I found the google analytics SDK very easy to integrate with some of my android apps, however the problem I have is with the web dashboard. It's not straightforward to use, and mobile analytics seems to be the poor cousin of the web analytics version. Even finding data on something as simple as user timings (which was very easy to code into the app) is difficult. I know it must be capturing a tonne of useful data but visualising it and actually getting some useful insights from it is another story...
Are there any good (ideally free) alternatives out there, where it's actually easy to interpret the data?
Cheers, Matt
kiwiandroiddev said:
I found the google analytics SDK very easy to integrate with some of my android apps, however the problem I have is with the web dashboard. It's not straightforward to use, and mobile analytics seems to be the poor cousin of the web analytics version. Even finding data on something as simple as user timings (which was very easy to code into the app) is difficult. I know it must be capturing a tonne of useful data but visualising it and actually getting some useful insights from it is another story...
Are there any good (ideally free) alternatives out there, where it's actually easy to interpret the data?
Cheers, Matt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some alternatives visualizations of the same data. Did you check out some apps for the same:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.e6bapps.ganalytics
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.co.madhur.ganalyticsdashclock
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.co.madhur.dashclock
You should really put a disclaimer: "I am the developer of this app". Your dashclock extension looks nice and simple though.
Those overview statistics like screen views and downloads are fine and a nice morale boost, but what I'm really interested in is actionable data that points to specific things in the app that need improvement.
E.g. If 80% of users leaving a certain screen after a few seconds it might point to the screen being confusing. Things like that.
madhur_ahuja said:
There are some alternatives visualizations of the same data. Did you check out some apps for the same:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.e6bapps.ganalytics
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.co.madhur.ganalyticsdashclock
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.co.madhur.dashclock
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the suggestion, but there is not a function that can analyze the source of the downloading as Google PC analyze. Could you recommend another one?
Fyerwong said:
Thanks for the suggestion, but there is not a function that can analyze the source of the downloading as Google PC analyze. Could you recommend another one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are looking for website similar to Google Analytics you can try Flurry I don't know if you can use it on your smartphone as a Mobile App but for sure it's good alternative for google analytics!
Alternative to Google analytics
Flurry is a good option
Thank you for this, I think I'll try flurry because the analytics the google play console provides are just not enough.
just learned that Flurry has a very useful customer behavior analytics. I think we should also try this aside from Google Analytics.
Found a new analytics site that Appannie has implemented into their system, seems to be asia based, worth adding, just did with mine
https://dev.mobvista.com/user/showreg/?u=TVRVMU9RPT0=
What features do you think are missing from Google Analytics?
I know some tool for tracking your user the name
Admob Analytics:
The biggest ad provider for mobile devices, currently has an analytics platform for the mobile web in beta
App Clix
it offers developers an analytics product, not an analytics service. With App Clix, developers runs analytics through their own server environment, cutting out the ability for the middle man to review the analytics data without authorization
Bango
Bango provides identification for every user accessing the app, providing information like the user's carrier and connection speeds. You can also use Bango to drive mobile app campaigns and implement tracking for other application features
Pinch Media & Flurry Analytics
They provide a free specialized service for analytics in mobile apps. They allow you to tap into user info with the approval of the user, giving you location, age, time, session lengths and more.
Try Leanplum - they're affordable (monitoring up to 500 daily active users is for free), packed with analytics and A/B testing functionality, and their help section is amazing! Alternatively, I've also used Mixpanel, but it's more focused on doing A/B tests than on good ol' analytics.
Parse is cool platform
Check out mobile analytics toolkit - devtodev.
Relatively new to the market, has a really nice and responsive support, and own education center.
There's always Mixpanel.
Free for small amounts of data, but gets expensive at larger amounts. It's events concept is much better than GA, but the SDK can be a bit buggy.
Also, the new Facebook Analytics platform. Totally free, and has a similar events system to Mixpanel.
codiaq said:
Thank you for this, I think I'll try flurry because the analytics the google play console provides are just not enough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you are just not using the power of Analytics right. With a combination of custom events and custom dashboards you can track and visualize everything. I doubt that any other product can provide you anything that you couldn't easily setup in Analytics.
There is also fabric.
https://get.fabric.io/
It's totaly free, incredibly easy to include in your app and it's paired with crashlytics that is one of the best crash report solution.
The results it give are not extensive : you have daily and monthly users, new daily users, number of sessions and sessions lengths: a good resume.
Gauss Widget for Google Analytics
kiwiandroiddev said:
I found the google analytics SDK very easy to integrate with some of my android apps, however the problem I have is with the web dashboard. It's not straightforward to use, and mobile analytics seems to be the poor cousin of the web analytics version. Even finding data on something as simple as user timings (which was very easy to code into the app) is difficult. I know it must be capturing a tonne of useful data but visualising it and actually getting some useful insights from it is another story...
Are there any good (ideally free) alternatives out there, where it's actually easy to interpret the data?
Cheers, Matt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should use Gauss Analytics Widget on your Android desktop. Find it on Google Play
I have published some apps to both stores (IOS and Android) and I check the stats on a daily based. But I decided that it's more efficient to use a BI tool, create a dashboard and get all the information consolidated.
I've included google analytics data there so it's great, however I did not find the way to download automatically the data from the stores. I have to go and get the csv every day.
I did not find an Api, but may be there is a way to get by email or by any other web service, I don't know..
Does any of you have tried and succeed with this? please let me know.
thanks
torcator said:
I have published some apps to both stores (IOS and Android) and I check the stats on a daily based. But I decided that it's more efficient to use a BI tool, create a dashboard and get all the information consolidated.
I've included google analytics data there so it's great, however I did not find the way to download automatically the data from the stores. I have to go and get the csv every day.
I did not find an Api, but may be there is a way to get by email or by any other web service, I don't know..
Does any of you have tried and succeed with this? please let me know.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why don't you use a service like App Annie or Sensor Tower?
Are these apps games? If yes, ping me, I might have a solution for you.
Cheers
Hey folks,
after reading the Article on xda about using Android without google, i instantly fell in Love with the idea. I decided yesterday, that i'll take the plunge and give it a try.
First off, why?
For me, there are a couple of reasons. First of, i generally think, the less a company like google knows about me, the better. So keeping the Data on my phone away from google might help with that. If this experiment goes well i might stop using Google for Calendar and Contacts.
Second reason for me is Battery. The Google Framework and Play Services are always on the Top of my list of Battery consumption. I'd like to see how leaving these away might improve Battery life.
And third, i'm curious if it's possible. The reason i'm on xda is because i'm a tinkerer. So pushing the boundaries and trying new things is what i really like about Android. You have the choice to do whatever you want with your phone.
So, how do i go about it? Well, a bit of pre work needs to be done. First of, you might need a google Account to set things up. WhatsApp or Outlook are simply only available from the official Playstore. Since i start with my daily driver, all was set up already.
I use the 5.0.1 Variant of Nameless Rom. Debloated, Nova Launcher, rooted and stock apart from that. I might go CM later on, but i always find CM draining the Battery more then Stock Roms. We'll see.
What am i going to use instead of all the nice google things?
Play Store: F-Droid
I'll give F-Droid a try. it's obtainable as an apk, so if you only need apps that are available there, you won't need google at all. The Interface and search is not as nice as the Play Store, but the selection is really good, Installation of apps is hassle free (no manually downloading apks and installing them by hand) and it does check for updates daily.
Gmail:
I already moved away from gmail to outlook.com a few months ago. Not because MS is better in keeping your data private (actually they might be as they make money through selling software, not your data) but because i wanted to spread my info. Mail on outlook, contacts on google, Calendar on Strato... The Outlook app was already installed and set up, so no work to be done here.
Contacts:
Here it's getting a bit tricky. Google doesn't want you to move your contacts away form them. So there is no way to directly sync your google Contacts to your phone. As soon as you deactivate the play services, all you contacts will be gone.
For me, i used the Web Version of Google Contacts, exported them all to vcf and imported them to my phones storage. I'm not going to set up a personal sync for now. I'm fine with my contacts on my Phone only for now. I might end up going the OwnCloud route later on, but don't find it necessary currently.
Calendar:
my Calendar is already done through outlook and start (my webhoster). I installed Etar from F-Droid (a open source variant of googles calendar app). All my Calendars were already in on first launch (imported from the phones Accounts). No hassle, everything looks as always.
Chrome:
I've never been happy with chrome anyways. Loading pages is slow, scrolling is nowhere near smooth. I currently compare Firefox and Fenec. Both from F-Droid. Firefox will be discontinued on F-Droid soon as they implemented none OS proprietary add ons. Fenec is a OS alternative to Firefox compiled from Source without Proprietary add ons. Both work well but Fenec is a bit unstable as a daily driver for most people.
Camera is Focal now. Apart from being OS it's also much more capable than samsung camera. Plus easier to use. Whats not to like here?
After setting everything up, i went into the settings and disabled most google stuff (Play Store, Play Services, Calendar, Mail, Chrome). I'm still trying to find out what other Google Services i may disable without braking android. I'll keep this updated here.
I'm not completely done yet. I still use apps that are only available through the Playstore. Maybe you know alternatives, that i should check out:
WhatsApp. I don't see an alternative here. Moving to another service is not really an option. I tried Telegram and liked it, but a nice app is nothing when nobody uses it...
Ebay and Amazon. Both have a good mobile website which should work. But a standalone App is much easier and convenient to use.
Nova Launcher. It's simply the best. I haven't found a OS alternative that has anywhere near the features.
Tapatalk. Again, one App all Forums on hand. Simply the best app for that. Any XDA compatible OS alternatives to it?
Outlook. A OS mail client which supports Outlook, Material Design and is easy to use? I've yet to come up with one...
Over all, the switch went really smooth. After getting F-Droid as a Playstore alternative i was able to do all this in 1 hour. I'll have to see how Batterylife works out. I feel it's better, but the numbers will tell after some days of use. I feel really good to have found a way around google so far. It's nice to rethink things you've been using for years. Even if you're not opting out of google completely, there might be a alternative to something you use, that you'd otherwise never consider.
Let me know what you think. You're alternatives to some proprietary apps. How do you feel about google being in all the parts of your mobile life? Is Android without google something you'd consider?
For further reading, here are the XDA Articles, that inspired me to start this journey:
Setting up Marshmallow without Google
The "Say Sayonara to Google" Series
Have a nice start into the week.
I'll keep my replacement Apps in this Post for Tracking what i've used and what my Pros and Cons are over time.
PlayStore: F-Droid
F-Droid is THE FOSS Android community. A good selection of Apps, easy install and Updates plus a community thats interested in whats happening behind the scenes of apps. Firefox for example will soon not be supported anymore because they now are using proprietary none FOSS compatible sources. For most, this attempt might not be the easy one (they never claim to want to go the easy route), but it sure is the most straight ahead if you want Open Source Apps that are tracked for what they do on your phone.
Outlook: K-9
I replaced Outlook with K-9 for now. It's not as polished or easy to use, but it works, is OS and Outlook was constantly connected without me being able to change that. I only need sync every 30 minutes and outlook doesn't have a setting for that. Lets see how K-9 works out, stability and battery wise...
Google Maps: OsmAnd
OsmAnd seems to be the alternative here. As a plus it allows offline sync of Maps. The Interface is nowhere near as intuitive as GMaps, i've found no traffic information until now and entering a address is a hassle. The Search feature and easy Adress Input has always been a strong point for GMaps. We'll see how the turn-by-turn Navigation Turns out. Also OsmAnd works with plugins, so maybe i'm missing some features here and there.
Facebook: Tinfoil
Tinfoil for Facebook seems to be the App of Choice. In the end it's the Mobile website displayed in an "App". On the Plus site, you don't need that horrifically annoying Messenger. Facebook chat just works from the App, which is great. Sadly, since its a webpage, Notifications are none existant. Since i'm debating leaving Facebook completely anyways it's not a problem for me. Less distraction during the day, which is always welcome nowadays...
Deezer: Tomahawk
When I thought about replacing my Deezer app I did not have high hopes since most streaming services use proprietary api's. I was impressed to find not only a Deezer alternative that's open source, but tomahawk does much more. It combines most streaming services plus some other online music services plus your local music.
One downside for me: you are not able to save Deezer music offline. Tomahawk itself is completely open source. If the Deezer plug in is OS as well I couldn't find out for sure...
Titanium Backup: Oandbackup
Oandbackup works much the same way Titanium does, but with some less options. If you want just a good Backup App, i prefer Oandbackup since it's much less cluttered and options are easier to find. It served me well when i last switched from TW to CM.
I didn't read your what i can only call a thesis on Ungooglying Android write-up, it's an effort that I implore and admire your courage. I too worry about the data that google has monopolised on, it's time we broke this and find alternative ways. I salute you sir in your endeavours.
I will drop by time to time to see how you're prodding along.
Regards
F
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I backp all my contacts using outlook. I still use playstore. I have also disabled as much of Samsung as I can, and im sure there is more I could disable of both. I want my phone set up the way I want it set up, not with what google and samsung say I should. Also use Nova
Sent from my SM-P900 using XDA Free mobile app
I added Tomahawk as a Deezer/Spotify OS alternative In Post #2
Gesendet von meinem SM-N910F mit Tapatalk
I've yet to find a good alternative to the play store personally.
I don't use google services on my Note 4. I use Here Maps and disabled Google Maps, I use Nine for Email, I've disabled contacts and calendar sync, I've disabled every google program like books, games, gmail (I have a google account linked to a generic outlook addy for G services), music, hangouts, G+, etc. I keep my contacts backed up on my own personal .com server via exchange along with the calendar. I also like the Samsung browser, so Chrome is disabled as well. Don't use Now, have all the google account settings set to not target me for advertising, not keep track of location, etc... All the regular privacy concerns taken care of there.
My battery life is about a !% loss every two hours in standby. I wish I could get it better. My old GSIII would lose 1% over an 8 hour time frame at night while I was asleep. The Note 4 loses about 4%.
Oddly, no matter how much I restrict my access to google services, the people section of the play store still links me to a ton of people I know. Some that I have not had contact with since High School. Very strange. The only thing I can think is people I do know have me in their contacts so it assumes I know these people correctly. The phone is obviously reading my phone number without me entering it into my google account. :shrug:
I look forward to reading how it goes for you. (I broke down and signed up for Google Music the other day out of curiosity, but I'll get some of my anonymity back when I cancel my google account and create a new one.)
Alright,
some Updates:
I switched to the official CM12 build yesterday. It seems to run fairly well. My Radio was not able to register in the Network once, but activating and deactivating flight mode fixed that. Reception seems to be better than on TW rom. Concerning Battery i see no major difference for now.
CM is Open Source. I'm not 100% sure that every preinstalled app is 100% open source. During the Weekend i'll review the code and do a build on my own, just to be sure. Also, theres a pure AOSP build coming, which i'll be testing.
This time i didn't even Install Gapps. I did not log in to cm accounts or anything. I installed F-Droid from my SD Card and went from there. One thing i'll have to keep in mind, is, that factory reset means loosing my contacts, so i'll have to do a backup the next time.
Also i switched from Titanium to Oandbackup. I works much the same way and served me well during the switch from TW to CM. For me the relevant options are much easier to find (Safe Backups to external SD...).
Since Battery endurance is one of my concerns, i do some changes to improve that:
- Since the N4 has an AMOLED Display, using Black Background and Dark Apps helps quite a bit. I'm using Dark Material Beta through CM Theme Engine. Its Black (i like solid Black, not Gray or something like that) and white and does theme quite a lot of Apps (WhatsApp as an important one).
- I deactivated AudioFX, All Live Backgrounds, Stock Browser, CM-Backgrounds, Calendar and NFC Tags
- for cLock (Lockscreen Clock) i deleted all permissions to access location and Data. It's been trying to update weather all the time, which you can't seem to disable
I'd really like a simple white Icon theme, but getting most themes for CM depends on the Play Store. There are not many good themes that are available outside of the Playstore... Any help here is appreciated :good:
bbeelzebub said:
...My battery life is about a !% loss every two hours in standby. I wish I could get it better. My old GSIII would lose 1% over an 8 hour time frame at night while I was asleep. The Note 4 loses about 4%...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Over the last night i lost 2% over 7.5 hours. With 4G, WiFi, BT, Mail Sync (once per hour). Quite good, but i think theres a bit in it. K-9 (Mail) and Whatsapp keep the Mobile Network active. K-9 does so relatively long although i should only Sync once per hour. I'll configure some kind of "Whatsapp do not disturde" over night, this should bring down Standby draw a bit...
domsch1988 said:
Over the last night i lost 2% over 7.5 hours. With 4G, WiFi, BT, Mail Sync (once per hour). Quite good, but i think theres a bit in it. K-9 (Mail) and Whatsapp keep the Mobile Network active. K-9 does so relatively long although i should only Sync once per hour. I'll configure some kind of "Whatsapp do not disturde" over night, this should bring down Standby draw a bit...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I leave 4G, WiFi, BT and Mail on all the time as well. It doesn't make any difference when I turn them off that I've noticed. I use ActiveSync for my email / calendars / contacts and it really is no difference from when I used to use google for the calendar / contacts and a pop 3 account. As long as I don't use the stock email app which kills the battery on exchange or Activesync.
There are a few Samsung apps that I can't disable that I would like to. (I'm on a non rootable US model), I think I'll take the time tomorrow and see if I can use debloater to shut them down. Now that I think about it, there were less Samsung things running all the time on my old phone and I'm sure that makes a slight difference.
You can download Whats App from their site without going through Google since its attached to your phone number.
https://www.whatsapp.com/android/
...There is no way Focal is more capable than the Samsung Camera app. How do you figure this?
jetbruceli said:
You can download Whats App from their site without going through Google since its attached to your phone number.
https://www.whatsapp.com/android/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wouldn't use whatsapp at all considering they are owned by facebook and every message you send is being tracked. Telegram is the better option.
Toss3 said:
Wouldn't use whatsapp at all considering they are owned by facebook and every message you send is being tracked. Telegram is the better option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is the dumbest reason to not use Whats App. It was bought to protect FB from losing ground. Telegram has all your messages on a server to where as Whats app is peer to peer. There is no reason to worry about big Facebook looking at your every message. Also, i would rather have FB, Google or MS looking at my stuff than some unknown company.
---------- Post added at 10:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:09 AM ----------
freeza said:
...There is no way Focal is more capable than the Samsung Camera app. How do you figure this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont get that either, also stock camera doenst need google play services to be used.
jetbruceli said:
That is the dumbest reason to not use Whats App. It was bought to protect FB from losing ground. Telegram has all your messages on a server to where as Whats app is peer to peer. There is no reason to worry about big Facebook looking at your every message. Also, i would rather have FB, Google or MS looking at my stuff than some unknown company.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Telegram does not save your messages on a server when you use private chats. They are also encrypted.
Oh and: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/whatsapp-ranked-worst-for-users-data-privacy-in-internet-snooping-report-10328539.html http://time.com/3928503/whatsapp-privacy-watchdog/
This shows how "secure" WhatsApp really is: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33152898
Toss3 said:
Telegram does not save your messages on a server when you use private chats. They are also encrypted.
Oh and: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/whatsapp-ranked-worst-for-users-data-privacy-in-internet-snooping-report-10328539.html http://time.com/3928503/whatsapp-privacy-watchdog/
This shows how "secure" WhatsApp really is: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33152898
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sure there are security holes in everything we use but it doesnt change the fact that Whats App is better for most people. This isnt a whats app vs telegram thread and also, I am not sure if you can install telegram on its own without google or other app stores like you can with whats app
Hey everyone,
I'm wondering what is everybody doing to stay on top of competing apps and other app market changes? What tools do you use? I've been working on a project to solve this problem and I'd love some input and feedback.
Thanks!
Here are some basicly tools for it: (1)appinner.com, it is an app internal data analysis platform, with it you can find which advertising platform sdk your competitor choose, how does they construt their apps,etc.
(2)flurry. it is a tool to track your apps performance, give you detailed insight in your users count, session length etc. （3）appannie. you can check the keywords and ranking List of apps.
https://sensortower.com is a must check. It will give you very valuable insight on what to do and what not about keywords and rankings (with a pretty cool daily email that reports you all you need to know about your app and his ranking).
As JimmyG20 said too, appannie is a must check too.
4 Simple Ways to Monitor Your Competitor's -
1. Sign up to receive their email or newsletter
2. Explore their website
3. Like and follow on social networks
4. Give them a call.
Useful sources to track
Hey,
These may be:
Sensortower with TOP charts
Appannie - also store stats
Statista sometimes publishes the stats abour certain apps
Dear Internet,
it may sound a little bit strange, but I need help, a lot of help!
I don't know anything about coding an Android app or something like that, but I have to make an app for personal use, just to know how creating an app looks like.
My app looks like this:
The app that I want to create is an Social Media network for everyone around the world. It is used for people with accounts on a worldwide map. The account contains, or course, your description. But instead of daily life selfies or photo's, this app is used for Geography where photo's/video's from around the world are shown on someone's account. These photo's are pinned on a worldwide map, which will be in the main app.
* Summary *
The accounts are pinned on a worldwide map, which will be shown every time you'll log in. The accounts can also be searched in a search bar. Someone's account contains a pin section with all the photo's he/she made, shown on a world map (again but without the account pins).
It is a really small app, but many people could use it.
Again this app is only used for geographical photo's and video's, where people can give their stories on.
I really want to build this app, but I don't know where to start...
Greetings,
Papyrends