Google Searching and Linking into Your iOS App with Universal Links
A lot of us work in an environment where we support an iPhone app, a mobile website, and a desktop site. But why do we only support Google searching for our web facing platforms? Shouldn’t we really allow Google to search and link us straight into the relevant area of our iPhone apps too?
Well in this presentation that is exactly what we are going to learn how to do. We’ll first explore why it’s so important to build an app that supports app indexing. We’ll look at some apps that do it well and see the enhanced user experience this produces, and discuss what would be potentially lost if Universal Links hadn’t been used to provide this user experience.
We’ll then dive head first into the technical side of what’s powering the experience, and what needs to be setup before Universal Linking will work for you and your iPhone apps. This will include tips, tricks and traps drawn from real-world experience.
Outline/Structure of the Talk
Structure
- Introduction as to why App Indexing is important
- Examples of it in action
- Discussion of what these examples gained from using Universal Links and what they potentially could have lost
- Configuring your iPhone app to support Universal Links
- Supporting multiple environments
- The association file
- Understanding the supported paths
- Common pitfalls and troubleshooting
Technologies
- Universal Links
- Demo App – source will be made available
- Debugging with Charles
Learning Outcome
Attendees will learn why Universal Links are the preferred way to link into your iPhone applications. They will learn how leveraging Universal Links allows us to link directly into our iPhone application from a web search engine link or other web link. They'll also learn about techniques for testing and troubleshooting Universal Links in their apps.
Target Audience
iOS and Mobile Web Developers, Business Marketing
Prerequisites for Attendees
Some background iOS experience
Video
Links
My Universal Links Blog Post
Apple Documentation: