Getting Specific iOS Device Names from Google Analytics for iOS v2

Question

I've integrated the Google Analytics for iOS library into my application, and in general it's working. I see results on the web dashboard, but ... every iPad is reported as "Apple iPad" and that's not specific enough for my needs.

I'd like to be able to override the ga:mobileDeviceModel or ga:mobileDeviceMarketingName with a more specific label like "iPad 3 Retina", "iPad Mini", etc.

My app easily determines which device it is running on, and composes a string like the ones above, but I can't get these to show up in the Google Analytics reporting.

Has anyone done this successfully?

While the linked question is relevant, I think this question is different as its about putting the above information into GA. — P.T., Jan 23 '13 at 17:57

score 11 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 30 '13 at 02:22

11

The solution, in my case, was to create a custom dimension on the Google Analytics web interface, which I called MobileDeviceNameSpecific, and then add code to the iOS app to set that custom dimension value in the -viewDidAppear: method of my view controllers, as described in the documentation on the Google Analytics developer site.

Now that I've done that, I can view the devices which have been used by selecting MobileDeviceNameSpecific as a secondary dimension in the Devices report on the Google Analytics web reporting dashboard, which shows the values sent from the iOS app, indicating the specific device in use (e.g. "iPad 3", "iPad Mini").

answered Jan 30 '13 at 02:22

Mike Hay

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What is the scope level do you use for that Custom dimension? – Agung Pratama Dec 10 '13 at 06:30
It was a long time ago, but according to my comment below :) I added it to the user scope. – Mike Hay Dec 16 '13 at 18:02
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Here's the guide for how to setup the Custom Dimension on the web interface. https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2709829?hl=en – brynbodayle Jan 03 '14 at 18:25

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 23 '13 at 18:02

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While not exactly what you are trying to do (I suspect its impossible to fiddle with the built-in features that google reports back to GA), you can use a "Custom Variable" (here's the js doc) to report this. Reporting of custom variables shows up in the same "Audience" section of the standard google reports, so its relatively easy to combine with other "audience" metrics.

answered Jan 23 '13 at 18:02

P.T.

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I suspect that you are right. I'm currently trying to add a custom dimension to the user scope. Will report back shortly. – Mike Hay Jan 23 '13 at 18:07

Getting Specific iOS Device Names from Google Analytics for iOS v2

2 Answers2