From what I understand, you have to use the appname when linking which is the slug that apple generates. So, for an app like like \'Guns and Weapons Encyclopedia\' the slug
There is also one other way:
Use "appstore.com" scheme.
Your app name is "Houston, we have an issue!" you can transform it into:
(iOS) http://www.appstore.com/houstonwehaveanissue
(Mac) http://www.appstore.com/mac/houstonwehaveanissue
Rules:
lower case characters
strip whitespaces
"!¡"#$%'()*+,-./:;<=>¿?@[]^_`{|}~" characters that have to be removed
More detailed description can be found at: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/qa/qa1633/_index.html (Creating easy-to-read short links to the App Store for your apps and company)
Yes, there is. You can use the app ID to generate the link. You get the ID when you register an app in the iTunes portal.
You want a link like this:
http://itunes.apple.com/app/idAAAAAAAAA
Where, AAAAAAAAA
is your app id.