Android deep links let you bring users directly into your app content from links they have tapped, such as from web browsing, search, notifications and more.
Android supports two general types of app linking to meet different needs:
- Deep linking is a standard Android platform capability that takes advantage of the intents system to route deep links to your app. Through intents, you can register to handle several types of deep links, from custom URIs to standard web schemes and domains. Deep links are powerful and useful for navigation, but they are subject to the system disambiguation dialog. Deep links are available on all Android versions.
- Android App Links is an enhanced deep linking capability that verifies deep links to your own website by establishing a trusted association between your app and your website. After they are verified, deep links to your website can immediately open corresponding content in your app, without requiring the user to select your app from a disambiguation dialog. App Links is supported on Android 6 and later, on devices that have Google services. For deep links to your website, App Links is a recommended approach.
Android 15 update
With Android 15, App Links are even more powerful with the introduction of Dynamic App Links. With the new dynamic capabilities, you can refine your app's deep link behaviors on the fly, with fine-grained control over URL matching, and without needing to release a new version of your app.
In this guide
This guide explains how to create and test deep links, then covers how to implement App Links to deliver the best user experience for deep links to your website or domain.
You should already be familiar with the following guides: