The Key Concepts of App Tracking for Developers - UnConference edition

Slides from my talk at DevFest Baltics Unconference 2017.

See also:
- My blog post about app tracking: https://medium.com/@sergii/the-key-concepts-of-app-tracking-for-developers-a11bebf1e65e#
- Github repo with tracking examples:
https://github.com/sergiiz/GroceryStore

More Android stuff:
https://twitter.com/sergiizhuk
https://proandroiddev.com

Transcript

1. T H E K E Y C O N C E P T S O F A P P T R A C K I N G F O R D E V E L O P E R S S E R G I I Z H U K @ D E V F E S T B A L T I C S 1 8 - 1 1 - 2 0 1 7
2. 2 GUTEN TAG! My name is Sergii Zhuk • Born & raised in Kiev, moved to Berlin in 2015 • Freelance Software Engineer • Founder & Editor of ProAndroidDev.com • On twitter @sergiizhuk
3. 3 AGENDA • What is the app tracking and why do you need it • When to track the data • Which tools you can use • Dev challenges and patterns
4. 4 TRACKING: WHY?
5. 5 WHY TRACKING: BACK TO 2015 Do users know about FAB?
6. 6 WHY TRACKING: BACK TO 2015 Do users know about FAB?
7. 7 WHY TRACKING: DATA-DRIVEN 2017
8. 8 TRACKING VS ANALYTICS • Application • Tracking Tools • Analytics Tools & Dashboards
9. 9 WHEN TO TRACK
10. 10 WHEN TO TRACK: INTERACTION • Open the app, different entry points • Screen View • Click/swipe etc. • User sessions
11. 11 WHEN TO TRACK: APPLICATION • Install/uninstall/reinstall • System info • Exceptions, crashes
12. 12 WHEN TO TRACK: APPLICATION • Install/uninstall/reinstall • System info • Exceptions, crashes and bread crumbs
13. 13 TRACKING TOOLS
14. 14 TRACKING TOOLS: GOOGLE ANALYTICS • Mobile & Web • Free for not high load projects • Google BigQuery is available for enterprise projects • No significant mobile SDK updates since the end of 2015
15. 15 TRACKING TOOLS: GOOGLE ANALYTICS FOR FIREBASE • Mobile only • Active development, new features • Google BigQuery is available • Free, but limited amount of custom types • Does not officially support devices without Play Services
16. 16 TRACKING TOOLS: OTHERS • AppSee • Flurry • AppAnnie • Localytics • Mixpanel • and more…
17. 17 TRACKING TOOLS: SELF-MADE • Custom data formats • Integration with other systems • Realtime data (complex!)
18. 18 PATTERNS & CHALLENGES
19. 19 DEFINE TRACKING STANDARDS • Minimum amount of tracking events • Proper constants to indicate empty value and other states • Estimate app release to include tracking
20. 20 SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT TOOLS • Most of tools send data in batches • Data is not always visible immediately after it was sent • Documentation doesn’t suggest any design patterns
21. 21 “SIMPLE” SCREEN VIEW TRACKING • Don’t expect automagical tracking from modern tools • Think about screen rotation contract
22. CHECK TRACKING PERFORMANCE • Check batching configuration • Minimize the amount of data being sent • Set a separate token/configuration for debug • Check threading 22
23. 23 BE READY TO SCALE: TRACKING FACADE
24. 24 CUSTOM TRACKING CASE EXAMPLE • Detecting List Items Observed by User
25. 25 CUSTOM TRACKING CASE EXAMPLE • Detecting List Items Observed by User • Find solution at my blog post
26. 26 CUSTOMER PRIVACY • Don’t send data that allows to identify the user • Mask the IP address of user • User should have an option to switch off tracking
27. 27 CUSTOMER PRIVACY • Don’t send data that allows to identify the user • Mask the IP address of user • User should have an option to switch off tracking • BTW, why the most of tracking tools are free?
28. 28 HOW TO TEST TRACKING OUTPUT
30. 30 TRACKING OUTPUT: PRINT LOGS • May be convenient for the debug • Not always consistent with data sent to the server (enriching!) • Not for the release app build
31. 31 TRACKING OUTPUT: PROXY NETWORK TRAFFIC
32. 32 DEBUG LOGS FOR GOOGLE TOOLS Google Analytics: adb shell setprop log.tag.GAv4 DEBUG adb shell setprop log.tag.FA-SVC VERBOSE Google Analytics for Firebase:
33. 33 TRACKING OUTPUT: FIREBASE DEBUGVIEW
34. 34 SUMMARY • Cover every new app feature with tracking • One tracking tool is never enough • Debug & QA is the most complex part of tracking • Respect customer’s privacy
35. 35 THANKS! @sergiizhuk www.ProAndroidDev.com