[Android] Implement DeepLinking using HOKO
First of all, what's mobile deep link and when do I need it?
From wikipedia : In the context of mobile apps, deep linking consists of using a uniform resource identifier (URI) that links to a specific location within a mobile app rather than simply launching the app. Deferred Deep Linking allows users to deep link to content even if the app isn't already installed. Depending on the mobile device platform, the URI required to trigger the app may be different.
To put it simply, mobile deep linking is this : you click an url - and it will take you to specific screen on your app.
When do you need it? When you want to provide shortcut for your mobile application's navigation through shareable url.
How do you achieve deep linking in your app? Well, there are several ways : you can implement it using given Android SDK features - or through third party. Since third party library offers benefits such as easy setup, deferred deep link, dashboard, etc - we decided to go with HOKO (after several considerations & comparisons).
So here we go :
- Setup is quite tricky. They have a walkthrough for quick setup - but you need to revisit the doc to ensure that all things are properly set-up. In my case, I get the wrong access token. After reading the docs and change the token with the correct value, it works properly.
- Documentation is good. The steps are quite clear. We have no problem understanding a simple usage of the SDK. We haven't touch a deeper integration though.
To install the SDK, just follow some steps in this link https://support.hokolinks.com/quickstart/android/ - and to receive the deeplink action, implement route mapping(s) described on this guide https://support.hokolinks.com/android/android-deeplinking/
That's it! I'm done. Quick and mostly painless.
Feel free to visit https://hokolinks.com and try it on your own!
Cheers!
Btw, Flipbox is Hiring!