Add App Links to Android Apps

As a Vendor Manager, you oversee a web and mobile application that enables you to view, manage, and order products from vendors. When a vendor adds a new product using the web app, they notify you via email, providing a web app link to the newly added product for your approval.

As you primarily use the mobile application, you want to click on the link to open the product detail page on your application and perform the necessary action.

This tutorial, will help you configure App Links on Android, thereby eliminating the need for the user to manually navigate to the product page. Click here to learn more about universal links on SAP BTP SDK Android.

1. Open your Android Studio project.

2. Select Tools → App Links Assistant in the menu bar.

   

1. Click Open URL Mapping Editor in the App Links Assistant window.

2. Click + to add a new URL mapping.

   

3. Open SAP Mobile Services admin UI.

4. Click Mobile Applications → Native/MDK in the sidebar.

5. Click on your app (For example com.native.links).

   

6. Click APIs tab.

7. Copy the Server URL.

   

8. Use the following table to fill the details requested in the Add URL Mapping window, and click OK.

   Field Name	Value	Details
   Host	<Server URL>
   Path	pathPrefix	From the drop-down menu
   Path - pathPrefix	/data	You can add any prefix
   Activity	.ui.WelcomeActivity	You can select any activity. The application in the tutorial has been created using Jetpack Compose-based UI

   

   The required code is added to the AndroidManfifest.xml file.

9. Paste the following URLs in the Check URL Mapping input field to test if the URL will be handled by the app.

   URL	Status
   <Server URL>	This URL doesn’t map to any Activity.
   <Server URL>/data	This URL maps to any .ui.WelcomeActivity

1. Select Tools → App Links Assistant in the menu bar of your Android Studio project.

2. Click Select Activity in the App Links Assistant window.

3. Select .ui.WelcomeActivity in the pop-up, and click Insert Code.

   

4. Open WelcomeActivity.kt.

5. Locate the inserted code block.

   kotlin

   Copy

   // ATTENTION: This was auto-generated to handle app links.
   val appLinkIntent: Intent = intent
   val appLinkAction: String? = appLinkIntent.action
   val appLinkData: Uri? = appLinkIntent.data
   

6. Add the following code after the inserted code block.

   kotlin

   Copy

   appLinkData?.let { uri ->
           val pathSegments: List<String> = uri.pathSegments
   
           if (pathSegments.isNotEmpty()) {
               val lastPathSegment: String = pathSegments.last()
   
               if (lastPathSegment == "product") {
                   Toast.makeText(this, "Product App Link", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
               } else if (lastPathSegment == "vendor") {
                   Toast.makeText(this, "Vendor App Link", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show()
               }
           }
   }
   

   Ensure that the necessary libraries are imported.

1. Select Tools → App Links Assistant in the menu bar of your Android Studio project.

2. Click Open Digital Asset Links File Generator in the App Links Assistant window.

3. Leave the default settings, and click Generate Digital Asset Links file.

   

   For productive apps, you must select the same certificate that will be used to sign the .apk file.

4. Click Link and Verify.

1. Copy the text under the Preview section.
   

1. Open SAP Mobile Services admin UI.

2. Click Mobile Applications → Native/MDK in the sidebar.

3. Click on your app (For example com.native.links).

4. Click Application Links tab.

5. Click on the pencil next to the Android App Links section.

   

6. Use the following table to fill the details requested in the Edit Apple Universal Links form, and click OK.

   Field Name	Value	Details
   Enabled	Checked
   Site Domain	<Server URL>	This field is not editable.
   Association File Content	<Website Association>	Text copied in the previous step

   

1. Click APIs tab.

2. Copy the Server URL.

3. Open a new browser window.

4. Paste the Server URL and add the suffix /.well-known/assetlinks.json.

   The URL should look like https://<YourUser-CFSpace-App>-com-example-tutorialapp.cfapps.eu10.hana.ondemand.com/.well-known/assetlinks.json

5. Go the above constructed URL.

   

   The Asset Links file is a JSON file on the web server of the associated domain. When a user clicks an App Link (web page link), Android checks for the assetlinks.json file. If found and configured correctly, Android opens the native app instead of the web page in the browser.

1. Click ▶ in Android Studio to run the application.

2. Complete the onboarding steps.

   Please refer to the pre-requisite for a step by step guide for the onboarding flow.

3. Go to your SAP Mobile Services Admin UI.

4. Click on your app (For example com.native.links).

5. Click APIs tab.

6. Copy the Server URL.

7. Open the Messages App provided by Android on your Simulator/Device.

   If the app is running on a real device, choose any option that hyperlinks the URL text, for example, Mail, Notes, Keep, etc.

8. Try the following links.

   URL	Expected Behaviour
   server_url	The OS tries to open the URL using the default browser.
   server_url/data	The OS launches the app.
   server_url/data/product	The OS launches the app and a toast message specific to products is shown.
   server_url/data/vendor	The OS launches the app and a toast message specific to vendors is shown.
   server_url/product	The OS tries to open the URL using the default browser.