Testing the SDK integration for marketers

The Live Event Viewer is a testing tool showing real-time data sent from the SDK to AppsFlyer such as install events and other in-app events. For each event captured, you can see the event log and details.

To view events in the Live Event Viewer:

1. In AppsFlyer, from the side menu, select Settings > SDK Integration Tests.

   

2. Click Live Events.

   

3. In the App list, select the app that you want to test.
4. In the Test device list,  select the device you want to use for testing your app. If you don’t have a test device, you can register one by clicking on the Add a test device link.
5. Click Continue to begin recording your app events.

6. Launch the app and interact with it to generate sessions and in-app events.

   

7. Click an event item to view the event details on the right panel.
8. If you want to stop recording the events click Stop. Click Start again when you want to continue.

To test non-organic installs:

1. In AppsFlyer, from the side menu, select Settings > SDK Integration Tests. 

   

2. Click Non-Organic Installs test.

   

3. In the App list, select the app that you want to test.
4. In the Test device list,  select the device you want to use for testing your app. If you don’t have a test device, you can register one by clicking on the Add a test device link.
5. If the tested app is installed on your test device remove it.
6. Select the I removed the app from the tested device checkbox.
7. Click Continue and follow the wizard steps.

If the app does not record a non-organic install, possible reasons might be:

• IDFA is available but the test device was not registered with this identifier on the Test devices page.
• You have more than 1 of your apps, besides the test app, installed on the test device but the test device was not registered with IDFV on the Test devices page.
• An organic install was recorded.
• The test was performed on a version of the app that does not include the SDK.

For integration errors, contact your developer.

Before you begin:

• Launch the test app at least 3 times.
• To test deep linking (retargeting), OneLink must be defined for your app. For more information, see the OneLink Setup guide.
• Verify that retargeting is turned on.

To test deep links:

1. In AppsFlyer, from the side menu, select Settings > SDK Integration Tests.

   

2. Click Retargeting.

   

3. In the App list, select the app that you want to test.
4. In the Test device list,  select the device you want to use for testing your app. If you don’t have a test device, you can register one by clicking on the Add a test device link.
5. Click Continue and follow the wizard steps.

Testing installs allows you to verify that the AppsFlyer SDK is attributing installs correctly to various media sources.

To test install attribution:

1. Copy the following link (Android or iOS), and make these changes:

   1. app_id value: Add your app ID in AppsFlyer. 
   2. pid parameter: Specify the name of the media source to which the install is attributed.
   3. c parameter: Specify the name of the campaign.
   4. If you are testing an app available via a third-party Android store, add the af_r parameter to the attribution link. 
   5. Replace the GAID, IDFA, or IDFV with your specific device identifier.
   Android iOS

   https://app.appsflyer.com/<app_id>?pid=Test&c=Test&advertising_id=<GAID>

   IDFA

   https://app.appsflyer.com/<app_id>?pid=Test&c=Test&idfa=<IDFA>

   IDFV

   https://app.appsflyer.com/<app_id>?pid=Test&c=Test&idfv=<IDFV>

   The following are examples of attribution links with specific values:

   Android iOS

   https://app.appsflyer.com/com.my.app?pid=Test&c=Test&advertising_id=12345f9*-eba*-421*-876*-7654ac67876*

   https://app.appsflyer.com/id123456789?pid=Test&c=Test&idfa=1A2B****-9128-4***-123*-04E***654321

    Note

   If you're testing an iOS app without registering a test device your test click can be flagged as fraudulent by Fraud 360.

   To prevent this event from being detected as fraud, add the following query parameter to your link: pid=”ios_testing”

2. Copy your updated link, send it to the test device, and then click the link.

    Note

   In iOS, use iMessage or email to send the link to the device. Don't paste the link in the iOS Notes app and click the link. This action can cause the link to break.

3. Do one of the following:

   • If the app is live, proceed to install it.
   • If the app is pending, the following message displays: "The app you are looking for is not available in the market yet." This is the expected result. Since the app is not live, the attribution link doesn't lead to any app store. However, the attribution link is still valid for attribution purposes and you should install the app as follows:
     • For Android: From an APK file (or Android Studio for developers)
     • For iOS: From TestFlight (or Xcode for developers)

   You should see an install that is attributed to the test campaign under the media source called Test. Allow up to 30 minutes for the install to appear in the app's dashboard.

   

Testing in-app events allows you to verify that revenue associated with an event is displayed and that in-app events are attributed to the media source that generates the install.

To test attribution of in-app events:

1. Launch the app, and then generate a few in-app events.

2. Open the app's dashboard, and click Events.

   You should see the events, their revenue (if revenue is associated with them), and the media source to which they are associated. Allow up to 60-70 minutes for the events to appear in the dashboard.

   

Tip! Consider downloading the in-app events raw data report to verify that events are attributed correctly. This report takes several minutes to download.

To download the report:

1. In AppsFlyer, from the side menu, select Report > Raw Data Export. 
2. In the Raw Data Reports section, download the in-app events raw data report.

OneLink allows you to set a single attribution link for both Android and iOS. OneLink recognizes the user's device and redirects them to the relevant app store.

In addition, OneLink enables deep linking. Deep linking allows you to open the app in a specific app activity while serving customized content.

For more information, see our guide on testing OneLink URLs.

Retargeting attribution occurs when a user engages with a retargeting campaign by clicking on a retargeting attribution link. This results in a re-attribution or a re-engagement event. For more information, see the Retargeting attribution guide.

Retargeting tests include the following :

• For re-attribution: Uninstalling and reinstalling the app. Then, verifying in the dashboard that an install was recorded.
• For re-engagement: Clicking a retargeting attribution link or a deep link, and then verifying that a re-engagement is attributed to the correct media source.

Before running retargeting tests, the following setup is required:

• Retargeting must be activated for the app you are testing.
• Create an app-specific link or retrieve a OneLink custom link. These links must include the retargeting parameter.

To set up retargeting tests:

1. Enable retargeting in the app's settings.

   In the app's dashboard, click App Settings and turn on Enable retargeting attribution.

   

2. Do one of the following: 
   • Create an app-specific attribution link. Make sure to include the retargeting parameter, is_retargeting=true, and the advertising ID. To view the GAID, IDFA, or IDFV, follow the  Registering a test device instructions.  
     The following is an example of an attribution link that includes an Android-specific parameter as the device identifier (GAID). For more information about adding other device identifier parameters, such as IDFA or IDFV, see Attribution link structure and parameters. 

     https://app.appsflyer.com/<app_id>?pid=Test&c=Test&is_retargeting=true&advertising_id=<GAID>

   • Retrieve the custom link's long URL from a OneLink template. Make sure to activate Retargeting campaign. The following image shows an example of a custom long URL:

You can now proceed to test re-attribution and re-engagement.

Before you begin:

• Follow the instructions for setting up retargeting tests.
• Make sure your test device is not registered.

To test re-attribution:

1. Uninstall the app from the device. If you just installed the app, wait for a few minutes.
2. Copy the attribution link you created previously, either the app-specific attribution link or custom long link from the OneLink template, send it to the test device, and then click the link.

    Note

   In iOS, use iMessage or email to send the link to the device. Don't paste the link in the iOS Notes app and click the link. This action may cause the link to break.

3. Do one of the following:
   • If the app is live, proceed to install it.
   • If the app is pending, install it as follows:
     • For Android: Install from Android Studio or an APK file.
     • For iOS: Install from TestFlight.
4. Open the app's dashboard, and in the View type box, select Retargeting.

5. In the Attribution type box, select Re-attributions.

   You should see the install attributed to the media source and campaign. Allow up to 30 minutes for the retargeted install to appear in the dashboard.

   

Before you begin:

• Follow the instructions for setting up retargeting tests. 
• For testing purposes, set the minimum time between conversions to None. This allows all of the re-engagement conversions to be recorded and attributed during testing.
• Make sure the app is installed on your test device and has been launched several times. If you just installed the app, wait for a few minutes.

To test re-engagement (direct deep linking):

Make sure that your app is configured for deep linking, and then follow this procedure for testing.

To test re-engagement (indirect deep linking):

1. Copy the attribution link you created previously, either the app-specific attribution link or custom long link from the OneLink template.
2. Send the link to your test device, and then click the link.

3. To open the app, do one of the following:

   • In the app store, click Open.
   • Launch the app from your device.

   In the dashboard, you should see a re-engagement attributed to the media source and campaign. Allow up to 30 minutes for the re-engagement to appear.

   

Tip! Consider downloading the conversions raw data report to verify that the re-engagement was attributed to the correct media source. This report takes several minutes to download.

To download the report:

1. In AppsFlyer, from the side menu,select Report > Raw Data Export.
2. In the Retargeting section, download the Conversions (re-engagements & re-attributions) report.