Use verified Android App Links to open supported website URLs in an already-installed app. To continue a Google Play journey after installation, retrieve referral data with the Play Install Referrer API and route the user from that data in your app. These are separate mechanisms: an App Link does not, by itself, preserve an arbitrary clicked URL through an install. Firebase Dynamic Links shut down on August 25, 2025, so it is not an option for new implementations.
Choose the link behavior you need
“Deep link” can describe two different stages of a user journey. Decide whether the app is already installed, whether the install happens through Google Play, and whether you need hosted links or analytics before choosing an implementation.
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| Need | Use | What it does not provide by itself |
|---|---|---|
| Open a website URL in your installed Android app | Verified Android App Links on a domain you control | They do not carry an arbitrary clicked URL through app installation. |
| Retrieve referral data after a Google Play install | Google Play Install Referrer | It is not a universal cross-platform deferred-linking service or a replacement for hosted short links and analytics. |
| Continue a post-install journey across platforms, or use hosted short links and link analytics | Evaluate a specialist provider against your required behavior, data handling, reporting, and budget. | Do not assume feature parity; confirm the provider’s current capabilities and terms. |
Android Developers recommends App Links for links to a developer’s own website because they provide a seamless, trusted experience. App Links are available from Android 6 (API 23); Dynamic App Links have a separate Android 15 (API 35) requirement for their server-side rules.
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App Links associate a website with an Android app so matching HTTPS links can open the app directly instead of presenting an app-selection dialog. The association is verified using both app configuration and a Digital Asset Links statement on the website.
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- Declare the website URL patterns in the receiving activity’s manifest intent filter. Set
android:autoVerify="true"for the filter. The declared URL scope is important: server-side Dynamic App Links cannot expand it. - Publish the Digital Asset Links file. Place valid JSON at
https://<your-domain>/.well-known/assetlinks.json. Its statement must match the app’s package name and SHA-256 signing certificate fingerprint. - Handle the incoming intent. Read the URI delivered to the activity, validate its host, path, and parameters, then map supported content to an internal destination. Route malformed or unsupported URIs safely rather than treating arbitrary input as trusted navigation.
- Test the installed-app path. Verify that each intended website URL opens the expected screen on the Android versions you support.
Use the exact SHA-256 fingerprint for the app signing configuration distributed to users. A mismatch, unreachable or invalid JSON, redirects, missing HTTPS, or a missing verification attribute can prevent the association from working as intended.
Continue a Google Play journey after installation
For an install flow through Google Play, make the destination or referral payload available through the Play Install Referrer flow. After installation, the app can query the Play Store app for the install referrer URL and related information. Google documents a Play Install Referrer Client Library for Kotlin and Java, as well as the underlying AIDL API. The API requires a Google Play Console account.
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- Define a constrained referral payload. Include enough information to identify an allowed destination or campaign, but do not treat received data as trusted instructions. Validate values before acting on them.
- Retrieve the referrer from the app. Follow Google’s Install Referrer Client Library or AIDL documentation for the integration path you choose. Google recommends querying once on the app’s first execution after installation to avoid unnecessary requests.
- Parse and validate the returned data. The response includes the install referrer URL, client and server click and install timestamps, and install version. Use only the fields the app needs and validate the destination against an allowlist or equivalent routing rules.
- Route at the right time. If onboarding, sign-in, or another prerequisite must happen first, retain the validated destination in app state until that step is complete, then navigate to it. This persistence and timing are application design decisions, not a behavior guaranteed by the referrer API.
Google states that referral information is available for 90 days. The mechanism is specifically for retrieving Play install referral data; it should not be represented as a general deferred-linking service for other app stores or platforms.
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Use Dynamic App Links only within their limits
On Android 15 (API 35) and later, devices with Google services periodically retrieve the domain’s assetlinks.json and can merge dynamic_app_link_components rules with the app’s manifest rules. These server-side rules can refine behavior for paths, query parameters, fragments, and exclusions without requiring an app release for every rule adjustment.
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- The manifest defines the maximum URL scope; server rules cannot add URLs outside it.
- Earlier Android versions ignore the dynamic rules. Keep static manifest coverage for paths that must work on older supported devices.
- Devices retrieve updates periodically, so a server-side change should not be expected to appear immediately.
Test both installed and post-install journeys
Test these as separate flows. An App Link test checks website-to-installed-app association and URI routing. A Play Install Referrer test checks whether the intended referral data is available after a Google Play installation and whether the app handles that data correctly.
- Test supported paths, query parameters, malformed values, and unknown destinations.
- Test the installed and not-installed states on the Android versions and device configurations you support.
- For a Play flow, verify the referral payload, delayed routing after onboarding or sign-in, and the behavior when no usable referral data is returned.
- For an App Link that opens in a browser or presents a chooser, check HTTPS, redirects, JSON syntax and reachability, the package name and signing fingerprint, and
android:autoVerify.
Android’s troubleshooting guidance documents re-verification with this command, replacing the package name with your app’s actual package:
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adb shell pm verify-app-links --re-verify <your-package-name>
Android also points developers to Android Studio’s App Links Assistant and Play Console deep-link tools for verification and troubleshooting.
Migrate from Firebase Dynamic Links
Firebase Dynamic Links shut down on August 25, 2025. Firebase said served links stopped working and new links could no longer be created after that date. Do not build a new integration on Firebase Dynamic Links or assume an existing link will continue to redirect.
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- For website URLs that should open an installed Android app, migrate to verified Android App Links on a domain you control. If you support Apple platforms, assess Universal Links separately for those URLs.
- For a Google Play install journey, assess whether Play Install Referrer supplies the referral data and routing input your app needs after installation.
- For post-install continuation beyond that flow, cross-platform behavior, short links, or analytics, compare specialist providers against your requirements. Firebase migration materials name Adjust, Airbridge, AppsFlyer, Bitly, Branch, Kochava, and Singular as examples; these names are examples, not endorsements or a guarantee of current features.
- Plan URL migration deliberately. Inventory existing links and their destinations, then confirm what happens to each URL after its old Dynamic Links behavior is gone. Verify a replacement provider’s current SDK requirements, data handling, reporting, and commercial terms before committing.
Decide what to implement
- If your main requirement is opening your own website URLs in an installed Android app, implement verified App Links.
- If users install through Google Play and you need referral data on first launch, add the Play Install Referrer flow and implement destination validation and routing in your app.
- If the requirement includes cross-platform post-install continuation, hosted redirects, short links, or link analytics, App Links and Install Referrer may not cover it alone; evaluate a provider without assuming parity with the discontinued service.
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