As an Alpha release, this SDK may contain bugs and cause crashes. Before you enable in production, thoroughly test your app in a controlled environment. For more information about best practices for developer preview SDKs, see SDK Maintenance and Support.
This article covers the installation of Session Replay using the Android SDK middleware. If your app is already instrumented with (maintenance) Amplitude SDK, use this option.
If your app is already instrumented with (latest) Amplitude Android SDK, use the Session Replay Android SDK Plugin.
If you use a provider other than Amplitude for in-product analytics, choose the standalone implementation.
Amplitude built Session Replay to minimize impact on the performance of the Android apps in which it's installed by:
Use the latest version of the Session Replay Middleware above version . For a list of available versions, see all release versions on Maven Central.
The Session Replay Middleware requires that:
2.40.1
or higher of the (maintenance) Amplitude Android SDK.Session replay supports down to Android 5.0 with a minimum SDK of 21 minSdk = 21
. This should support over 99.6% of global Android devices according to Google's distribution data in Android Studio.
Add the latest version of the session replay middleware to your project dependencies
1// Install latest version from Maven Central2implementation("com.amplitude:middleware-session-replay-android:@{$ android.session_replay.version $}")3// You will also need the (maintenance) Amplitude Analytics SDK if it's not already installed4implementation("com.amplitude:android-sdk:[2.40.1,3.0.0]")
Configure your application code.
1import com.amplitude.api.Amplitude 2import com.amplitude.api.SessionReplayMiddleware 3 4// Initialize (maintenance) Amplitude Analytics SDK instance 5val amplitude = Amplitude.getInstance() 6 .initialize(this, AMPLITUDE_API_KEY) 7 // Replay events will be flushed on close as well 8 // If setFlushEventsOnClose(false) you must call flush() manually 9 .setFlushEventsOnClose(true)10 11// Create Session Replay Middleware12val sessionReplayMiddleware = SessionReplayMiddleware(amplitude, sampleRate = 1.0)13 14// Add session replay middleware15// Recording will be handled automatically16amplitude.addEventMiddleware(sessionReplayMiddleware)17 18// Track events19amplitude.logEvent("Setup (maintenance) Amplitude Android SDK with session replay!")20 21// Send replay events to the server22amplitude.uploadEvents()23 24// You can also call flush() on the middleware directly to only send replay events25// sessionReplayMiddleware.flush()26 27// Always flush before app exit (onPause)28// override fun Activity.onPause() { sessionReplayMiddleware.flush() }
Pass the following option when you initialize the Session Replay middleware:
Name | Type | Required | Default | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
sampleRate |
number |
No | 0 |
Use this option to control how many sessions to select for replay collection. The number should be a decimal between 0 and 1, for example 0.4 , representing the fraction of sessions to have randomly selected for replay collection. Over a large number of sessions, 0.4 would select 40% of those sessions. |
By default session replay hides all user input (EditText, inputType="password")
The Session Replay SDK offers three ways to mask user input, text, and other View components. This can be enabled in both the layout XML and Kotlin/Java code.
Privacy control
View | Description |
---|---|
<EditText> |
Session Replay masks all text input fields by default. When a users enters text into an input field, Session Replay captures asterisks in place of text. To unmask a text input, add the tag amp-unmask . For example: <EditText android:tag="amp-unmask" android:text="Unmask this"> . |
<TextView> |
To mask text within non-input elements, add the tag amp-mask . For example, <TextView android:tag="amp-mask" android:text="Mask this"/> . When masked, Session Replay captures masked text as a series of asterisks. |
non-text elements | To block a non-text element, add the tag amp-block . For example, <ImageView android:tag="amp-block"/> . Session Replay replaces blocked elements with a placeholder of the same dimensions. |
To use privacy methods first import the SessionReplay class. Then call one of the methods below.
1import com.amplitude.android.SessionReplay
Method | Description |
---|---|
unmask(view: View) |
Session Replay masks all text input views by default. When a user enters text into an input view, Session Replay captures asterisks in place of text. To unmask a text input, call SessionReplay.unmask(view) where view is a reference to the text input you want to unmask. |
mask(view: View) |
To mask text within non-input views, call SessionReplay.mask(view) where view is a reference to the text input you want to mask. When masked, Session Replay captures masked text as a series of asterisks. |
block(view: View) |
To block a non-text view, call SessionReplay.unmask(view) where view is a reference to the View you want to block. Session Replay replaces blocked views with a placeholder of the same dimensions. |
Three privacy Modifiers are included. Modifier.ampUnmask().ampMask().ampBlock()
. When combined the most private modifier wins.
Method | Description |
---|---|
ampUnmask() |
Session Replay masks all text input views by default. When a user enters text into an input view, Session Replay captures asterisks in place of text. To unmask a text input, add Modifier.ampUnmask() to the Composable you want to unmask. |
ampMask() |
To mask text within non-input views, call Modifier.ampMask() to the Composable you want to mask. When masked, Session Replay captures masked text as a series of asterisks. |
ampBlock() |
To block a non-text view, call Modifier.ampBlock() to the Composable you want to block. Session Replay replaces blocked views with a placeholder of the same dimensions. |
The Session Replay middleware follows the Android SDK's optOut
setting, and doesn't support user opt-outs on its own.
1import com.amplitude.api.Amplitude2import com.amplitude.api.SessionReplayMiddleware3 4// Set optOut on the Amplitude SDK5val amplitude = Amplitude.getInstance()6 .initialize(this, AMPLITUDE_API_KEY)7 .setOptOut(true)8 9amplitude.addEventMiddleware(SessionReplayMiddleware(amplitude, /* session replay options */))
Session Replay is available to Amplitude Customers who use the EU data center. Set the serverZone
configuration option to EU
during initialization. For example:
1import com.amplitude.api.Amplitude2import com.amplitude.api.SessionReplayMiddleware3 4// Set serverZone on the Amplitude SDK5val amplitude = Amplitude.getInstance()6 .initialize(this, AMPLITUDE_API_KEY)7 .setServerZone(AmplitudeServerZone.EU)8 9amplitude.add(SessionReplayMiddleware(amplitude, /* session replay options */))
By default, Session Replay captures 0% of sessions for replay. Use the sampleRate
configuration option to set the percentage of total sessions that Session Replay captures. For example:
To set the sampleRate
consider the monthly quota on your Session Replay plan. For example, if your monthly quota is 2,500,000 sessions, and you average 3,000,000 monthly sessions, your quota is 83% of your average sessions. In this case, to ensure sampling lasts through the month, set sampleRate
to .83
or lower.
Keep the following in mind as you consider your sample rate:
.01
. If this value doesn't capture enough replays, raise the rate over the course of a few days. For ways to monitor the number of session replays captured, see View the number of captured sessions.1// This configuration samples 1% of all sessions2amplitude.addEventMiddleware(SessionReplayMiddleware(amplitude, sampleRate = 0.01))
Once enabled, Session Replay runs on your app until either:
sessionReplayMiddleware.stopRecording()
Call sessionReplayMiddleware.stopRecording()
before a user navigates to a restricted area of your app to disable replay collection while the user is in that area.
This requires keeping a reference to the SessionReplayMiddleware instance val sessionReplayMiddleware = SessionReplayMiddleware(/* session replay options */)
.
Call sessionReplayMiddleware.startRecording()
to re-enable replay collection when the return to an unrestricted area of your app.
You can also use a feature flag product like Amplitude Experiment to create logic that enables or disables replay collection based on criteria like location. For example, you can create a feature flag that targets a specific user group, and add that to your initialization logic:
1import com.amplitude.api.Amplitude 2import com.amplitude.api.SessionReplayMiddleware 3 4// Your existing initialization logic with Android SDK 5val amplitude = Amplitude.getInstance().initialize(this, AMPLITUDE_API_KEY) 6 7if (nonEUCountryFlagEnabled) { 8 // Create and Install Session Replay Middleware 9 val sessionReplayMiddleware = SessionReplayMiddleware(amplitude, sampleRate = 0.5)10 amplitude.addEventMiddleware(sessionReplayMiddleware)11}
Session replay uses existing Amplitude tools and APIs to handle privacy and deletion requests.
While privacy laws and regulations vary across states and countries, certain constants exist, including the requirements to disclose in a privacy notice the categories of personal information you are collecting, the purposes for its use, and the categories of third parties with which personal information is shared. When implementing a session replay tool, you should review your privacy notice to make sure your disclosures remain accurate and complete. And as a best practice, review your notice with legal counsel to make sure it complies with the constantly evolving privacy laws and requirements applicable to your business and personal information data practices.
If your Amplitude plan includes Session Replay, Amplitude retains raw replay data for 30 days from the date of ingestion.
If you purchase extra session volume, Amplitude retains raw replay data for 90 days from the date of ingestion. If you need a more strict policy, contact Amplitude support to set the value to 30 days.
Changes to the retention period impact replays ingested after the change. Sessions captured and ingested before a retention period change retain the previous retention period.
Replays that are outside of the retention period aren't viewable in Amplitude.
The Amplitude DSAR API returns metadata about session replays, but not the raw replay data. All events that are part of a session replay include a [Amplitude] Session Replay ID
event property. This event provides information about the sessions collected for replay for the user, and includes all metadata collected with each event.
1{ 2 "amplitude_id": 123456789, 3 "app": 12345, 4 "event_time": "2020-02-15 01:00:00.123456", 5 "event_type": "first_event", 6 "server_upload_time": "2020-02-18 01:00:00.234567", 7 "device_id": "your device id", 8 "user_properties": { ... } 9 "event_properties": {10 "[Amplitude] Session Replay ID": "cb6ade06-cbdf-4e0c-8156-32c2863379d6/1699922971244"11 }12 "session_id": 1699922971244,13}
Session Replay uses Amplitude's User Privacy API to handle deletion requests. Successful deletion requests remove all session replays for the specified user.
When you delete the Amplitude project on which you use Session Replay, Amplitude deletes that replay data.
Session Replay uses the same block filter available in the Amplitude app. Session Replay doesn't block traffic based on event or user properties.
If a user opts out tracking in your app, use the optOut
configuration option to disable replay collection for that user.
(alpha) Session Replay stores data in persistent storage, specifically the file system.
flush()
to transfer the session replay data to the server.Amplitude recommends setting amplitude.setFlushEventsOnClose(true)
in the Amplitude SDK Configuration (the default) to send session data to the server on each app exit.
Keep the following limitations in mind as you implement Session Replay:
(alpha) Session replay doesn't support all view components. Contact Amplitude (with a session replay link) for more information.
(alpha) Session replay doesn't support Jetpack Compose.
Session Replay doesn't stitch together replays from a single user across multiple projects. For example:
The User Sessions chart doesn't show session replays if your organization uses a custom session definition.
Session Replay can't capture the following Android views:
Session Replay supports attaching to a single instance of the Amplitude SDK. If you have more than one instance instrumented in your application, make sure to start Session Replay on the instance that most relates to your project.
For more information about individual statuses and errors, see the Session Replay Ingestion Monitor.
(alpha) Session replay is in alpha and doesn't support all Android View components.
View Feature | Support Level | Notes |
---|---|---|
Layout: position | Full | |
Layout: dimensions | Full | |
Layout: padding | Full | |
Layout: insets | Full | |
View: background color | Full | |
View: background drawable | Full | |
View: background radius | Full | |
View: scrolling | Partial | |
View: animations | Partial | Any animations adding/removing views are supported. |
Images: placeholders | Full | |
Images: bitmaps | Full | |
Text: alignment | Full | |
Text: size | Full | |
Text: color | Full | |
Text: font | Full | |
Text: fontFamily | Full | |
Text: all caps | Full | |
Text: compound drawables | Full | |
Touch: up | Full | |
Touch: down | Full | |
Touch: move | Partial |
Session Replay requires that the Android SDK sets sessionId
and deviceId
at a minimum. If you instrument events outside of the Android SDK, Amplitude doesn't tag those events as part of the session replay. This means you can't use tools like Funnel, Segmentation, or Journeys charts to find session replays. You can find session replays with the User Sessions chart or through User Lookup.
If you use a method other than the Android SDK to instrument your events, consider using the Session Replay Standalone SDK for Android.
In some scenarios, the length of a replay may exceed the time between the [Amplitude] Start Session
and [Amplitude] End Session
events. This happens when a user closes the [Amplitude] End Session
occurs, but before the Android SDK and Session Replay middleware can process it. When the user visits the app again, the SDK and middleware process the event and send it to Amplitude, along with the replay. You can verify this scenario occurs if you see a discrepancy between the End Session Client Event Time
and the Client Upload Time
.
Session replays may not appear in Amplitude due to:
Ensure your app has access to the internet then try again.
Session Replay requires that at least one event in the user's session has the [Amplitude] Session Replay ID
property. If you instrument your events with a method other than the Android SDK, the Android SDK may send only the default Session Start and Session End events, which don't include this property.
For local testing, you can force a Session Start event to ensure that Session Replay functions.
[Amplitude] Session Replay ID
property. After processing, the Play Session button should appear for that session.As mentioned above, the default sampleRate
for Session Replay is 0
. Update the rate to a higher number. For more information see, Sampling rate.
Session replay doesn't require that all events in a session have the [Amplitude] Session Replay ID
property, only that one event in the session has it. Reasons why [Amplitude] Session Replay ID
may not be present in an event include:
sampleRate
. Increasing the sampleRate
captures more sessions.getSessionReplayProperties()
doesn't return the [Amplitude] Session Replay ID
property. This can result from optOut
and sampleRate
configuration settings. Check that optOut
and sampleRate
are set to include the session.In general, replays should be available within minutes of ingestion. Delays or errors may be the result of one or more of the following:
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September 19th, 2024
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