Can anyone explain in real life example what is the difference between
App Links - https://developer.android.com/training/app-links/deep-linking.html
Deep links - https://developer.android.com/training/app-links/index.html
App Indexing - https://developer.android.com/studio/write/app-link-indexing.html
in Android?
Have read too many posts and documentations, but still cannot get the exact gist.
I understand that App links works with Android 6.0 and Deep Links with 4.2. but in performance, they are doing the similar task.
App Indexing allows Google to crawl your app content (as it would on a website).
Deep Links vs Android App Links:
App Links are just deep links that have been verified for a website, AND allows opening URLs in the associated app directly without asking the user to select the app (via the disambiguation dialog). With App Links, your app designates itself as the default handler of a given type of link (though the user can override it from device system settings)
A nice overview of the differences is at https://developer.android.com/training/app-links/verify-site-associations?authuser=0
Also see comparison table below, lifted from the above link at the time of writing
If you have an app or are developing an app, app indexation and deep
linking are things you definitely need to be paying attention to.
Basically, Google wants to treat your app like a website. It wants to
crawl it and index it so that search results can return specific pages
from an app in mobile searches. That ability to return specific pages
within an app? That’s deep linking.
What is Deep Linking?
Deep linking, in a general sense, involves linking to specific content
within a website or app, rather than to the homepage. Here we’re
talking in particular about getting specific elements of an app to
show up in search results on a mobile device, allowing users to open
an app directly from a search results page. Note: Users will only see
this prompt if they have the particular app installed.
Photo:
What Is App Indexing?
App indexing is the result of getting your app in Google’s index to
enable deep linking. By allowing Google to index pages within your
app, features (or promotions) within the app can begin showing up in
users’ mobile searches, driving visits (and hopefully conversions) to
the app.
What is an App Linking with the example of Facebook
When someone shares content from within an app that has Facebook App
Links applied, anyone clicking on that link will be able to access
that content through the app. This can be done using an app
alternative to existing web content, or app-only content, and works
either from ‘web to app’ or ‘app to app’. The feature works with
Android, iOS and Windows phones
Photo:
Related
We have several landing pages that link to Google Play and iOS App Store. I would love to know the landing page that a person came from within the app code. I have searched around and can't find any clear answer. Lots of gray area.
I just want to access the landing page URL in Java or Swift.
I realize iOS and Android are two separate beasts. But does anyone know how I could achieve this?
You will need to use Firebase Dynamic Links this helps you create various links using various alternatives as shown in this quote from the official Firebase source:
You create a Dynamic Link either by using the Firebase console, using a REST API, iOS or Android Builder API, or by forming a URL by adding Dynamic Link parameters to a domain specific to your app.
Then your app can access the link in code using Java or Swift and the link will work even if the user has your app already in their phone and you can set a logic to handle that too and the links are also automatically direct the user to AppStore or PlayStore depending on which device is used.
Dont worry about whether the link will work for both Android and iOS and you can use the api to access the link as this quote says.
With Dynamic Links, your users get the best available experience for the platform they open your link on. If a user opens a Dynamic Link on iOS or Android, they can be taken directly to the linked content in your native app. If a user opens the same Dynamic Link in a desktop browser, they can be taken to the equivalent content on your website.
In addition, Dynamic Links work across app installs: if a user opens a Dynamic Link on iOS or Android and doesn't have your app installed, the user can be prompted to install it; then, after installation, your app starts and can access the link.
You can get more information on dynamic links here and check if it will solve your problem.
I have an android application say Sample App. I want to add App Links according to Android Developer Guide. I was successful in implementing them, but there was an problem with Chrome. When I access the corresponding Sample Web App and there is <a> tag with href="https://www.sample.com/profile" and it's also supported by App, it opens in app instead of continuing in Chrome.
I checked documentation and it is supposed to be default behavior of Chrome. But then I came across Linkedin app. The My Network tab they have when clicked in browser continues in browser but same link if I save to docs or any other application and click it then it opens in native app.
I want to know how this is done?
I believe this is because, as you said, the standard deep linking behavior is to route to the app if it is installed. This behavior is handed-off immediately when the link is clicked because your app overriders that url to be handled by app instead of Chrome.
First, I believe that you should route users to your application because its a better, more engaging experience, presumably.
If you are convinced, then I would change your manifest to strictly handle links that you want to handle. See this post to see how to handle only certain links.
I have read about App Indexing and Deep Linking for android apps.
As far as I can find both are the same and deep linking is much easier since it just requires to add an intent filter in the Manifest.xml file.
So why do I need to use app indexing?
What makes it different from deep linking?
A different way of coding(android) is required to implement
Fire Base App Indexing
Here is a link that guides about Fire Base App Indexing:
https://firebase.google.com/docs/app-indexing/
Is that necessary?
App Indexing actually uses deeplink kind method but helps you to achieve different goal. In a simple business scenario you would want if user searches for your business from mobile browser he should get app link and that link open different screens for different urls (search keywords). As you can see post so far talks about keywords, searches that means App Indexing is more about search engine optimization keeping mobile apps in mind and App Search Optimization too.
About deeplinks they are simple urls (or url set) that we define in our app and tell mobile system that if matching url is clicked our App can also handle it.
In case of deeplink there can be several apps claiming to open same
url but app indexing result will open only your app.
I hope this answer clarifies things well.
In simple words:
App Indexing is to make app searchable from google.
Deep Linking is to open the app activities by an url.
They are different but related things which complement each other. Both work together to make your app content searchable.
Deep linking is the part where you add filters in your app manifest to make your app content searchable. App indexing is the other part where you add link elements in your app's sitemap or in the header segment of each webpage corresponding to your app content (indicated by the filters you added as part of deep linking). GoogleBot (Google crawler bot) connects both the dots and create searchable index for your app. In order for your app content to appear in Google public search results, deep linking and app indexing has to work hand in hand.
More on this in case you haven't gone through it - https://developer.android.com/training/app-indexing/index.html
So I'm trying to figure out if it's possible to deep link a user who does not have the app currently installed. Here's what I'm trying to do:
1) User clicks deep link on website in mobile browser.
2) User is taken to the app store to install the app
3) Once installed, the user is taken to the deep link to specific content within the app.
The closest thing I've found so far is with Android App Install Banners, but that's not exactly what I'm looking for. Is this even possible?
Here's a link with the Android App Install Banners near the bottom of the page: https://medium.com/#ageitgey/everything-you-need-to-know-about-implementing-ios-and-android-mobile-deep-linking-f4348b265b49#.evsxzudwj
What you are trying to accomplish is known as deferred deep linking.
Vanilla iOS does not support deferred deep linking at all. Android can do it with the Android Google Play referrer, but it is unreliable and doesn't work at all from Chrome (the most popular Android browser by far).
To do this, you'll likely want to investigate a (free) third-party service like Branch.io (full disclosure: I am on the Branch team) or Firebase Dynamic Links. The Branch platform abstracts all the technical details and edge cases away, so all you need to worry about is defining a set of key/value parameters (for example: articleID: story123) when you create a link. Branch makes sure those parameters are returned to you inside the app the first time it launches after the user clicks the link, whether or not the app was installed when the link was clicked. You can then use the values to route/customize however you wish.
For a full explanation of what is involved in building this yourself, try this blog post.
The new Google Play Developer Program Policies state that it is no longer allowed to publish web browsers that are based on WebView:
Do not post an app where the primary functionality is to:
Provide a webview of a website not owned or administered by you
(unless you have permission from the website owner/administrator to do
so)
I was thinking of developing a WebView-based web browser but now I see that this is no longer allowed.
Frankly, I find it insane to ask every website in existence for permission to display its content via a WebView based browser.
What are my options? Is there an alternative web kit that is as powerful as WebView?
It doesn't say you're not allowed to make a browser.
It says, that you're not allowed to make an app which merely is a WebView showing a website you do not own, and don't have permission from the owners to make.
That is, I am not allowed to make a GMail app, which merely is a WebView showing the GMail mobile website.
One reason could be, that such an app provides nothing that a bookmark wouldn't. Another reason could be, that such an app may seem to the end user to be affiliated with the website it's embedding. If the app then added adverts, crashed or provided some kind of negative user experience, this could reflect poorly on the website being embedded.
You totally missed the point, if you are making app that displays some site that you don't own then some users of that site will use your app instead of simple browsing to get information from that site.
Let's say that site has 3 pages
-> 2. -> 3.
If you are showing page #3 from your app then users will not see ads from page 1. and 2. Which means that you are stealing that site's money.
And that's why you need permission from site owner.