Three questions for iPhone developers using Google Analytics within their apps for tracking use of their apps:
Will using Google Analytics cause us to be in breach of the terms and conditions of the Apple SDK 4 for developers?
If the answer to #1 is YES, then what are we -- as iPhone developers -- allowed to use to track usage of our apps?
Has anyone who is using the iPhone SDK 4 built their apps that included the Google Analytics library and found it not to work? I'm being told by my developer that it doesn't work when you build with a Base SDK set to iPhone Device 4.0 and and an iPhone OS Deployment Target set to iPhone OS 3.0.
Thanks in advance!
Answers to your questions:
Yes, with the current API and data collection it looks like it is not compliant with the terms of the SDK. I am using both Flurry and Google in my apps because they offer different feature sets that I need. While Flurry has been very vocal that they are working with Apple to resolve the terms of the SDK, Google hasn't said a peep. So, I'm nervous about using Google but not Flurry, because I think Flurry will change their data gathering if Apple presses hard enough. In any event, I have made sure that I can rip out either analytics service quickly if Apple rejects my app.
My understanding is that it's fine to collect your own device data, as long as you don't report it to others. You especially don't want to share any data that would hint at new devices. That's what got Flurry in trouble. Just remember that you are under NDA with Apple, so anything not publicly announced is between you and Apple. There are also rules about what you do with Device IDs, so make sure you understand those as well.
I am using Google analytics on iOS 4, with deployment target set to 3.0. While I no longer have a device to test against 3.0, it is deployed on the AppStore and seems to be working. (No crash reports)
Louie, I encourage you to take a look at Localytics, our app analytics service. Our service is real-time, we don't sell data to third parties and we release the source code to our libraries.
We also have an updated library that works better with the multitasking or fast-user switching in iOS 4: http://www.localytics.com/blog/
Check out www.flurry.com - they have an awesome service!
They allow you to add "events" so you know not only how many times the apps been downloaded, opened, removed... but you know what buttons and areas they are navigating to once the app is open.
If your app uses core location, you can even see where the users are on a map. Very cool!
Good luck my friend!
Related
I'm building an web application with react-native.
In this app I need to gather some information about users.
One of them is how much time they spend on other apps installed on their phone.
I couldn't find any library for this job, so I've decided to write the native code my self.
For android, apparently there is this UsageStatsManager that can help me achieve what I want.
But when I searched for sth similar in ios, I found lots of old forums saying that this is not possible.
But I recently I saw this:
It is asking for permission to gather other apps data. SO IT IS POSSIBLE?
Any suggestion is appreciated. How am I supposed to this?
There is no API by apple itself for retrieving data of third party applications. This is called "Sandboxing" where applications are restricted from changing the device settings or retrieving/changing other apps data. Hence, why iphones are secure.
What you have shown in your screenshots is to track application data for personalised ads and such. This can be achieved using the AppTrackingTransparency framework provided by apple. You can read more about the framework here.
TL;DR - You can use AppTrackingTransparency for personalisation
I got an offer to develop a simple iPhone app that would call a web service with user's credentials. An user would get the list of files that can be downloaded (.pdfs) and could then download the wanted file. Simple enough...
Now, I've had bad experience with publishing on AppStore. Basically, they refused one app because according to them our RSS reader for a online newspaper wasn't in accordance with their guidelines. They said that the application was a simple web aggregator which I won't argue now. Not now :)
So, back to the new app problem :)
I would like to know what are the options for distributing the new app. The client has a web page and wants to give it's visitor this app to get that data from their phones too.
Technically, the app doesn't have to be a native app. It can be a phoneGap solution too since it's quite simple regarding the functionality. Sincerely, I am afraid that there is no way that Apple will allow this app to be uploaded to their store being native, phoneGap...
P.S.
I would also like to know is there a way to distribute an "internal" (not publicly available) iPhone app? For example, a company needs an internal tool for their 500 employees, but can't afford to go through the process of conecting each device and compiling the app for each device individually...
If you want to sell customized apps to companies, you should consider the B2B program.
if you are in an enterprise that wants to deploy apps inside your company, the Enterprise Developer Program is a good choice.
For internal:
100 test devices.
alot of iphones with the distribution profile after the 100 devices
with the enterprise:
https://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/enterprise/
i am using sharekit open source for facebook/twitter sharing , and also Google maps for displaying the maps and all that stuff like driving directions, current location, annotations etc etc in my iPhone application . i just want to know about its acceptance on itunes by apple.
Does Apple Approve share kit?
Can google maps be used in iPhone??
Please give me any idea about it
Thanks
Even though ShareKit is hopelessly dated and not updated since ages (last update over a year ago), there still is no reason for Apple to not approve your app when using it. Personally, I would strongly advise to not use ShareKit as it is super buggy and did not keep up with the latest changes on Twitter's API but that is your choice.
Google Maps also is not a show-stopper at all. As said by others, there are many Apps on the AppStore using it.
there have been some confusion about using analytics in apps. Just to make sure I got it straight:
I want to use Google Analytics in my app to track app usage (tracking what content is being viewed basically). I'm not sending any user or device data to Google.
Firstly, I understand that Google Analytics API is completely fine to be used and doesn't violate any Apple developer agreements.
Secondly, I assume that in this case (anonymously tracking app usage - no user or device data) I am allowed to use the service without the need to say anywhere in the app that analytics is being used (so the 3.3.9. of 'iOS Developer Program License Agreement' doesn't apply here).
Can anyone confirm my assumptions or explain if they are not right?
Or better did anyone of you have your app using analytics approved even though it didn't say anywhere it is using it? ...or the opposite
I've seen plenty of forum entries on the subject none of them though clearly stating what is required by Apple and what is just recommended.
Thanks
I know you're asking about Google Analytics, but for what it's worth, I've had great success using the Flurry analytics package in my apps. It's very stable and provides a lot of great metrics. If GA doesn't work out for you, I'd say give this a try:
http://www.flurry.com/
Is this a violation of Apple app development rules? In some forums I just saw that thing. So am afraid of getting rejected by AppStore if I use the same. Help me with this please. And if I can't use Google Analytics SDK then which will be the best analytics method I could implement for my App?
This is not legal advice, but, as of right now, no apps have been rejected by Apple for using Google Analytics.
Google has released an official iOS Google Analytics SDK, and there is no record of Apple explicitly forbidding or discouraging its use.
Google Analytics is the most widely used analytics solution around, and unless your operations are based out of Germany, you likely have little to worry about.
I'm not sure about Google Analytics vs Apple rules, but if you're just looking for any way to have stats, have a look at Flurry Statistics - it's quite powerful and completely free. Also I never heard of any legal issues with it (I think you just need to inform users in your app's EULA that you collect data to make the application better).
my name is Peter and I'm with Flurry. Thanks to delirus for pointing out that we have a free service. We support iOS, Android, BlackBerry, WP7 and JavaME. Regarding iOS, we have no knowledge that any app has been rejected during the app submission process due to the inclusion of Flurry Analytics. Over 38,000 companies use Flurry Analytics. You can learn more at www.flurry.com. Thanks, Peter
Google Analytics is under scrutiny in certain regions of this planet because some people believe they are not respecting data protection laws and legislation.
So even if Apple accepts your app you run the risk of somebody filling a complaint with Apple and as result your app could be withdrawn at a later stage.
If you don't know yourself which analytic tool is best for your needs then I assume you have not really thought about what data you really require. Take a moment or two to come up with a list of requirements and then start looking for the tool best matching the needs.