Deep linking on Android

Deep links are hyperlinks outside of your application that take a user to a specific location within the application rather than a website. When a user clicks a deep link, the application opens from the designated location, such as a specific scene in a Unity application. For more information about deep links and how to use them, refer to Deep linking.

Enable deep linking for Android applications

Use an intent filter to enable deep linking for Android applications. An intent filter overrides the standard Android App Manifest to include a specific intent filter section for Activity.

To set up an intent filter, use the following steps:

1. Navigate to Edit > Project Settings > Player.
2. In the Android settings tab, expand the Publishing Settings section.
3. In the Build section, enable Custom Main Manifest. This creates a new file called AndroidManifest.xml in Assets/Plugins/Android.
4. In the Project window, go to Assets > Plugins > Android and open the AndroidManifest.xml file.
5. Add the following code sample inside the <activity> element, and save the file.

<intent-filter>
  <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW" />
  <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
  <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE" />
  <data android:scheme="unitydl" android:host="mylink" />
</intent-filter>

The built application now opens when the device processes any link that starts with unitydl://.

Use deep linking on Android

After you enable deep links for Android, the way that you use them is platform-agnostic. For information on how to handle deep links when your application opens, refer to Using deep links.