Guides and Surveys Flutter SDK

Amplitude's Guides and Surveys Flutter SDK lets you deploy Guides and Surveys in your Flutter mobile applications (iOS and Android).

Requirements

The Guides and Surveys Flutter SDK requires:

• Dart 3.3+
• Flutter 3.7+
• Flutter mobile app (iOS or Android)
• Amplitude Analytics Flutter SDK 4.4.0+

Installation

Install the SDK

Add the Guides and Surveys package and the Amplitude Analytics SDK to your pubspec.yaml:

dependencies:
  amplitude_flutter: ^4.4.0
  amplitude_engagement_flutter: ^0.0.5

Run flutter pub get to install the dependencies.

Run pod install in the ios directory.

cd ios
pod install

Initialize the SDK

import 'package:app_links/app_links.dart';
import 'package:amplitude_flutter/amplitude.dart';
import 'package:amplitude_flutter/configuration.dart';
import 'package:amplitude_engagement_flutter/amplitude_engagement.dart' as engagement;

// Initialize Analytics
final amplitude = Amplitude(Configuration(apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY'));

// Connect the engagement SDK to the analytics instance
await engagement.installAmplitudeEngagementPlugin(amplitude);

// Handle deep links for preview mode
final appLinks = AppLinks();

appLinks.getInitialLink().then((uri) async {
  if (uri != null) {
    final didHandleURL = await engagement.handleURL(uri.toString());
    if (didHandleURL) { return; }

    // Handle a non-Amplitude SDK URL
  }
});

appLinks.uriLinkStream.listen((uri) async {
  final didHandleURL = await engagement.handleURL(uri.toString());
  if (didHandleURL) { return; }

  // Handle a non-Amplitude SDK URL
});

installAmplitudeEngagementPlugin initializes the engagement SDK using the same API key and passes the native analytics instance to the engagement layer on iOS and Android.

Configuration options

Pass an AmplitudeInitOptions object to installAmplitudeEngagementPlugin to configure the SDK:

await engagement.installAmplitudeEngagementPlugin(amplitude, options: AmplitudeInitOptions(
  serverZone: AmplitudeServerZone.eu,
  logLevel: AmplitudeLogLevel.debug,
));

Boot the SDK

Boot the SDK with a user ID to enable Guides and Surveys:

import 'package:amplitude_flutter/amplitude.dart';
import 'package:amplitude_flutter/events/identify.dart';
import 'package:amplitude_engagement_flutter/amplitude_engagement.dart' as engagement;

// Setting the User ID in Amplitude Analytics
// --and-- passing it to boot() is necessary
amplitude.setUserId('test-user-1');

// boot(userId, deviceId, userProperties)
await engagement.boot(
  userId: 'test-user-1',
  deviceId: 'test-device-1', // optional if userId is set
  userProperties: {'plan': 'premium'}, // optional
);

Add your application to project settings

After installing the SDK, add your Flutter application to your Amplitude project settings so it appears as a platform option when you create guides and surveys.

To add your application:

1. Navigate to Settings > Projects in Amplitude.
2. Select your project.
3. Navigate to the Guides and Surveys tab.
4. In the App Management section, expand and click + Add App.
5. Select Flutter from the dropdown.

After you add your application, it appears as a platform option when you create or edit guides and surveys. This enables you to deliver guides and surveys to your Flutter app users.

Set a minimum SDK version (when needed)

Minimum SDK version is available for mobile SDK versions 3.0.0 and later. Use this setting as a safety control when you identify a critical issue in an older SDK release.

To configure a minimum SDK version:

1. Navigate to Settings > Projects in Amplitude.
2. Select your project.
3. Navigate to the Guides and Surveys tab.
4. In the App Management section, expand and click + Add App.
5. Select Flutter from the dropdown.
6. Enter a value in Minimum SDK version.

When you set this value, Guides and Surveys compares the configured minimum with the SDK version in each app build:

• If an app build uses an older SDK version, the SDK doesn't initialize in that build.
• If an app build uses the same or newer SDK version, the SDK initializes as expected.

This setting lets you stop guides and surveys on known problematic SDK versions without rolling back your application release.

Screen tracking

Call screen to enable screen-based targeting and the Time on Screen trigger. Guides and Surveys compares the screen string (for example, "HomeScreen") with the string you set in the guide or survey page targeting section.

engagement.screen('HomeScreen');

Element targeting

Pin and tooltip guides require the SDK to target specific widgets on screen. The SDK automatically enables element targeting on initialization.

Tag targetable widgets with AmplitudeEngagementView as a SemanticsTag to give them a stable identifier. In the example below, use "welcome-banner" as the element targeting string in the Guides and Surveys dashboard.

import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:amplitude_engagement_flutter/amplitude_engagement.dart' as engagement;

Semantics(
  tagForChildren: const engagement.AmplitudeEngagementView('welcome-banner'),
  child: Banner(
    child: Text('Welcome to the app'),
  ),
)

Simulate Guides and Surveys for preview

Previewing guides and surveys directly in your application lets you experience what your users see. Previewing makes it easier to iterate on copy, targeting rules, and trigger logic.

Set up preview in Xcode (iOS)

Locate the mobile URL scheme

To locate the URL scheme:

1. Navigate to Settings > Projects in Amplitude.
2. Select your project.
3. Navigate to the General tab.
4. Find the URL scheme (mobile) field.
5. Copy its value, for example, amp-abcdefgh12345678.

Add the URL scheme in Xcode

1. Open your iOS project in Xcode.
2. In the Project navigator, select your app's target.
3. On the Info tab, locate or add the URL Types section.
4. Add a new URL type with the following values:
   • URL identifier: Provide a descriptive name, like AmplitudeURLScheme for example.
   • URL Schemes: Paste the value you copied from Amplitude, for example amp-abc123.

Set up preview in Android Studio (Android)

Locate the mobile URL scheme

To locate the URL scheme:

1. Navigate to Settings > Projects in Amplitude.
2. Select your project.
3. Navigate to the General tab.
4. Find the URL scheme (mobile) field.
5. Copy its value, for example, amp-abcdefgh12345678.

Add the URL scheme in Android Studio

Add the following intent filter to the main activity in your project's AndroidManifest.xml file:

<activity android:name=".MainActivity">
    <intent-filter>
    <action android:name="android.intent.action.VIEW" />
    <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
    <category android:name="android.intent.category.BROWSABLE" />
    <!-- Add your URL scheme from Amplitude Dashboard here -->
    <!-- ex: android:scheme="amp-12345" -->
    <data android:scheme="<your-unique-scheme-id>" />
    </intent-filter>
</activity>

URL handling for preview links

The initialization code snippet already takes care of URL handling for preview links. Specifically, this code:

final appLinks = AppLinks();

appLinks.getInitialLink().then((uri) async {
  if (uri != null) {
    final didHandleURL = await engagement.handleURL(uri.toString());
    if (didHandleURL) { return; }

    // Handle a non-Amplitude SDK URL
  }
});

appLinks.uriLinkStream.listen((uri) async {
  final didHandleURL = await engagement.handleURL(uri.toString());
  if (didHandleURL) { return; }

  // Handle a non-Amplitude SDK URL
});

Super Debugger

When you scan a preview QR code from the Amplitude dashboard, a small blue Amplitude logo appears at the bottom of your screen. Tap it to open the Super Debugger panel.

The Super Debugger has three tabs: Details, Logs, and Setup.

Details tab

The Details tab shows information about the guide or survey you're previewing and lets you inspect and control the preview session.

Guide / Survey: The name of the active guide or survey. Tap it to switch to a different guide or survey.

Details:

• Step: The current step number out of the total (for example, "1 of 3"). Tap the copy icon to copy the value.
• User: The user ID for the preview session. Tap the copy icon to copy it.
• Screen: The screen name the SDK currently reports. Tap the copy icon to copy it.

Debug: Shows whether the guide or survey passes each condition check. Each row expands to show details:

• Limits: Whether the guide or survey has reached its display limit. Expand to see the configured limit.
• Trigger: Whether the guide or survey meets the trigger condition. Expand to see the trigger type, screen conditions, and pin target element (if applicable).
• Throttle: Whether the guide or survey meets the throttle condition. Expand to see the throttle setting. Toggle Ignore limits to bypass throttle limits during your preview session.

Advanced:

• Pin Debugging: Expand to enable Reposition pins every 5 seconds. This periodically re-evaluates pin positions, which is useful for debugging pin placement on dynamic layouts.

At the bottom of the panel:

• Restart Preview: Resets the guide or survey to its first step and restarts the preview.
• Close Preview: Exits preview mode and dismisses the Super Debugger.

Logs tab

The Logs tab streams debugging output while preview mode is active. Expand or collapse each group with the chevron on the right.

• View Hierarchy Updates: Timestamped messages when the SDK refreshes its picture of the on-screen hierarchy (for example, modals, debug overlays, or host views the SDK tracks for layout and pins).
• Analytics SDK calls: The list shows analytics SDK activity during preview. If the list is empty, the panel notes that the SDK still records analytics events while you are in preview mode.
• General Logs: Other timestamped SDK messages, including internal diagnostics. Turn on Show errors only to hide routine messages and show only errors and warnings. Tap Show more on an entry to expand the full text.

Setup tab

The Setup tab shows SDK configuration and environment details for the current session.

SDK Versions: The version of the Engagement SDK installed in your app.

Installation:

• Type: The SDK installation method (for example, Plugin or standalone).
• Configuration: The number and type of custom configuration options applied.

User:

• User ID: The user ID passed to the SDK on boot.
• Properties: Any user properties set for the current session.

Event Flow: Confirms whether events are flowing correctly:

• Events flowing into Guides and Surveys SDK: Events from your analytics instance reach the Engagement SDK.
• Events flowing out of Guides and Surveys SDK: The Engagement SDK sends events to Amplitude.

Support

Tap the ? button to open the Support panel. From here you can:

• Open links to the SDK documentation and Guides and Surveys overview.
• File Bug Report: Submit a bug report directly from the debugger. Fill in steps to reproduce, expected results, and actual results, then tap Send.

Other SDK methods

Manage themes

engagement.setThemeMode(AmplitudeThemeMode.dark); // Options: auto, light, dark

Register a callback

engagement.addCallback('show-alert', () {
  // Custom logic when the guide or survey triggers this callback
});

Reset

engagement.reset('GUIDE_KEY', 0);

List

final guidesAndSurveys = await engagement.list();

Show

engagement.show('GUIDE_KEY');

Forward event

Use forwardEvent to enable the On event tracked trigger in Guides and Surveys. The SDK doesn't send forwarded events to Amplitude servers; it uses them only for local trigger evaluation.

engagement.forwardEvent({
  'event_type': 'Button Clicked',
  'event_properties': {'name': 'Submit'},
});

Close all

engagement.closeAll();

Localization

The SDK defaults to the device's system language when you don't set the locale option at initialization. The default is a language code only (for example, en), not a full locale identifier like en-US.

To set a specific language, pass the locale option when you initialize the SDK:

import 'package:amplitude_flutter/amplitude.dart';
import 'package:amplitude_engagement_flutter/amplitude_engagement.dart' as engagement;

final amplitude = Amplitude(Configuration(apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY'));

await engagement.installAmplitudeEngagementPlugin(amplitude, options: AmplitudeInitOptions(
  locale: 'es-ES',
));

Known limitations

Targeting animated elements and elements inside moving containers

Pins and tooltips can't target widgets that are:

• Animated or inside an animated container (they move on screen).
• Inside a container that moves based on user interaction.

Changelog

You can access the changelog here.