Eliot Gevers
expo-widgets
supports widget interactivity through buttons and state updates, but it does not expose a clear deep-linking API for normal home-screen widgets.
The main gap is navigation:
  • opening the app to a specific route from a widget
  • making a whole widget open a specific screen
  • making individual rows/items inside a widget open a specific destination
Why This Matters
Apple already supports widget deep linking through WidgetKit / SwiftUI primitives like
widgetURL
and
Link
, so this does not appear to be a platform limitation.
Voltra also appears to support whole-widget deep linking for home widgets already, which makes this gap more noticeable for Expo users trying to stay within the Expo stack.
Current State
  • Home-screen widget button actions appear to be supported in
    expo-widgets
    .
  • Live Activities have a documented
    url
    path.
  • Normal home-screen widgets do not have a documented equivalent for widget-wide or per-item deep linking.
  • Expo's March 4, 2026 widgets announcement has a "What's next" section, but it does not mention home-widget deep linking there. If this is already planned, a short public note in the docs, blog, or changelog would help avoid duplicate requests.
Requested API / Direction
Any of the following would help:
  1. A
    widgetURL
    -style API for normal widgets.
  2. A
    Link
    component in
    @expo/ui/swift-ui
    that works inside widgets.
  3. Per-element deep-link support for widget content.
  4. A clear statement on whether this is planned, and if so, the intended direction.