Configuring Google Analytics with Multiple Build Variants and Product Flavors in Android

Introduction

When developing an Android application, it’s common to have multiple build variants or product flavors. Each variant might need specific configurations for services like Google Analytics. This tutorial will guide you through setting up Google Analytics across different build types and product flavors effectively.

Understanding Build Variants

Build variants in Android are combinations of product flavors (like free, paid) and build types (like debug, release). These allow developers to maintain multiple versions of an app within a single project.

Key Concepts:

• Product Flavors: Different versions of your application.
• Build Types: Variations like debug, release which can be customized with different settings.

Setting Up Google Analytics

Google Analytics requires the correct applicationId to function. Each build variant might have a unique applicationId, especially when custom suffixes are used (e.g., .debug for debug builds).

Steps to Configure:

1. Ensure Consistent Package Names:

   • The package name in your google-services.json must match the applicationId of each build variant.
   • Verify this by checking the android_client_info section in google-services.json.

2. Using Multiple JSON Files:

   • Place a specific google-services.json file for each variant in its respective source directory, e.g., app/src/variantName/google-services.json.
   • As of version 2.0.0-alpha3 of the Google Services Plugin, this structure is supported.

3. Handling Multiple Product Flavors:

   • You can configure multiple JSON files within your project to handle different flavors.
   • Alternatively, download a single google-services.json that includes configurations for all flavors from Firebase and place it in the root directory.

4. Automating Configuration with Gradle:

   • Use Gradle tasks to copy the appropriate google-services.json file based on the build configuration.
   • This can be automated by scripting within your build.gradle file.

5. Firebase Project Setup:

   • Create separate Firebase projects for each variant if needed, or use a single project with configurations for all variants.
   • Ensure that the downloaded JSON files are correctly placed in their respective directories.

Best Practices

• Consistency: Always ensure that your applicationId and package names match across all configuration files.
• Automation: Use Gradle tasks to automate the copying of JSON files, reducing manual errors.
• Documentation: Keep detailed documentation of your build configurations and Firebase setup for future reference.

Example Configuration

Here’s a sample directory structure:

app/
    src/
        main/
            google-services.json
        debug/
            google-services.json
        release/
            google-services.json
        flavor1/
            google-services.json
        flavor2/
            google-services.json

In your build.gradle file, you might have:

android {
    productFlavors {
        free {
            applicationId "com.example.app.free"
        }
        paid {
            applicationId "com.example.app.paid"
        }
    }

    buildTypes {
        debug {
            applicationIdSuffix ".debug"
        }
        release {}
    }
}

Conclusion

Setting up Google Analytics with multiple build variants and product flavors requires careful configuration of applicationId and JSON files. By following the steps outlined in this tutorial, you can ensure that your analytics are correctly set up across all versions of your app.