If your partner sent you an invite link and tapping it opened a browser instead of Open Heart, there are a few common reasons. Most can be fixed in under a minute.

When your partner sends you an invite link from inside Open Heart, tapping it should open the app directly. If a browser opened instead, one of these is the cause.

Common causes

1. The app isn't installed yet

This is the most common one. The invite link only opens the app if the app is on your phone.

Fix: install Open Heart from the App Store or Play Store, then tap the invite link from your messages again. Your phone will route it to the app this time.

2. The link is too old

Invites are good for 15 minutes. After that, the link opens a fallback web page that says "Your partner invited you" — that's intentional, not an error.

Fix: ask your partner to send a new invite from inside the app.

3. You long-pressed the link instead of tapping

If you long-pressed the link and chose "Open in Safari" (or your default browser), your phone opens it there instead of in the app. That's the phone's behavior, not ours.

Fix: tap the link directly. Don't long-press.

4. You're using a desktop browser

Invite links only open apps on phones. If you opened it on a laptop, you'll see the fallback web page — by design.

Fix: open the link on your phone.

5. Verification didn't finish during install

The first time you install Open Heart, your phone fetches a small file from us that tells it "yes, this app is allowed to handle invite links." If your network was flaky during install, that fetch can fail.

Fix:

iPhone: uninstall and reinstall the app. Your phone will refetch the file.
Android: uninstall and reinstall. Or go to Android Settings → Apps → Open Heart → Open by default → and tap "Add link."

6. Parental controls or work profile restrictions

Some Screen Time, MDM, or parental control profiles disable apps from auto-opening links.

Fix: check Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions on iPhone, or your work profile settings on Android.

Manual workaround

If the link refuses to cooperate but you have the app installed, you can still pair:

From your partner's phone: Settings → Invite a partner → tap Show invite code
The 22-character invite code is shown
From your phone: Settings → Accept invite by code → paste the code
Pairing completes the same way as if you'd tapped the link

Invite link didn't open the app