivered while the scene is already connected

Impact: on scene-based iOS apps, cold-launch deep/universal links and connected-scene universal links are silently dropped by the SDK.

Steps to reproduce:
  1. Scene-based iOS app (Unity export uses UnityScene : UIWindowSceneDelegate in their latest Editor versions).
  2. Register a Dynamic Link / campaign URL.
  3. Cold-launch the app via a universal link → delivered to scene:willConnectToSession:options:.
  4. Observe: no firebase::/GUL frame in the stack for that delivery; no Dynamic Link resolution; no Analytics campaign event. (Same for scene:continueUserActivity: or scene:openURLContexts: while connected.)
Question for maintainers:
  • Is scene-delegate support planned for the C++ SDK's swizzler?
Workaround we're using (and would like validated):

We swizzle only the three uncovered scene methods on the scene delegate and forward to [FIRAnalytics handleOpenURL:] / [FIRAnalytics handleUserActivity:], chaining to the original implementation so the engine's own deep-link handling is preserved. Is this the recommended approach, and is there any double-handling risk if the SDK later completes scene coverage?

Dominant language
C++
Stars
326
Forks
138
Avg merge
2d 16h
Merged PRs (30d)
3

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