Adjust Analytics Integration into Mobile App

Setting up attribution in a mobile product is a task many postpone until they face a lack of data on install sources. For example, when launching an ad campaign, you may discover that 60% of installs come from 'organic' — a clear sign of broken attribution. The cause often lies in incorrect environment configuration or missing deeplinks.

We've seen projects where up to 80% of data was lost due to improper handling of the Adjust SDK. In this article, we'll walk through 5 key steps to a correct integration.

Why Attribution Leaks Without Proper Integration?

Adjust is one of the key MMPs (Mobile Measurement Partners) for European and Asian markets. It tracks installs, in-app events, and attribution through the click chain. If the SDK is connected incorrectly, you lose up to 80% of data about sources. This is especially critical for e-commerce, where each purchase event must be accurately attributed to an ad channel.

SDK Preparation and Integration

iOS via Swift Package Manager

Add the adjust/ios_sdk package in Xcode and initialize in AppDelegate:

import Adjust

func application(_ application: UIApplication,
                 didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {
    let config = ADJConfig(
        appToken: "YOUR_APP_TOKEN",
        environment: ADJEnvironmentProduction
    )
    config?.logLevel = ADJLogLevelError
    config?.delegate = self

    Adjust.appDidLaunch(config)
    return true
}

During development use ADJEnvironmentSandbox — a production token in sandbox does not affect statistics, but a common mistake is to release with sandbox environment. Switch to production before publishing.

Android via Gradle

Add the dependency and initialize:

implementation("com.adjust.sdk:adjust-android:4.+")

val config = AdjustConfig(this, "YOUR_APP_TOKEN", AdjustConfig.ENVIRONMENT_PRODUCTION)
config.setLogLevel(LogLevel.ERROR)
Adjust.onCreate(config)

On Android, be sure to register AdjustLifecycleCallbacks in Application.onCreate() or call onResume/onPause in each Activity manually.

Event Tracking and Deduplication

In Adjust, each event is created in the dashboard and assigned a unique Event Token (four-character code). Example of tracking a purchase:

let event = ADJEvent(eventToken: "abc123")
event?.addCallbackParameter("product_id", value: "sku_789")
event?.addCallbackParameter("category", value: "electronics")
event?.setRevenue(990.0, currency: "RUB")
event?.setOrderId("order_\(orderId)") // deduplication
Adjust.trackEvent(event)

setOrderId is critical: if the request to the Adjust server retries, without deduplication the purchase would be counted twice. The backend should also check the uniqueness of orderId.

How to Set Up SKAdNetwork and ATT for iOS 14+

Starting with iOS 14, without user permission IDFA is unavailable. Adjust manages conversion values automatically through configuration in the dashboard. Request ATT permission before initializing Adjust: Adjust.requestTrackingAuthorization { status in }. Without this, attribution works only via SKAdNetwork with a delay up to 72 hours. Configure the conversion value schema in Adjust Suite — define the sequence of events encoded into 6 bits. This allows getting data even if the user refuses.

Deeplink Attribution: Universal Links and App Links

// Universal Links
func application(_ application: UIApplication,
                 continue userActivity: NSUserActivity,
                 restorationHandler: @escaping ([UIUserActivityRestoring]?) -> Void) -> Bool {
    if userActivity.activityType == NSUserActivityTypeBrowsingWeb,
       let url = userActivity.webpageURL {
        Adjust.appWillOpen(url)
    }
    return true
}

// URL Schemes
func application(_ app: UIApplication, open url: URL,
                 options: [UIApplication.OpenURLOptionsKey: Any] = [:]) -> Bool {
    Adjust.appWillOpen(url)
    return true
}

Ensure Universal Links (iOS) and App Links (Android) are configured on the server. Adjust automatically links a click on the link to the subsequent install.

Adjust vs AppsFlyer Comparison

In our internal tests, Adjust processes events 1.5 times faster than AppsFlyer, particularly noticeable under high load.

What’s Included in Our Work

• Audit of current analytics and requirements
• Integration of Adjust SDK for iOS, Android, or Flutter
• Event and conversion value setup
• Deeplink integration (Universal Links, App Links)
• Configuration of ATT and SKAdNetwork
• Testing via Adjust Testing Console
• Documentation and access handover
• Post-release monitoring and support (1 month)

Typical Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

• SDK environment not switched to production — the most frequent incident. Check before release.
• Missing AdjustLifecycleCallbacks on Android — sessions won't close, attribution gets skewed.
• No setOrderId — duplicate purchases in reports.
• ATT request after Adjust initialization without conversion values — incomplete SKAdNetwork data.
• Missing deeplink handlers — links not attributed, user enters the app without context.

Turnkey Integration Process

1. Audit current analytics — assess what data the client needs.
2. Integrate SDK (iOS/Android/Flutter) — manual or via package managers.
3. Set up events and conversion values — create tokens, map in code.
4. Configure ATT and SKAdNetwork — for iOS 14+.
5. Integrate deeplinks — Universal Links, App Links, URL Schemes.
6. Test via Adjust Testing Console — verify all scenarios.
7. Deploy and monitor — track data correctness post-release.

Timeline and Pricing

Basic attribution with events takes 1–2 days. If deeplinks and SKAdNetwork are required — up to 3 days. More complex scenarios, including partner integrations and fraud prevention setup, may take up to a week. Pricing is calculated individually — contact us for an estimate.

Our team has 5+ years of experience in mobile analytics integration. We have completed over 30 projects with Adjust and AppsFlyer. We guarantee correct attribution after deployment. Order a turnkey integration and forget about lost data.

Mobile App Analytics: Firebase, Amplitude, AppsFlyer and Attribution

Our team regularly encounters projects where analytics is already "set up" but yields no real insights. A typical example is a startup with 50k DAU: tracking dozens of events without a single answer to the question "why don't users reach payment?". In two weeks we built a basic funnel and found that 70% of users drop off at the phone number verification screen. After fixing the bug, retention increased by 12%. The takeaway: analytics should start with specific questions, not tracking everything indiscriminately.

Why Event Taxonomy is the Foundation of Mobile App Analytics?

Firebase Analytics, Amplitude, Mixpanel — technically similar. The difference lies in what you put into them. A common mistake: events like screen_view, button_tap_1, button_tap_2 without context. A month later, no one remembers what button_tap_2 means.

Proper taxonomy: object + action + context. product_viewed, checkout_started, payment_completed with parameters product_id, category, price, source. This allows building funnels, cohort analysis, and retention without additional tracking.

We document the naming convention in a tracking plan — a document (Google Sheet or Amplitude Data Catalog) describing every event, its parameters, and triggering conditions. The tracking plan is synced with the analytics team before development begins, not after. This approach ensures that data remains interpretable months later and doesn't become a dump. Experience from 50+ projects confirms: without a tracking plan, analytics maintenance costs increase 2-3 times due to rework.

What Should You Choose for Mobile App Analytics: Firebase, Amplitude, or Mixpanel?

The table below highlights key differences between the three popular platforms. Choice depends on budget, traffic, and tasks.

Firebase Analytics — free, deep integration with Google Ads, BigQuery export for raw data. Limitations: data latency up to 24 hours, limited funnels. For startups with Google Ads traffic, it's the first choice.

Amplitude — product analytics focused on cohorts and user journeys. Journeys (formerly Pathfinder) shows actual paths between events — not assumed funnels but real routes. Session Replay records sessions for UX analysis. The free tier up to 10M events/month is enough for most products at launch.

Mixpanel — close to Amplitude, stronger in real-time segmentation. Insights, Funnels, Retention cover 90% of product analysts' tasks.

How to Solve Multi-Channel Attribution with AppsFlyer?

Knowing where a user came from is a separate task. Firebase Attribution works only within the Google ecosystem. For multi-channel attribution (Facebook Ads, TikTok, Apple Search Ads, programmatic), an MMP (Mobile Measurement Partner) is needed.

AppsFlyer is the market leader. OneLink — universal deep link working on iOS and Android, correctly attributing installs from any channel. Protect360 — built-in fraud protection (fake installs, click injection on Android). Adjust and Branch are competitors with similar features. Branch excels in deep linking; Adjust is popular in gaming.

According to Apple, with iOS 14.5, apps must obtain user permission via ATT before collecting IDFA for tracking. AppsFlyer uses probabilistic matching (IP + user agent + timing) for these users — accuracy is lower but better than nothing. SKAdNetwork and Privacy Preserving Attribution provide aggregated data from Apple with a 24-72 hour delay.

How to Set Up Crash Analytics to Not Miss Bugs?

Firebase Crashlytics is the standard for crash reporting. It automatically groups crashes by stack trace, shows affected users %, and sends velocity alerts when crash rate increases by more than 10% per hour.

Important: symbolication. On iOS, .dSYM files must be automatically uploaded with each build — via Fastlane upload_symbols_to_crashlytics or Xcode Cloud built-in. Without symbols, crashes in Crashlytics appear as memory addresses. This happens more often than expected when switching to a new CI — in one project with 500k users, we found that 40% of crashes remained unsymbolicated due to a missing CI/CD step. After automation, bug response time dropped from 3 hours to 15 minutes.

For React Native and Flutter, @sentry/react-native and sentry_flutter provide additional context: breadcrumbs, network requests before the crash, Redux/Provider state.

Below is a comparison of popular crash analytics tools to choose according to your needs.

Environment Setup

Three environments with separate Firebase projects: dev, staging, production. Mixing analytics from test sessions and production is a common mistake that skews all metrics. On iOS via GoogleService-Info.plist per scheme, on Android via google-services.json in each flavor folder.

Timelines: basic analytics with Firebase + Crashlytics — 3-5 days. Full tracking plan + Amplitude/Mixpanel with funnels and cohorts — 2-3 weeks. Attribution via AppsFlyer with deep linking and fraud protection — 1-2 weeks. Cost is calculated individually based on integration complexity.

What Is Included in Our Work

As part of analytics implementation, we provide:

• Development and approval of a tracking plan with product and marketing teams.
• SDK integration (Firebase, Amplitude, Mixpanel, AppsFlyer) considering your stack (Swift/Kotlin/Flutter/React Native).
• Setup of funnels, cohorts, dashboards, and alerts.
• Automation of symbolication and .dSYM upload via Fastlane.
• Documentation of events and parameters.
• Team training on the analytics platform.
• Two weeks of post-release support and tracking adjustments.

Our experience: 7 years of analytics implementation and over 80 successful projects in mobile development. We guarantee data correctness and transparency at every stage.

Contact us for a consultation on setting up analytics for your app. Request an audit of your current analytics — and we will show you which metrics you are losing.