Mobile App terminology
App is short for applications
We support both ‘Native App Tracking’ and ‘Web App Tracking’ together they make up ‘Mobile App Analytics’.
The terminology is defined below.
Definition of Native apps
Definition of Native apps- Native apps are applications developed for use on mobile devices, written in a native programing language like Java or Object-C
- Native apps can be sold through app stores like Apple’s Appstore or Google’s App Market.
Definition of Web Apps
Definition of Web Apps- Web apps are applications built with web-standard technology, often optimized for smaller devices, and also sometimes simplified versions of existing sites.
- Most Web Apps are built with the 3 web-standard components: HTML, CSS, Javascript
There are 2 kinds of web apps:
- Normal web apps: Apps built with HTML, CSS, Javascript and can be accessed via a browser on a (mobile) device.
- Hybrid web apps: Apps built with HTML, CSS, Javascript and converted into a native apps, so they can be distributed through a app store like Apple App Store or Android marketplace. you can do this with tools like Phonegap, Appcelerator, Corana, etc
Normal web apps
To track your Normal Web app activity, you can add the Opentracker javascript and then use the JavaScript API to send us the data you think is important.
Pros / Cons
+ Default events automatically tracked: Pageview, Referrer, Exit links
+ User profiles automatically tracked: Location, IP, device, OS, language, etc
+ Easy integration for custom event tracking with our JavaScript API
+ Universal; works for every app
– No offline tracking (coming soon!)
Hybrid Web Apps
To track Hybrid Web App activity, you can choose to use the javascript api as described above, or add the native tracking code library for tracking.
The events that happen within your Hybrid Web App cannot be tracked with the native library so you will also need to use javascript.
Pros / Cons
+ Native, therefore support for offline tracking (= user has no internet connection)
+ Default events automatically tracked: App launch, App foreground, App background, App close
+ User profiles automatically tracked: Location, IP, device, OS, language, etc
+ No need to alter your web app, just follow the Native install instructions
– No custom event tracking (possible with the JavaScript API)
