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Android 6 Essentials
Android 6 Essentials

Android 6 Essentials: Design, build, and create your own applications using the full range of features available in Android 6

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Android 6 Essentials

Chapter 2. App Links

One of the major improvements to the new Android Marshmallow version is powerful app linking. It allows the association of your app with your owned web domain. With this association, you as a developer allow the system to determine the default app that should handle a particular web link and skip prompting users to select an app. Saving clicks means less friction, which means that you reach the content faster; this leads to users and developers being happy. In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

  • The Android Intent system
  • Creating a website association
  • Triggering app link verification
  • App link settings and management
  • Testing app links

The Android Intent system

Almost every developer knows what an Android Intent system is, but we will explain it a bit and lay out the basic principles required to understand the app links feature. The Android Intent system can be found in the Android platform; this allows the passing of data in a small, simple package. Intent means that we want to perform an action. You may already know about the basic intents:

  • startActivity()
  • startActivityForResult()
  • startService()
  • sendBroadcast()

The following figure shows an Android Intent system for the startActivity() and onCreate() intents:

The Android Intent system

Source: http://developer.android.com/guide/components/intents-filters.html

The Android Intent system is a flexible mechanism that is used to enable apps to handle content and requests. Multiple apps may declare matching URI (short for Uniform Resource Identifier) patterns in their intent filters. When a user clicks on a web link that does not have a default launch handler, the platform may display a dialog for the...

Testing app links

As with every new feature we add, we must test the app links feature that we will add to our application.

Checking manifest and listing domains

Our first step is to go over the manifest and make sure all the domains are registered correctly and all intent filters are well defined. Only the links/domains under all the criteria mentioned in the following bullets are the ones we need to test:

  • The android:scheme attribute with a value of HTTP or HTTPS
  • The android:host attribute with a domain URI pattern
  • The category element, which can be one of the following:
    • android.intent.action.VIEW
    • android.intent.category.BROWSABLE

The Digital Asset Links API

We can use the Digital Asset Links API to confirm that our link's JSON file is properly hosted and defined using the following syntax:

https://digitalassetlinks.googleapis.com/v1/statements:list?source.web.site=https://<DOMAIN>:<port>& relation=delegate_permission/common.handle_all_urls

Testing our intent

Now that we have...

Summary

As we saw, app linking has become powerful in Android Marshmallow. This allows you, the app developers, help the system better decide how to act. Handling web URLs will give you wider exposure, a bigger funnel for your apps, and better experience, which you can provide to your users (which in turn leads to better ratings, more downloads, and vice versa).

App linking is simple to implement, easy to understand, and is a must-have feature in the mobile/web world today. While app linking enables better action handling for those using your applications, users can have multiple devices, expecting the same behavior on each device, and would be more engaged if their data and action handling happens smoothly. This brings us to our next chapter, which will teach you how to back up user settings and more.

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Key benefits

  • Learn how to utilize the robust features of Android 6 to design, develop, and publish better Android applications
  • Get useful guidance on creating new apps or migrating existing apps to support features such as app permissions, app links, fingerprint authentication, etc
  • A fast paced guide, packed with hands-on examples that ties all the features such as API, audio, video, camera, tab customization together under a single cover

Description

Android 6 is the latest and greatest version of the Android operating system, and comes packed with cutting edge new features for you to harness for the benefit of building better applications. This step-by-step guide will take you through the basics of the Android Marshmallow permissions model and beyond into other crucial areas such as the Audio,Video,Camera API and Android’s at work features. Learn how to create, deploy, and manage Android applications with Marshmallow’s API and the latest functionalities. The combination of instructions and real-world examples will make your application deployment and testing a breeze.

Who is this book for?

This book is for Android developers who are looking to move their applications into the next Android version with ease.

What you will learn

  • Familiarize yourself with the features of Android 6
  • Code with the new Android permissions model
  • Use apps auto backup and restore lost data automatically
  • Increase user engagement with apps through an assistant using triggers and providing contextual assistance
  • Assess and handle proper usage of the API
  • Work with Audio,Video,Camera in Android 6
  • Utilize the new features in Android for professional purposes
  • Understand and code Chrome's custom tabs

Product Details

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Publication date : Dec 02, 2015
Length: 122 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785884825
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Product Details

Publication date : Dec 02, 2015
Length: 122 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781785884825
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Table of Contents

9 Chapters
1. Android Marshmallow Permissions Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. App Links Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Apps' Auto Backup Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Changes Unfold Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Audio, Video, and Camera Features Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Android for Work Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Chrome Custom Tabs Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Authentication Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon 4.7
(3 Ratings)
5 star 66.7%
4 star 33.3%
3 star 0%
2 star 0%
1 star 0%
M. Pavlasek Jan 25, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Interesting book for everyone who wants to migrate his app to Android 6 - Permissions or use new features like Android for Work or Doze Mode.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Sussane Miller Mar 31, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I must admit it was the title that had me reaching for this one. This book is a great beginners resource on Android. It provides an interesting read as most of the important concepts are explained in the best manner. I really do think this is one of the best books on Android available and I can honestly say that to me this book is an asset and feel confident in being able to execute Android with the help of this book. This book is definitely worth its heft!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Amazon Customer Mar 31, 2016
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
The book is a step-by-step guide will take you through the basics of the Android Marshmallow permissions model and also beyond into other crucial areas such as the Audio,Video,Camera API and Android’s at work features.I learnt how to create, deploy, and manage Android applications with Marshmallow’s API and the latest functionalities. Sounds Cool and feels good to have this knowledge .
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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