App Links not opening on Android — fix

Android App Links (formerly called Deep Links with verified domain association) require an assetlinks.json file on your domain that matches your app's signing certificate. When a link opens a browser instead of the installed app, one of six conditions is the cause.

Fix steps

1. Confirm assetlinks.json is reachable. Visit https://yourdomain.com/.well-known/assetlinks.json in a browser. The file must return HTTP 200, content-type application/json, over HTTPS, with no redirects. A redirect — even same-host — fails verification.

2. Verify the signing fingerprint matches the installed build. The sha256_cert_fingerprints field in assetlinks.json must match the SHA-256 of the certificate that signed the installed APK. Different fingerprints for debug and release builds are common; verify you are testing the right one. Run keytool -list -v -keystore <path> to confirm.

3. Check the intent filter in your manifest. The activity that should receive the link needs an intent filter with android:autoVerify="true", android:scheme="https", and the correct android:host matching the domain in assetlinks.json. A missing autoVerify falls back to the disambiguation dialog instead of opening the app directly.

4. Inspect verification status on the device. Run adb shell pm get-app-links com.your.package on a connected device. The output lists each domain and its verification state. verified means it works. legacy_failure means assetlinks.json was unreachable at install time.

5. Re-trigger verification. Run adb shell pm verify-app-links --re-verify com.your.package. This forces Android to re-fetch and re-validate. Useful after fixing the assetlinks.json file.

6. Check the link origin. App Links do not fire reliably from inside in-app browsers (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook Messenger). The webview opens the link itself rather than handing off to the system. A redirect layer that detects the webview and uses an Android intent URL is required.

If all six pass and links still open in a browser from a known-good origin, check whether the user disabled "Open supported links" for your app in Settings → Apps → [Your app] → Open by default.

Still not working?

If the link fires correctly from Chrome but not from Instagram or TikTok, you are hitting the in-app webview limitation. App Links verification alone does not solve it.

Want the full diagnosis? See Android assetlinks.json explained.

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