[UA] Mobile App Behavior [Legacy]

Track the detailed ways users interact with your app.
You are viewing a legacy article about Universal Analytics. Learn more about Google Analytics 4 replacing Universal Analytics.
The reporting features described in this article are based on the Analytics SDKs. For the most up-to-date reporting, use the Firebase SDK instead. To learn more, read Get started with app analytics.

The Behavior reports help you discover how users interact your app. You can use this set of reports to track a wide range of information about your users, including:

  • the total number of screens seen per session
  • the order in which screens are viewed
  • the number of technical errors, including app crashes
  • how long individual app elements take to load
In this article:

Overview

Get a high-level summary of how users interact with app content. The Overview includes usage metrics like Screen Views, Crashes, and the Total number of Events that occur on a screen. Click view full report to jump to that specific report for a deeper analysis.

Screens

Evaluate the performance of each screen in your app. This report breaks out screen usage metrics, like the number of Screen Views, Unique Screen Views, and the % Exit from a Screen.

Behavior Flow

Visualize the path users traveled from one Screen or Event to the next. This report can help you discover what app content keeps users engaged with your app. See user movement between Screens, Events, or a blended view of both Screens and Events. You must set up Events in your app tracking code before they appear in the Behavior Flow. See Events, below.

This Behavior Flow Report is a part of the family of Flow Visualization Reports. Read About Flow reports and Using Flow reports.

Crashes and Exceptions

This report shows the name and a brief description of the top Exceptions, or technical errors, that happen in your app. Crashes are automatically parsed out from other exceptions. You can define additional exception types in your app tracking code for more detail on other exceptions. Network failures and empty search results are two examples of common exceptions you might want to define.

Defining exceptions in the app tracking code requires some technical knowledge of your app and should be completed by the developer. Refer to Crashes & Exceptions - Android SDK or Crashes & Exceptions - iOS SDK.

App Speed

Use App Speed reports to see how long different requests take to load in your app. You might, for example, want to track how quickly a game level loads or a search returns results.

The App Speed reports require additional setup in your app tracking code that should be completed by the developer. Refer to User Timings - Android SDK or User Timings - iOS SDK. No data appears in these reports until you define in your app tracking code which specific actions and load times to track.

After you complete the additional setup, toggle between these three tabs to view the data:

Explorer: Timing Category displays the name you’ve associated with a specific load time you’re tracking. The Average User Timing metric shows you the average length of time it takes to load that action.

Distribution: User Timing Bucket displays the sum total the length of time (in seconds) all tracked actions take to load. Also provides a percentage sum total of sessions the sample size represents.

Map Overlay: The global distribution of Average User Timing. Darker shades indicate a longer load time.

All of these reports use the User Timing Sample to display the number of users that are used to calculate the average length of time for a specific action. By default, the App Speed sets this sample rate to 1% of total users.

Events

Events are unique content actions in your app that don’t require a new screen to load, like like a download, social recommendation, or an ad click. The Events reports are highly customizable and cannot provide any data until you complete additional setup.

Setting up Event Tracking requires technical knowledge and access to your app, and should be completed by the developer. Refer to Event Tracking - Android SDK or Event Tracking - iOS SDK.

When you set up Events, you choose define and track up to five components, or categories, for each Event. The values you assign to these categories is the data that appears in the Events reports. The more organized you are about setting up Event Tracking, the easier it will be to read and interpret your reports. For more information and examples of these categories, read About Events.

After you set up Event Tracking, use the Events Overview report to see the summary of how well all events perform. Top Events displays data on the highest performing Events. Use the Screens report to see which screens host the most popular events.

Was this helpful?

How can we improve it?
Search
Clear search
Close search
Google apps
Main menu