How a major news app overhauled its Android navigation and deep linking infrastructure to improve stability, speed up development, and ensure seamless user journeys across content.
Elimination of known deep link bugs
lines of legacy code retired
The client’s news articles were largely text and images, lacking the rich interactive elements that modern readers crave. Data visualizations and maps had to be separate experiences leading to a disconnected storytelling experience. The network needed a way to embed dynamic graphics and live maps directly into articles on their mobile apps, to make complex news (e.g. election results, data-heavy stories) more engaging. This came with challenges: ensuring these embeds would work seamlessly in the native app environment, handling offline or error scenarios gracefully, and not slowing down article load times. Additionally, the solution had to be flexible for editors to use on the fly, and consistent across iOS and Android, all under tight deadlines for upcoming news cycles.
Grandview’s mobile core team embarked on a ground-up refactor of the Android app’s navigation structure. We implemented a new, streamlined nav graph using modern Android architecture components, consolidating what used to be a tangle of activities and fragments into a cohesive, single-flow framework. Alongside this, we rebuilt the deep link system entirely in Kotlin – replacing legacy code with a clear, well-documented structure that maps incoming URLs and app links to the correct screens reliably. This refactor was done incrementally: we created parallel navigation paths under feature flags, migrating section by section (Home, Articles, Video, etc.) to ensure stability. The team wrote extensive unit tests and ran regression tests to cover every deep link scenario (news alerts, shared story links, etc.), closing many long-standing bugs. We also upgraded critical app dependencies in the process (such as moving to the latest Android SDK and adopting Jetpack libraries), which improved overall app performance and security. Throughout the project, we collaborated with product and QA to verify that the user’s journey was now consistent and smooth — for example, a user tapping a notification deep–link would go exactly to the intended content every time, and could navigate back into other parts of the app without glitchy transitions.
“The quality of talent and seamless transition from contract to hire exceeded our expectations completely.”
-Leading Fintech Startup Leadership Team
Seamless linking restored:
Eliminated 100% of known deep link bugs users now consistently land on the correct content from notifications and external URLs, boosting trust and engagement.
Massive tech debt reduction:
5,000+ lines of legacy code retired (old navigation and linking logic), significantly simplifying the codebase and reducing maintenance overhead.
Faster feature velocity:
New screens and sections can now be added ~2× faster than before, as developers build on the clean, modular nav framework instead of wrestling with convoluted legacy code.
Modernized compliance and performance:
Upgraded the app to current Android standards (latest SDK and Kotlin first architecture), ensuring continued Play Store compliance and yielding smoother UI transitions (users notice snappier screen loads) along with improved app stability and security.
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