Overview

The Real-Time Uninstall Tracking feature allows businesses to monitor app uninstall events on Android devices by integrating Firebase Analytics and Netcore's API. This feature captures the app_remove event from Firebase processes it via cloud functions and pushes the data to Netcore for re-engagement or analysis.

Prerequisites

You can do the following to integrate Real-Time Uninstall Tracking for Android.

Ensure the android app is integrated with Firebase Analytics.
Ensure you have a Firebase Blaze Plan Account which is required to utilize Firebase Cloud Functions to call third-party HTTP endpoints.
Install the latest versions for setting up Firebase Cloud Functions.

Implementation Steps

Real-Time Uninstall Tracking consists of three key steps:

1. Set Up a Common Identifier

To ensure a common data structure between Firebase and Netcore, include the following code snippet in your Android app:

val partnerParams = Smartech.getInstance(WeakReference(application)).getPartnerParametersString()
val bundle = Bundle()
bundle.putString(SMTPartnerConstants.SMT_PARTNER_PARAMETER_KEY, partnerParams)

// Additional info from the customer
val appId = Smartech.getInstance(WeakReference(application)).getAppID()
val guid = Smartech.getInstance(WeakReference(application)).getDeviceUniqueId()
bundle.putString("ncAppId", appId)
bundle.putString("ncGuid", guid)
val ncExternalId = Smartech.getInstance(WeakReference(application)).getExternalIdentity()
bundle.putString(SMTPartnerConstants.SMT_PARTNER_EXTERNAL_IDENTITY, ncExternalId)

// Set the data to Firebase
mFirebaseAnalytics?.setDefaultEventParameters(bundle)

String partnerParams = Smartech.getInstance(new WeakReference<>(getApplicationContext())).getPartnerParametersString();
Bundle bundle = new Bundle();
bundle.putString(SMTPartnerConstants.SMT_PARTNER_PARAMETER_KEY, partnerParams);

// Additional info from the customer
String appId = Smartech.getInstance(new WeakReference<>(getApplicationContext())).getAppID();
String guid = Smartech.getInstance(new WeakReference<>(getApplicationContext())).getDeviceUniqueId();
bundle.putString("ncAppId", appId);
bundle.putString("ncGuid", guid);
String ncExternalId = Smartech.getInstance(new WeakReference<>(getApplicationContext())).getExternalIdentity();
bundle.putString(SMTPartnerConstants.SMT_PARTNER_EXTERNAL_IDENTITY, ncExternalId);

// Set the data to Firebase
FirebaseAnalytics.getInstance(this).setDefaultEventParameters(bundle);

2. Set the app_remove Event as a Conversion Event in Firebase

Firebase automatically collects the app_remove event when an app is uninstalled from an Android device. Follow these steps to enable it as a conversion event:

Log in to your Firebase dashboard and select the integrated project.
Navigate to Analytics > Events.
Locate the app_remove event in the list.
Toggle the Mark as conversion switch to enable it as a conversion event.

📘
Note
The app_remove event is only applicable to Android apps and is automatically tracked when an app package is removed or uninstalled.

3. Create and Deploy a Firebase Cloud Function

Create a Cloud Function

The Firebase Cloud Function sends app_remove data to Netcore using HTTP requests. Refer to here for Firebase documentation.

Perform the following steps:

Install Firebase CLI using the command:

npm install -g firebase-tools

Log in to Firebase CLI.
Initialize Firebase SDK for Cloud functions.
Select JavaScript as the language.
Open the index.js file in your project directory and add the following code:

const functions = require("firebase-functions/v1");
const admin = require("firebase-admin");
const request = require("request");
const logger = require("firebase-functions/logger");

admin.initializeApp();

function handleAppRemoveEvent(event, config) {
  logger.log("Sending event to Netcore");
  const ncPartnerParam = event.params.ncPartnerParameter;
  if (!ncPartnerParam) {
    logger.warn("ncPartnerParameter not found, skipping API call.");
    return Promise.resolve(0);
  }

  const postEventData = JSON.stringify({
    data: [{ eventName: "app_remove", ncPartnerParameter: ncPartnerParam }],
  });

  const requestOptions = {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
      "x-api-key": config.X_API_KEY,
    },
    body: postEventData,
    url: config.WEBHOOK_URL,
    maxAttempts: 5,
  };

  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
    request(requestOptions, (err, response, body) => {
      if (err) {
        logger.error("API request error:", err);
        reject(err);
      } else if (response && response.statusCode === 200) {
        logger.log("API response body:", body);
        resolve(0);
      } else {
        logger.error("Unexpected API response:", response && response.statusCode);
        reject(new Error("Unexpected response"));
      }
    });
  });
}

exports.sendAndroidUninstallToNetcore = functions.analytics
  .event("app_remove")
  .onLog((event) => {
    logger.log("Firebase app_remove event payload:", JSON.stringify(event));

    const NETCORE_CONFIG = {
      X_API_KEY: "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE",
      WEBHOOK_URL: "YOUR_NETCORE_WEBHOOK_URL_HERE",
    };

    return handleAppRemoveEvent(event, NETCORE_CONFIG);
  });

Replace placeholders (YOUR_API_KEY_HERE and YOUR_NETCORE_WEBHOOK_URL_HERE) with your actual Netcore API key and Webhook URL.

Deploy the Function

Fix any ESLint issues:

./node_modules/.bin/eslint index.js --fix

Deploy the function:
```
firebase deploy --only functions
```
For updates, redeploy with the function name:
```
firebase deploy --only "functions:sendAndroidUninstallToNetcore"
```

Once deployed successfully, uninstall events are sent to Netcore in real-time. These events can be utilized to:

`Re-engage users via personalized messages or campaigns.
Analyze uninstall trends to improve retention strategies.

Overview

Prerequisites

Implementation Steps

1. Set Up a Common Identifier

2. Set the app_remove Event as a Conversion Event in Firebase

📘Note

3. Create and Deploy a Firebase Cloud Function

Create a Cloud Function

Deploy the Function

📘
Note