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On iOS, most deeplink/notification-SDK's provides delegate functions or callbacks that allow us to know if that framework was involved in opening/installing the app.

What if we want to track whether the app was opened (for example):

  • Organically
  • Through a Branch link
  • Through an Appsflyer link
  • Through our own push notification
  • Through push notification coming from AppBoy/Braze

The list of possible sources goes on and on. The problem is this: some SDK's give us the information through a delegate or callback, which means that we won't know when the potential callback will happen. So then how would one track an organic app launch?

Since we could assume that the app was opened organically if none of these callbacks/delegate functions are called, a brute force solution could be to start a timer and allow all of these callbacks a few seconds to be called before we assume that the open was organic.

Are there best practices for doing this?

Daniel Larsson
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  • `So then how would one track an organic app launch` - do you want to track non/organic launches to your server? – Maxim Shoustin May 02 '18 at 10:03
  • @MaximShoustin precisely. I want to track all of the above scenarios to our event tracker. – Daniel Larsson May 02 '18 at 15:42
  • Well, about AppsFlyer, you can configure post-backs so on every install (no matter organic/non) AppsFlyer servers will call API of your server with relevant data. Server-to-Server – Maxim Shoustin May 03 '18 at 04:54

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There is no one-size-fits-all for this as the list of possible sources goes on-and-on.

To do this well, aggregate campaign, engagement and session activity (e.g. launch options in iOS) into one place. The you can perform appropriate logic for your use case. For instance, Braze uses historic behavior to identify influenced opens in addition to direct opens.

"If a user who normally opens the app 30 times a day opens the app 6 hours after receiving the push, the push would get little to no credit for influencing the open. However, if a user who normally uses the app once a month opens the app 6 hours after receiving the push, the open would have a much better chance of being counted as an influenced open." -Braze Documentation

Hope this helps.

Douglas Putnam
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