diff --git a/PROJECT.md b/PROJECT.md
index 8e89940..5b7b1da 100644
--- a/PROJECT.md
+++ b/PROJECT.md
@@ -430,12 +430,16 @@ screen (`#vs`, `index.html` + THE LOBBY in `main.js`); the protocol underneath i
   the kit/tour selection `start()` performs is already done when the `look` message reads it.
   Two more hooks join `intoSplatter`: `room` (the code landed) and `lost` (returns true when the
   lobby said so itself, which is what suppresses the card). Headless leaves them null.
-- **SHARE THE LINK, then the code.** `navigator.share` is the phone's own sheet — the friend is in
-  WhatsApp, not in a room reading letters aloud — with `clipboard.writeText` as the desktop
-  fallback and the four letters still big on screen for when they are in the same room. The link is
-  the URL door that already existed (`#net-ABCD`): it opens the lobby with the code prefilled,
-  ONE tap from the court. Deliberately not an auto-join — that tap is where the joiner sees, and
-  can change, the name the other phone will call them.
+- **SEND THE CODE — and no link (settled same day).** `navigator.share` is the phone's own sheet —
+  the friend is in WhatsApp, not in a room reading letters aloud — with `clipboard.writeText` as
+  the desktop fallback. It shipped as SHARE THE LINK for an hour and the link came straight back
+  out: **a URL only opens the INSTALLED app on Android** (the manifest's scope covers the site, so
+  its WebAPK claims these URLs), while **an iOS home-screen app can claim nothing**, so on an
+  iPhone the invitation opened a second copy of the game in Safari — its own storage, none of the
+  name they picked in the app. Four letters typed into the app they already have is the honest
+  version until this is a real app with universal links; the `#net-ABCD` door still exists and is
+  exactly what a deep link will carry the day there is one, nothing merely sends it now. That door
+  prefills the lobby rather than auto-joining, so the joiner still sees the name they will wear.
 - **ONE NAME PER PLAYER.** The field is prefilled from `stats.savedName()` and written back through
   the new `stats.saveName` (which `submit` now shares), so the world board's name and the netplay
   name cannot become two things. It crosses on the EXISTING `look` message as `n` — no new message
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 54cc79a..8bb4ed0 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -567,7 +567,7 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one') {
         <div class="mid cent">
           <h3 id="vsWHdr" class="cent">ROOM CODE</h3>
           <p id="vsBig">····</p>
-          <button class="btn big" id="vsShare">SHARE THE LINK</button>
+          <button class="btn big" id="vsShare">SEND THE CODE</button>
           <p class="none cent" id="vsMsg">WAITING FOR THEM TO JOIN</p>
         </div>
         <div class="foot bare"><button class="btn" id="vsCancel">CANCEL</button></div>
@@ -645,6 +645,6 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one') {
     </div>
   </div>
 </div>
-<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=267"></script>
+<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=268"></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/src/main.js b/src/main.js
index d7c785a..f3f32d6 100644
--- a/src/main.js
+++ b/src/main.js
@@ -163,8 +163,6 @@ buildSub();
 const vsPick = document.getElementById('vsPick'), vsWait = document.getElementById('vsWait');
 const vsName = document.getElementById('vsName'), vsCode = document.getElementById('vsCode');
 const vsSay = (id, text) => { document.getElementById(id).textContent = text; };
-// the link IS the invitation: the joiner's phone opens the lobby with the code already in the field
-const vsLink = code => location.origin + location.pathname + '#net-' + code;
 
 function vsOpen(code = '') {
   vsName.value = stats.savedName();
@@ -193,17 +191,17 @@ vsCode.addEventListener('keydown', e => { if (e.key === 'Enter') vsGo(true); });
 // SHARE, then COPY. navigator.share is the phone's own sheet (WhatsApp, Signal, wherever the
 // friend actually is) and is exactly the "easier setup" — the clipboard is the desktop fallback,
 // and the code stays on screen for the two of them in the same room reading it aloud.
-// THE CODE RIDES THE MESSAGE, not just the link. An Android phone opens the link in the INSTALLED
-// app (the manifest's scope covers the whole site, so its WebAPK claims these URLs) — but an iPhone
-// home-screen app can claim nothing, so the link always opens in Safari, which keeps its own
-// storage and therefore knows nothing about the name they picked inside the app. Four letters in
-// the same message is the whole fix: a friend who has it installed opens their app and types them.
+// THE MESSAGE IS THE CODE, and deliberately carries no link. A link only opens the INSTALLED app
+// on Android (the manifest's scope covers the site, so its WebAPK claims these URLs); an iOS
+// home-screen app can claim nothing, so on an iPhone it always opened Safari instead — a second
+// copy of the game, with its own storage and none of the name they picked in the app. Until this
+// is a real app with universal links, four letters are the invitation. (`#net-ABCD` still works as
+// a door — it is what a deep link will carry the day there is one — nothing just sends it now.)
 document.getElementById('vsShare').addEventListener('click', async () => {
-  const code = G.net && G.net.code || '';
-  const url = vsLink(code), text = 'COME AND PLAY ME — ROOM CODE ' + code;
+  const text = 'JOIN ME IN SPLATTER TENNIS — THE CODE IS ' + (G.net && G.net.code || '');
   try {
-    if (navigator.share) await navigator.share({ title: 'SPLATTER TENNIS', text, url });
-    else { await navigator.clipboard.writeText(text + ' ' + url); vsSay('vsMsg', 'COPIED — SEND IT TO THEM'); }
+    if (navigator.share) await navigator.share({ title: 'SPLATTER TENNIS', text });
+    else { await navigator.clipboard.writeText(text); vsSay('vsMsg', 'COPIED — SEND IT TO THEM'); }
   } catch { /* a cancelled share sheet is not an error */ }
 });
 const vsQuit = () => { endNetVs(); vsOpen(); };     // a room you walked out of must give its socket back