Analytics for Kotlin (Android)

With Analytics Kotlin, you can send data using Kotlin and Java applications to any analytics or marketing tool without having to learn, test, or implement a new API every time. Analytics Kotlin enables you to process and track the history of a payload, while Segment controls the API and prevents unintended operations.

Benefits of Analytics Kotlin

Analytics Kotlin provides several key benefits including improvements in stability, performance, and developer experience when compared to Analytics Android (Classic).

Stability

Analytics Kotlin uses thread-safety strategies to isolate Plugins, Device-Mode Destinations, and custom Middleware from the host app. By isolating these features from the host app we can protect the host app from any potential problems including Exceptions that would otherwise terminate the host app.

Performance

Analytics Kotlin is a huge leap forward in terms of performance when compared to Analytics Android (Classic). For a more detailed overview, you can reference our blog post.

• Faster event processing and delivery
• Significantly lower CPU usage
• Small memory & disk usage footprint

Developer Experience

Analytics Kotlin adds several improvements to the overall experience of using the core SDK, as well as improvements to the overall Plugin Architecture:

• Ability to use Type Safe data structures rather than just dictionaries.
• Simpler syntax and more developer friendly overall.
• More customization options than ever before.

Device Mode Transformations & Filtering

For the first time ever, developers can filter and transform their users’ events even before the events leave the mobile device. What’s more, these Filters & transformations can be applied dynamically (either via the Segment Dashboard, or via Javascript uploaded to the workspace) and do not require any app updates!

Learn more about Destination Filters on Mobile, and Edge Functions on Mobile.

Getting started

To get started with the Analytics-Kotlin mobile library:

1. Create a Source in Segment.
   1. Go to Connections > Sources > Add Source.
   2. Search for Kotlin (Android) and click Add source.

2. Add the Analytics dependency to your build.gradle.

   Segment recommends you to install the library with a build system like Gradle, as it simplifies the process of upgrading versions and adding integrations. The library is distributed through Maven Central. Add the analytics module to your build.gradle as a dependency as shown in the code sample below, and replace <latest_version> with the latest version listed on Segment’s releases page.

   
   Kotlin

      repositories {
        mavenCentral()
      }
      dependencies {
        implementation 'com.segment.analytics.kotlin:android:<latest_version>'
      }
   

   
   Java

      repositories {
        mavenCentral()
      }
      dependencies {
        implementation 'com.segment.analytics.kotlin:android:<latest_version>'
      }
   

3. Initialize and configure the client. Segment recommends you to install the client in your application subclass.

   
   Kotlin

      // Add required imports
      import com.segment.analytics.kotlin.android.Analytics
      import com.segment.analytics.kotlin.core.*
   
      // Create an analytics client with the given application context and Segment write key.
      // NOTE: in android, application context is required to pass as the second parameter.
      Analytics("YOUR_WRITE_KEY", applicationContext) {
        // Automatically track Lifecycle events
        trackApplicationLifecycleEvents = true
        flushAt = 3
        flushInterval = 10
      }
   

   
   Java

        AndroidAnalyticsKt.Analytics(BuildConfig.SEGMENT_WRITE_KEY,  getApplicationContext(), configuration -> {
       
        configuration.setFlushAt(1);
        configuration.setCollectDeviceId(true);
        configuration.setTrackApplicationLifecycleEvents(true);
        configuration.setTrackDeepLinks(true);
        //...other config options
   
        return Unit.INSTANCE;
   
        JavaAnalytics analyticsCompat = new JavaAnalytics(analytics);​
        });
   

   Warning: If you’re on an Android platform, you must add the application context as the second parameter.

   
   Automatically tracking lifecycle events (Application Opened, Application Installed, Application Updated) is optional, but Segment highly recommends you to configure these options in order to track core events. Unlike the Analytics Android SDK, the Analytics Kotlin SDK doesn’t provide a singleton instance and relies on you to keep track of the instance.

   
   These are the options you can apply to configure the client:

   Option Name	Description
   writeKey required	This is your Segment write key.
   application	Default set to null. The application specific object (in the case of Android: ApplicationContext).
   apiHost	Default set to api.segment.io/v1. This sets a default API Host to which Segment sends events.
   cdnHost	Default set to cdn-settings.segment.com/v1. This sets a default CDN Host from which Segment retrieves settings.
   autoAddSegmentDestination	Default set to true. This automatically adds the Segment Destination plugin. You can set this to false if you want to manually add the Segment Destination plugin.
   collectDeviceId	Default set to false. Set to true to automatically collect the device Id. The DRM API generates the device ID. If the ID didn’t generate previously (for example, because the app was newly installed), an empty string shows before the ID generation completes. You can overwrite the device ID with a custom ID by writing your own plugin
   defaultSettings	Default set to {}. The settings object used as fallback in case of network failure.
   flushAt	Default set to 20. The count of events at which Segment flushes events.
   flushInterval	Default set to 30 (seconds). The interval in seconds at which Segment flushes events.
   flushPolicies	undefined Add more granular control for when to flush
   recordScreenViews	Default set to false. Set to true to automatically trigger screen events on Activity Start.
   storageProvider	Default set to ConcreteStorageProvider. In Android, this must be set to AndroidStorageProvider. The Analytics constructors configure this automatically.
   trackApplicationLifecycleEvents	Default set to false. Set to true to automatically track Lifecycle events.
   trackDeepLinks	Default set to false. Set to true to automatically track opened Deep Links based on intents.
   useLifecycleObserver	Default set to false. Set to true to use LifecycleObserver to track Application lifecycle events.

4. Add Permissions to AndroidManifest.xml.

   Add these permissions to your AndroidManifest.xml:

    <!-- Required for internet. -->
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE"/>
   

5. Enable Java 8+ API desugaring.

   If you’re on a version prior to 1.10.4, the SDK internally uses a number of Java 8 language APIs through desugaring, which requires you to either enable desugaring, have a minimum API level of 26, or upgrade to the latest version. If you’re on version 1.10.4 and above, you don’t need desugaring.

Tracking methods

Once you’ve installed the mobile or server Analytics Kotlin library, you can start collecting data through Segment’s tracking methods:

• Track
• Identify
• Screen
• Group
• Alias

Destinations

Destinations are the business tools or apps that Segment forwards your data to. Adding Destinations allow you to act on your data and learn more about your customers in real time.

Segment offers support for two different types of Destinations, learn more about the differences between the two here.

Tools and extensions

Analytics for Kotlin is built with extensibility in mind. Use the tools list below to improve data collection.

• Plugin architecture
• Typewriter
• Destination filters
• Code samples
• Frequently Asked Questions

Timestamps in Kotlin

Due to efficiency updates made to Segment’s Kotlin library, Segment now adds the sentAt timestamp to an event when the batch is complete and initially tried to the Segment API. This can impact the value of the timestamp field calculated by Segment if users are operating in an offline mode. More details on this change can be seen in Segment’s timestamp documentation.