Your App Link should open your app. Instead, it opens the browser. Or it shows a disambiguation dialog. Or it opens the wrong Activity. Or it works on your test device but fails on your colleague's phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Android intent resolution is the system that decides which component handles a given URL. When deep links break, the root cause is almost always an intent resolution issue: the system didn't match the URL to your app, or it matched multiple apps, or the verification failed silently. This guide covers the tools and techniques for diagnosing these problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the App Links setup, see the Android App Links complete guide<\/a>. For testing after debugging, see the testing Android App Links guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When a user taps a URL on Android, the system:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Problems occur at each step. The debugging tools below help you figure out which step failed and why. For background on the verification process itself, see Android App Link Verification Process<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most common issue. Your app claims to handle a domain, but the system hasn't verified it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Output:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Status values:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If the status is wrong, force the system to re-verify:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wait 10-30 seconds, then check the status again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Simulate tapping a URL to see how the system resolves it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the correct Activity opens, intent resolution is working. If the browser opens or a dialog appears, something is wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n See all intent filters registered by your app:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shows exactly what the system thinks your app handles. Compare it to your When you tap a URL, logcat shows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This shows the HTTP request to your Android Studio includes a built-in App Link Assistant<\/a> (Tools > App Links Assistant) that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the fastest way to catch manifest configuration errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the wrong Activity is opening, use the Layout Inspector to confirm which Activity is in the foreground. This helps distinguish between "the right Activity opened with the wrong data" and "the wrong Activity opened."<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diagnosis checklist:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This means the link matched multiple apps, or matched your app but isn't verified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If multiple apps appear, either:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your app has multiple Activities with intent filters, and the wrong one catches the URL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If Activity B is catching Fix<\/strong>: Use a single entry-point Activity that routes internally based on the URL path:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verification behavior varies by Android version and device manufacturer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Test on at least 3-4 different device\/OS combinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your signing key changes (e.g., switching from upload key to Play App Signing key), the SHA-256 fingerprint in your asset links file won't match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fix<\/strong>: Include both the old and new fingerprints in your asset links file during the transition period. See the Android developer documentation<\/a> for the correct format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When an App Link isn't working, go through this checklist in order:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If all 6 pass and it still doesn't work, the issue is likely browser-specific or manufacturer-specific. For a broader set of validation steps, see Testing Android App Links<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Tolinku App Links setup<\/a>, the platform generates and hosts the asset links file automatically. Configure your Android package name and SHA-256 fingerprint in the Tolinku dashboard settings<\/a> and the verification file is served at the correct path.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Debug deep link intent resolution issues on Android. Use logcat, ADB, and Android Studio to trace link handling, diagnose routing problems, and fix intent filter conflicts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1248,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_title":"Debugging Android Intent Resolution for Deep Links on Android","rank_math_description":"Debug deep link intent resolution issues on Android. Use logcat, ADB, and Android Studio to trace link handling and fix routing problems.","rank_math_focus_keyword":"debug android intent resolution","rank_math_canonical_url":"","rank_math_facebook_title":"","rank_math_facebook_description":"","rank_math_facebook_image":"https:\/\/tolinku.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/og-debugging-android-intent-resolution.png","rank_math_facebook_image_id":"","rank_math_twitter_title":"","rank_math_twitter_description":"","rank_math_twitter_image":"https:\/\/tolinku.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/og-debugging-android-intent-resolution.png","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[317,25,23,74,20,184,69],"class_list":["post-1249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-android","tag-adb","tag-android","tag-app-links","tag-debugging","tag-deep-linking","tag-intent-filters","tag-mobile-development"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tolinku.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tolinku.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tolinku.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tolinku.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tolinku.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1249"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/tolinku.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2812,"href":"https:\/\/tolinku.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1249\/revisions\/2812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tolinku.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tolinku.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tolinku.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tolinku.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How Intent Resolution Works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
<intent-filter><\/code> with android:autoVerify="true"<\/code> and the app has been verified via Digital Asset Links, the system opens that app directly.<\/li>\nTool 1: ADB (Android Debug Bridge)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Check App Link Verification Status<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
# Check verification status for your app\nadb shell pm get-app-links --user cur com.example.yourapp\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\ncom.example.yourapp:\n ID: 12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789012\n Signatures: [AB:CD:EF:...]\n Domains:\n links.yourapp.com:\n Status: verified\n yourapp.com:\n Status: legacy_failure\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\n
verified<\/code>: The domain's .well-known\/assetlinks.json<\/code> was fetched and validated. App Links work.<\/li>\nlegacy_failure<\/code>: Verification failed. The system couldn't fetch or validate the asset links file.<\/li>\nnone<\/code>: The app declares the domain but hasn't attempted verification (or the device hasn't re-verified).<\/li>\nrestored<\/code>: Verification was restored from a backup.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nForce Re-Verification<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
# Reset and re-verify all App Links for your app\nadb shell pm set-app-links --package com.example.yourapp 0 all\n\n# Then trigger verification\nadb shell pm verify-app-links --re-verify com.example.yourapp\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nTest a URL via ADB<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
# Open a URL as if the user tapped it\nadb shell am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW \\\n -d "https:\/\/links.yourapp.com\/promo\/summer" \\\n -c android.intent.category.BROWSABLE\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nDump Intent Filters<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
# List all intent filters for your package\nadb shell dumpsys package com.example.yourapp | grep -A 20 "intent-filter"\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nAndroidManifest.xml<\/code> to spot mismatches.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTool 2: Logcat<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Filter for Intent Resolution<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
# Watch intent resolution in real time\nadb logcat -s "IntentResolver" "PackageManager" "AppLinksService"\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\n
Filter for Digital Asset Links<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
# Watch for DAL verification events\nadb logcat -s "SingleV" "IntentFilterVerification"\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n.well-known\/assetlinks.json<\/code> and whether the response was valid.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCommon Logcat Messages<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
# Successful verification\nI\/IntentFilterVerification: Verification success for links.yourapp.com\n\n# Failed verification (common errors)\nW\/IntentFilterVerification: Verification failure for links.yourapp.com\nE\/SingleV: Error fetching https:\/\/links.yourapp.com\/.well-known\/assetlinks.json: 404\n\n# Intent resolution chose browser over app\nD\/IntentResolver: Resolved to com.android.chrome for https:\/\/links.yourapp.com\/path\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nTool 3: Android Studio<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
App Link Assistant<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
autoVerify<\/code>, incorrect schemes, etc.)<\/li>\nLayout Inspector for Deep Link Targets<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Common Problems and Solutions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Problem 1: Browser Opens Instead of App<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
adb shell pm get-app-links --user cur <package><\/code> and check the status.<\/li>\n\n
http<\/code> instead of https<\/code> (or missing one)<\/li>\nandroid.intent.category.BROWSABLE<\/code><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\ncurl -I "https:\/\/links.yourapp.com\/.well-known\/assetlinks.json"\n# Must return 200 with Content-Type: application\/json\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nProblem 2: Disambiguation Dialog Appears<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
# Check which apps handle the URL\nadb shell pm query-activities -a android.intent.action.VIEW \\\n -d "https:\/\/links.yourapp.com\/path" -c android.intent.category.BROWSABLE\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\n
Problem 3: Wrong Activity Opens<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<!-- Activity A: handles \/products\/* -->\n<intent-filter android:autoVerify="true">\n <data android:scheme="https" android:host="links.yourapp.com"\n android:pathPrefix="\/products" \/>\n ...\n<\/intent-filter>\n\n<!-- Activity B: handles everything else -->\n<intent-filter android:autoVerify="true">\n <data android:scheme="https" android:host="links.yourapp.com" \/>\n ...\n<\/intent-filter>\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n\/products\/123<\/code>, the pathPrefix<\/code> filter on Activity A might not be matching. Check:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
class DeepLinkRouter : AppCompatActivity() {\n override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {\n super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)\n\n val uri = intent.data ?: run {\n finish()\n return\n }\n\n when {\n uri.path?.startsWith("\/products") == true -> {\n val productId = uri.lastPathSegment\n startActivity(ProductActivity.intent(this, productId))\n }\n uri.path?.startsWith("\/profile") == true -> {\n startActivity(ProfileActivity.intent(this))\n }\n else -> {\n startActivity(MainActivity.intent(this))\n }\n }\n\n finish()\n }\n}\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nProblem 4: Links Work on Some Devices but Not Others<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Problem 5: Links Stop Working After App Update<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
# Get the current signing fingerprint\nadb shell pm get-app-links --user cur com.example.yourapp\n# Compare the "Signatures" field with what's in assetlinks.json\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nDebugging Checklist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
adb shell pm get-app-links --user cur <package><\/code> shows verified<\/code> for the domain<\/li>\ncurl https:\/\/yourdomain\/.well-known\/assetlinks.json<\/code> returns 200 with valid JSON<\/li>\nadb shell pm get-app-links<\/code> output<\/li>\nautoVerify="true"<\/code>, correct scheme\/host\/path, and BROWSABLE<\/code> category<\/li>\nadb shell am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW -d "<url>"<\/code> opens the correct Activity<\/li>\n