Perhaps you haven’t heard the term “deep links” before, but you’ve probably used one. You can either make things easier or harder to find with this digital navigation tool. It has the potential to be either a tedious click-farming tool or a platform for innovative new uses.
Now, let’s talk about deep links.
What Are Deep Links?
The term “deep link” refers to a hyperlink that is located within a website or app and leads to another website or app. You have used deep linking if you followed a link to this article from a news email app or another website. There are some in-article links to other websites here. That, too, is a type of deep link.
As a web user, you probably take deep links for granted because they’re so commonplace. Deep linking is slightly more challenging and significantly more interesting if you contribute to the web ecosystem by building websites and developing apps.
What Are Deep Links Used For?
Website-to-website links, app-to-website links, app-to-app links, and app-to-app links are the four most common types of deep links. All of these increasingly intricate methods for fixing increasingly intricate issues.
Linking Between Websites
The most common type of deep link is a link within a link, which connects two pages on different websites. For example, https://www.maketechquick.com links with https://droidician.com. This is also the most common and straightforward option when thinking up new material.
Like the scene in “Miracle on 34th Street” where the Kohl’s Santa recommends that holiday shoppers pick up some items from other stores, sites that link to each other are like that. Customers benefit because Kohl’s is able to provide the goods they desire, and the store benefits because customer confidence is bolstered.
Websites want their visitors to stay on the page as long as possible, but they also want to give them the most useful information possible. This may necessitate the inclusion of an external link on occasion. Therefore, deep linking aids readers in locating the specific content they seek, which in turn improves a website’s standing in search engine results.
Because deep linking is so prevalent on websites, most CMSes and word processors come equipped with a simple tool for it. However, that is not the only application.
It is becoming increasingly common practise to use deep links to link geographically dispersed websites. Like touching a portkey in the Harry Potter universe, clicking on objects in this world takes the user to different virtual locations.
Web-to-App Linking
In most cases, linking from the web to an app is used when the content is more easily discoverable on the web but can only be accessed from within the app itself. The process of finding and downloading apps is a perfect example.
Let’s say you’re doing some online exploring and you stumble upon a promising app. Despite expecting your web browser to load details about the app after clicking the link, it does not. In fact, the app store on your smart device will open and take you directly to the app page you found on the web page, closing your browser in the process. In other words, that’s what happens when you use deep links.
Such deep linking is slightly more involved. It requires some expert coding to create a web address that leads to a specific spot within an app. The specific appearance will change depending on the OS version being used to run the app.
Exclusive content can also be shared via web-to-app links. Select app owners can be sent a link to the app’s deep page via email. In some cases, clicking on a deep link will grant the user access to a section of the app that is normally restricted to paying customers.
App-to-App Linking
In a world where most of our time is spent inside various apps, it only makes sense that the information we take in would flow from one to the next. This is made possible by establishing connections between various apps. You might receive a link to a YouTube video in a text message as an example. The YouTube app on your smart device launches when you click the link.
It’s not easy to set up a connection like this from scratch, but most popular apps come with pre-built App Programming Interfaces (APIs) that facilitate integration. You can do more than just share files with a linked app. Apps that store sensitive information can benefit from a more secure API as well.
Double authentication is achieved through the use of security APIs, which necessitate the user to log in to one app through another. Users of the PayPal prepaid app, for instance, are aware of the necessity of first signing in with the main PayPal app. The use of deep links within apps to facilitate two-factor authentication is demonstrated here.
The Internet of Things can also benefit from inter-app communication. Using this method, smart home assistants like Amazon’s Alexa can push information to your phone or initiate app-based actions in your absence. Talking of apps, you may like to check out how you can sign into your Old hotmail account.
App-to-Web Linking
In all honesty, I’m at a loss for words with this one. Since most apps already have an internet connection, this process is very similar to that of linking between web pages. A common scenario is starting a Zoom call in your browser by clicking a link in your calendar app. Or you can tweet about your success by tapping a button in the Duolingo app.
There is some additional administrative work for Duolingo in the second scenario. After all, someone had to make the artwork and write the initial default post. While I didn’t dissect Duo’s deep link code for this article’s research, it’s likely that your device’s clipboard was used to transfer the images and text you see here. No major chaos, though.
Well, that’s all we have here about deep links. We hope this guide helped you. If you liked this, make sure to check out the best android emulators for low-end PCs.
