Dynamically Contextual Universal Links for Cross-platform functionality via Shortcuts app

What about a feature to provide a Hook link which is a Dynamically Contextual Universal Link? I’ve been trying to think of a way to make the links dynamic in certain situations when using Finder, Dropbox, iCloud, etc.

Could a workflow be used to make/copy/share a hook link to a file in Finder (via Dropbox Finder sync) and provide a contextually universal output link?

This sort of universal link would allow the user to open the linked file in macOS Finder, iPadOS Files.app, or with a Dropbox URL link via a browser or the Dropbox for iOS/iPadOS App which has deep functionality with the Files.app.

This feature would benefit Hookmark users and the Hookmark iOS app. It would allow users to click on a hook link on any platform and have it open the file or location via the appropriate application or method.

The best method might be to use Hookmark Shortcuts actions to achieve this workflow on macOS and iPadOS/iOS. I’d love to collaborate with anyone interested in this idea or who can help implement it.

1 Like

Linking on iOS and iPadOS is still a drag due to Apple’s sandboxing restrictions. We prototyped this at the beginning of our Hookmark Pal development and had it working but there was a catch: the user would first need to resolve the link himself on iPad or iOS (i.e., find the corresponding file), after which the link would work fine (I can’t recall if it still worked after the file was moved). We are planning to revisit mobile linking in the future, but the user would need to select the target folder.

The Omni Group announced in January that they are working on something like that. Ken Case briefed me about it on FaceTime at the time. If you search for “Document Links” in Omni Roadmap 2025 you’ll find the announcement. However, this would require using one of their apps; i.e., it’s not a generic solution like Hookmark’s. Still quite useful for The Omni Group app users. If anyone has tried the betas of this please let us know below.