Android RUM SDK Integration Guide

Overview

Flashcat Android RUM SDK supports Android 6.0 (API level 23) and above. By integrating the SDK, you can monitor your Android application's performance, errors, and user behavior in real-time.

Integration Steps

Step 1: Add SDK Dependencies

Add the Flashcat SDK dependencies to your app module's build.gradle file:

Step 2: Retrieve Application Information from the Console

In the RUM Application Management page of the Flashcat console:

Create or select an Android application

Obtain the following information:

Application ID: Application unique identifier

Client Token: Client access token
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Step 3: Initialize SDK with Application Context

Initialize the Flashcat SDK in the onCreate() method of your Application class:

During initialization, you need to set the environment name (environmentName) and app variant name (appVariantName). The appVariantName specifies which application variant generates the data. For more configuration options, see Advanced Configuration.

Step 4: Enable RUM Features and Start Sending Data

Configure and enable the RUM features of the Android SDK:

Step 5: Initialize Interceptors to Track Network Events

To initialize interceptors for tracking network events:

Enable Trace Functionality: Add and enable the Trace feature

Add Dependencies: Add the fc-sdk-android-okhttp library dependency to your module-level build.gradle file:

Add Interceptor: Configure the interceptor provided by Flashcat to track OkHttp requests (currently using the community Datadog http interceptor).

Automatically Create Resources and Spans: When using DatadogInterceptor as an interceptor, every request handled by OkHttpClient is automatically recorded as a resource, with related information (URL, method, status code, error) automatically populated. Note: Only network requests initiated when a view is active will be tracked. To track requests when the app is in the background, see Track Background Events.

Track Network Redirects or Retries: To monitor network redirects or retries, you can use DatadogInterceptor as a network interceptor:

Note:

If using multiple interceptors, add DatadogInterceptor as the first interceptor

You can also add an EventListener to your OkHttpClient to automatically track resource timing for third-party providers and network requests.

Filter Specific Errors

To filter specific errors reported by DatadogInterceptor, configure a custom EventMapper in the RumConfiguration:

Track Background Events

You can track events that occur when the application is running in the background (such as crashes and network requests).

Add the following code during configuration:

Note: Tracking background events may generate additional sessions, which could affect billing. If you have questions, please contact the Flashcat support team.

Send Data When Device is Offline

The Android SDK ensures data availability when the user's device is offline. In cases of weak network signals or low device battery, all events are first stored in batches on the local device.

Each batch follows the data intake specification. Batches are sent as soon as the network becomes available and the battery is sufficient, ensuring the Flashcat SDK doesn't affect the end-user experience. If the network is unavailable while the app is running in the foreground, or if data upload fails, the batch is retained until it is successfully sent.

This means that even if users open your app while offline, no data is lost. To ensure the SDK doesn't use too much disk space, old data on disk is automatically discarded.

Track Local Resource Access

You can track access to assets resources using the getAssetAsRumResource extension method:

Track usage of raw resources using the getRawResAsRumResource extension method:

WebView Integration

If your Android application includes WebView, you can enable WebView tracking in the following way:

Add WebView Dependencies

Enable WebView Tracking

Enable WebView tracking in your Activity or Fragment:

Parameter Description:

webView: The WebView instance to track

allowedHosts: List of allowed domains for tracking, supports wildcards

This way, web pages in your WebView can be associated with native app RUM data.

Verify Integration

After integration is complete, you can verify successful integration through the following steps:

Access Console: Log in to the console and navigate to the corresponding RUM application to check if data is being reported

Trigger Test Events:

Open different pages of the app to verify page view events

Perform user operations (clicks, swipes, etc.) to verify interaction events

Trigger network requests to verify resource loading events

Check Data Reporting Address: Check Logcat for network requests to the data reporting endpoint

Obfuscation Configuration

If your application has code obfuscation enabled (ProGuard/R8), add the following rules to your proguard-rules.pro file:

# Flashcat SDK
-keep class cloud.flashcat.android.** { *; }
-dontwarn cloud.flashcat.android.**

SDK Integration

Overview#

Integration Steps#

Step 1: Add SDK Dependencies#

Step 2: Retrieve Application Information from the Console#

Step 3: Initialize SDK with Application Context#

Step 4: Enable RUM Features and Start Sending Data#

Step 5: Initialize Interceptors to Track Network Events#

Filter Specific Errors#

Track Background Events#

Send Data When Device is Offline#

Track Local Resource Access#

WebView Integration#

Add WebView Dependencies#

Enable WebView Tracking#

Verify Integration#

Obfuscation Configuration#

Further Reading#