> but Android also allows any app to handle any url, so multiple apps can attempt to handle a domain (like facebook.com), whereas app links allows you to direct the link to a single app (or a suite of apps).

So Applinks suddenly removes the ability of 3rd party apps to say "we can handle this content". I can see why big players like FB would want it - I think this is a bad thing for small players and hence the open ecosystem.