Skip to main content
Version: 1.0.0

Appxiom Activity Markers & Lifecycle Tracking

Add custom activity markers and automatically capture lifecycle events in your Android applications. The Appxiom SDK provides comprehensive activity tracking to help debug issues and understand user behavior patterns.

Overview​

Activity markers are custom events that you can set throughout your Android application to track user interactions, business logic flow, and important application states. Combined with automatic lifecycle tracking, they provide a complete picture of your app's behavior when issues occur.

Key Capabilities​

  • Custom Event Tracking: Add custom markers anywhere in your application
  • Automatic Lifecycle Capture: Built-in tracking of Activity and Fragment lifecycle events
  • Chronological Activity Trail: View events in the exact order they occurred
  • Memory Context: Each marker includes memory usage information
  • Debug-Only Markers: Special markers active only during debug environments
  • Obfuscation Support: Maintain readable class names in production builds

Automatic Lifecycle Tracking​

The Appxiom SDK automatically captures standard Android lifecycle events without any additional code:

  • Activity lifecycle methods (onCreate, onStart, onResume, onPause, onStop, onDestroy)
  • Fragment lifecycle events
  • Memory usage at each lifecycle transition

Extended Tracking Options​

For comprehensive tracking across different UI frameworks:

Setting Custom Activity Markers​

Activity Markers​

Add custom markers anywhere in your application using Ax.setActivityMarker(). These markers appear alongside lifecycle events when issues are reported.

// Track user interactions
Ax.setActivityMarker(PurchaseActivity.this, "clicked on payment_package_two");

// Track business logic events
Ax.setActivityMarker(this, "user_authentication_completed");

// Track navigation events
Ax.setActivityMarker(MainActivity.this, "navigated_to_settings");

Activity Marker Properties​

  • Unlimited Markers: No limit on the number of custom markers that can be set. Each issue report will include a maximum of 60 markers including auto captured lifecycle markers captured before an issue occurrence.
  • Efficient Storage: Markers are only sent to the server when an issue occurs
  • Chronological Order: All markers are displayed in the exact sequence they occurred
  • Memory Context: Each marker includes the device's free memory percentage at that moment

Activity Trail Visualization​

When an issue is reported, the activity trail shows a complete timeline of events leading up to the problem:

ActivityWelcome:onCreate                            11:19:24:469    45.79% FREE MEMORY 
MapActivity:onCreate                                11:19:24:708    44.39%
MapActivity:onStart                                 11:19:26:983    45.55%
MapActivity:onResume                                11:19:27:012    45.19%
ActivityWelcome:onDestroy                           11:19:28:515    44.53%
MapActivity:onPause                                 11:20:17:806    50.45%
PurchaseActivity:onCreate                           11:20:18:106    55.19%
PurchaseActivity:onStart                            11:20:18:404    55.43%
PurchaseActivity:onResume                           11:20:18:906    55.23%
PurchaseActivity:clicked on payment_package_two     11:20:24:235    55.20%

Understanding the Trail Format​

Each entry contains:

  • Class:Event: The activity/fragment class and the specific event
  • Timestamp: Precise time when the event occurred
  • Memory Usage: Percentage of free memory available at that moment

Debug-Only Activity Markers​

For development and testing purposes, you can set markers that are only active in debug builds using Ax.setActivityMarkerForDebug().

Debug Marker Benefits​

  • Development Insights: Track debugging-specific events without affecting production
  • Performance Testing: Monitor development-only code paths
  • Zero Production Impact: Automatically excluded from release builds
// Debug-only markers for development tracking
Ax.setActivityMarkerForDebug(this, "User opened invoice");
Ax.setActivityMarkerForDebug(this, "Debug: API response received");
Ax.setActivityMarkerForDebug(this, "Test: User interaction completed");

Handling Code Obfuscation​

When using ProGuard, R8, or other code obfuscation tools, class names in activity trails may become unreadable. The @AX annotation solves this by providing custom identifiers.

Using @AX Annotation​

Apply the @AX annotation to any class to provide a readable identifier in the activity trail:

@AX(id = "GalleryFragmentClass")
public class GalleryFragment extends Fragment {
    // Fragment implementation
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        // This will appear as "GalleryFragmentClass:onCreate" in the trail
    }
}

@AX(id = "UserProfileActivity")
public class ProfileActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
    // Activity implementation
}

Obfuscation Best Practices​

  • Use Descriptive IDs: Choose meaningful names that clearly identify the class purpose
  • Hardcoded Strings: Always use string literals (not variables) for the id parameter
  • Consistent Naming: Maintain a consistent naming convention across your app
  • Document Mappings: Keep internal documentation of your custom IDs for team reference, if required
  • ProGuard/R8 Rules: Ensure your ProGuard or R8 configuration preserves the @AX annotation

Integration with Other Features​

Activity markers work seamlessly with other Appxiom SDK features:

  • Memory Detection: Markers include memory context for performance analysis
  • Crash Reporting: Activity trails are included with crash reports
  • ANR Detection: Trails help identify what led to Application Not Responding issues
  • Custom Logging: Combine with log integration for detailed debugging