What is the RudderStack iOS SDK?

The RudderStack iOS SDK allows you to integrate RudderStack to your iOS application in order to track event data from your app. After integrating this SDK, you will also be able to send this data to your preferred analytics destination/s such as Google Analytics, Amplitude, and more.

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SDK Setup Requirements

To set up the RudderStack iOS SDK, there are a few prerequisites as mentioned below:

• You will need to set up a RudderStack Account.

• Once signed up, your iOS source writeKey will appear in the dashboard, as shown:

• You will also need your Data Plane URL. Simply put, the Data Plane URL is used to connect to the RudderStack backend for processing and routing your events.

• You will also need a Mac with the latest version of Xcode.

Installing the RudderStack iOS SDK

We distribute our iOS SDK through Cocoapods. The recommended and easiest way to add the SDK to your project is through Podfile. Follow these steps:

1. Add the RudderStack SDK to your Podfile

pod 'Rudder'

2. Then, run the following command:

pod install

#import <Rudder/Rudder.h>

import Rudder

Initializing the RudderStack Client

Put this code in your AppDelegate.m file under the method didFinishLaunchingWithOptions :

RSConfigBuilder *builder = [[RSConfigBuilder alloc] init];
[builder withDataPlaneUrl:DATA_PLANE_URL];
[RSClient getInstance:WRITE_KEY config:[builder build]];

let builder: RSConfigBuilder = RSConfigBuilder()
    .withDataPlaneUrl(DATA_PLANE_URL)
RSClient.getInstance(WRITE_KEY, config: builder.build())

RudderStack supports all the major API calls across all iOS devices via the SDK. These include the track, identify, and screen calls.

Track

You can record the users' activity through the track method. Every action performed by the user is called an event.

An example track event is as shown:

[[RSClient sharedInstance] track:@"simple_track_with_props" properties:@{
    @"key_1" : @"value_1",
    @"key_2" : @"value_2"
}];

RSClient.sharedInstance()?.track("test_user_id", properties: [
    "key_1": "value_1",
    "key_2": "value_2"
])

The track method accepts the following parameters:

Identify

We capture deviceId and use that as anonymousId for identifying the user. To attach more information to the user, you can use the identify method. Once you set the identify information to the user, those will be passed to the successive track or screen calls. To reset the user identification, you can use the reset method.

An example identify event is as shown:

[[RSClient sharedInstance] identify:@"test_user_id"
                             traits:@{@"foo": @"bar",
                                      @"foo1": @"bar1",
                                      @"email": @"test@gmail.com",
                                      @"key_1" : @"value_1",
                                      @"key_2" : @"value_2"
                             }
];

RSClient.sharedInstance()?.identify("test_user_id", traits: [
    "key_1": "value_1",
    "key_2": "value_2",
    "email": "test@gmail.com"
])

The identify method accepts the follwing parameters:

Screen

You can use the screen call to record whenever the user sees a screen on the mobile device. You can also send some extra properties along with this event.

An example of the screen event is as shown:

[[RSClient sharedInstance] screen:@"ViewController"];

RSClient.sharedInstance()?.screen("ViewController")

The screen method accepts the following parameters:

Group

The group call associates a user to a specific organization. A sample group call for the API is below:

[[RSClient sharedInstance] group:@"sample_group_id"
                              traits:@{@"foo": @"bar",
                                       @"foo1": @"bar1",
                                       @"email": @"ruchira@gmail.com"}
];

RSClient.sharedInstance()?.group("test_group_id", traits: [
    "key_1": "value_1",
    "key_2": "value_2"
])

Alternatively, you can use the following method signature

We don't persist the traits for the group across the sessions.

Alias

The alias call associates the user with a new identification. A sample alias call for the API is below:

[[RSClient sharedInstance] alias:@"new_user_id"];

RSClient.sharedInstance()?.alias("new_user_id")

Alternatively, you can use the following method signature

We replace the old userId with the newUserId and we persist that identification across the sessions.

Reset

You can use the reset method to clear the persisted traits for the identify call. This is required for the Logout operations.

[[RSClient sharedInstance] reset];

RSClient.sharedInstance()?.reset()

Configuring the RudderStack Client

You can configure your client based on the following parameters using RudderConfigBuilder:

Setting Device Token

You can pass your device-token for Push Notifications to be passed to the destinations which support Push Notification. We set the token under context.device.token.

Follow the instructions below:

[[[RSClient sharedInstance] getContext] putDeviceToken:@"your_device_token"];

Advertisement ID

We have kept IDFA collection completely separate from the Core library so that the developer has better control over the same. You can pass the IDFA to putAdvertisementId method to set it under context.device.advertisingId

Follow the instructions below:

#import <AdSupport/ASIdentifierManager.h>
​
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
    // Override point for customization after application launch.
    RSConfigBuilder *builder = [[RSConfigBuilder alloc] init];
    [builder withDataPlaneURL:[[NSURL alloc] initWithString:DATA_PLANE_URL]];
    [RSClient getInstance:WRITE_KEY config:[builder build]];
    
    [[[RSClient sharedInstance] getContext] putAdvertisementId:[self getIDFA]];
    
    return YES;
}
​
- (NSString*) getIDFA {
    return [[[ASIdentifierManager sharedManager] advertisingIdentifier] UUIDString];
}

External ID

You can pass your custom userId along with standard userId in your identify calls. We add those values under context.externalId. The following code snippet shows a way to add externalId to your identify request.

RSOption *identifyOptions = [[RSOption alloc] init];
[identifyOptions putExternalId:@"brazeExternalId" withId:@"some_external_id_1"];
[[RSClient sharedInstance] identify:@"testUserId"
                             traits:@{@"firstname": @"First Name"}
                            options:identifyOptions];

Debugging

If you run into any issues regarding the RudderStack iOS SDK, you can turn on the VERBOSE or DEBUG logging to find out what the issue is. To turn on the logging, change your RudderClient initialization to the following:

RSConfigBuilder *builder = [[RSConfigBuilder alloc] init];
[builder withDataPlaneUrl:DATA_PLANE_URL];
[builder withLoglevel:RudderLogLevelDebug];
[RSClient getInstance:WRITE_KEY config:[builder build]];

let builder: RSConfigBuilder = RSConfigBuilder()
builder.withDataPlaneUrl(<DATA_PLANE_URL>)
builder.withLoglevel(RudderLogLevelDebug)
RSClient.getInstance(<WRITE_KEY>, config: builder.build())

FAQ

How do I migrate from v1.0.2?

Update the usage of the following classes as per the table below.

Contact us

In case of any queries, you can always reach out to us, or feel free to open an issue on our GitHub Issues page in case of any discrepancy. You can also start a conversation on our Slack channel; we will be happy to talk to you!