title: What is the assetlinks.json file for, when using Android deep links?
body: <p>I'm trying to get deep links to work in my app.</p>
  
  <p>From what I read <a href="https://developer.android.com/training/app-indexing/deep-linking.html" rel="noreferrer">here</a>, it is enough to add an Intent filter to the app. I tried that and it works fine:</p>
  
  <pre><code>  &lt;intent-filter&gt;
          &lt;action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW" /&gt;
           &lt;category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" /&gt;
           &lt;category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE" /&gt;
           &lt;!-- Accepts URIs that begin with "http://www.example.com/gizmos” --&gt;
           &lt;data android:scheme="http"
                 android:host="www.example.com"
                 android:pathPrefix="/gizmos" /&gt;
       &lt;/intent-filter&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Reading about "digital asset links" over <a href="https://developers.google.com/digital-asset-links/v1/getting-started" rel="noreferrer">here</a>, it says:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Website A declares that links to its site should open in a designated
    app on mobile devices, if the app is installed.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>This involves uploading an <code>assetlinks.json</code> to my server.</p>
  
  <p>But I cannot see the benefit of doing this if the intent filter already opens my app, so what is the point?</p>