Should I implement app links in my installed app along with my instant app? What the right way to implement app links?

Question

The docs state that both my instant and installed app should implement App Links. Why should the installed app implement App Links as well, since I only want my instant app URLs to be surfaced correctly in Google Search with the instant badge? Also, what are the best practices?

Answer 1

Yes - app links enables seamless link resolution to your app, installed or instant. In order for Google Search to surface results for either your installed or instant app, you must setup app links properly for both. In addition, to avoid degrading the user experience from instant to installed, all URLS supported by the instant app should also be supported by the installed app. Hence, as the docs state, both the instant and installed app should implement app links."

Here are the best practices:

• Set autoVerify=true in at least one intent filter in both the instant and installed app manifest.
• Host one assetlinks.json per subdomain. The file must be served from /.well-known/assetlinks.json on each https subdomain.
• assetlinks.json file must be valid json (correct syntax, no BOM for instance) served with header "Content-Type: application/json" and served with an HTTP 200 status on each domain (no redirects)
• assetlinks.json file location must be accessible to bots, e.g. robots.txt needs. This means if you include internal urls in the manifest that are only accessible internally, the validation will fail.
• Ensure all path claims in your instant app are also in your published regular app.
• All declared intent filters must support both http and https in the scheme.
• Do not use wildcards hosts in your intent filters (e.g.) In *.example.local, the * will be dropped and example.local will be indexed.
• Only one instant app can be supported for each domain. Multiple Instant Apps cannot be associated with the same domain.
• Ensure your assetlinks.json is valid for your most popular search results using the tool described in “Confirm the Digital Asset Links files” on the App Link support page.
• Test your app links here.