App Surveys - Formbricks

App surveys enable you to collect feedback directly within your mobile or desktop applications. Formbricks provides native SDKs for iOS, Android, React Native, and Flutter.

Overview

App surveys work similarly to website surveys but are optimized for native mobile and desktop environments. They support:

Native UI components for better performance
Offline response queueing
Platform-specific gestures and interactions
Deep integration with app lifecycle events

// App surveys use the same type as website surveys
interface TSurvey {
  type: "app" | "link";
  displayOption: TSurveyDisplayOption;
  triggers: Array<{ actionClass: TActionClass }>;
}

Platform Support

iOS

Native Swift SDK for iOS apps

Android

Kotlin SDK for Android apps

React Native

Cross-platform React Native support

Flutter

Dart SDK for Flutter apps

iOS (Swift)

Installation

Add Swift Package

Add the Formbricks iOS SDK to your Xcode project:

https://github.com/formbricks/formbricks-ios

Or using Swift Package Manager:

dependencies: [
  .package(url: "https://github.com/formbricks/formbricks-ios", from: "1.0.0")
]

Import SDK

import Formbricks

Initialize in AppDelegate

func application(_ application: UIApplication, 
                didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {
    
    Formbricks.configure(
        environmentId: "your-environment-id",
        apiHost: "https://your-formbricks-instance.com"
    )
    
    return true
}

Tracking Events

// Track custom events
Formbricks.track(name: "product_viewed")

// Track with attributes
Formbricks.track(
    name: "purchase_completed",
    properties: [
        "order_value": "99.99",
        "product_category": "electronics"
    ]
)

User Identification

// Set user ID
Formbricks.setUserId("user_12345")

// Set user attributes
Formbricks.setAttributes([
    "email": "user@example.com",
    "plan": "premium",
    "signup_date": "2024-01-15"
])

// Logout
Formbricks.logout()

Screen Tracking

// Track screen views automatically in UIViewController
override func viewDidAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
    super.viewDidAppear(animated)
    Formbricks.trackScreen(name: "ProductDetailScreen")
}

// Or track manually
Formbricks.trackScreen(name: "HomeScreen")

Android (Kotlin)

Installation

Add dependency

Add to your build.gradle:

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.formbricks:formbricks-android:1.0.0'
}

Initialize in Application class

class MyApplication : Application() {
    override fun onCreate() {
        super.onCreate()
        
        Formbricks.initialize(
            context = this,
            environmentId = "your-environment-id",
            apiHost = "https://your-formbricks-instance.com"
        )
    }
}

Update AndroidManifest.xml

<application
    android:name=".MyApplication"
    ...>
</application>

Tracking Events

// Track custom events
Formbricks.track("product_viewed")

// Track with properties
Formbricks.track(
    event = "purchase_completed",
    properties = mapOf(
        "order_value" to "99.99",
        "product_category" to "electronics"
    )
)

User Identification

// Set user ID
Formbricks.setUserId("user_12345")

// Set user attributes
Formbricks.setAttributes(
    mapOf(
        "email" to "user@example.com",
        "plan" to "premium",
        "signup_date" to "2024-01-15"
    )
)

// Logout
Formbricks.logout()

Activity Tracking

class ProductDetailActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onResume() {
        super.onResume()
        Formbricks.trackScreen("ProductDetailScreen")
    }
}

React Native

Installation

Install package

npm install @formbricks/react-native

Install pods (iOS only)

cd ios && pod install

Initialize in App.tsx

import { useEffect } from 'react';
import Formbricks from '@formbricks/react-native';

export default function App() {
  useEffect(() => {
    Formbricks.initialize({
      environmentId: 'your-environment-id',
      apiHost: 'https://your-formbricks-instance.com'
    });
  }, []);
  
  return (
    <YourApp />
  );
}

Tracking Events

import Formbricks from '@formbricks/react-native';

// Track events
await Formbricks.track('button_clicked');

// Track with properties
await Formbricks.track('purchase_completed', {
  orderValue: '99.99',
  productCategory: 'electronics'
});

User Identification

// Set user ID
await Formbricks.setUserId('user_12345');

// Set attributes
await Formbricks.setAttributes({
  email: 'user@example.com',
  plan: 'premium'
});

// Logout
await Formbricks.logout();

import { useNavigationContainerRef } from '@react-navigation/native';
import Formbricks from '@formbricks/react-native';

function App() {
  const navigationRef = useNavigationContainerRef();
  const routeNameRef = useRef();
  
  return (
    <NavigationContainer
      ref={navigationRef}
      onReady={() => {
        routeNameRef.current = navigationRef.getCurrentRoute()?.name;
      }}
      onStateChange={async () => {
        const previousRouteName = routeNameRef.current;
        const currentRouteName = navigationRef.getCurrentRoute()?.name;
        
        if (previousRouteName !== currentRouteName) {
          await Formbricks.trackScreen(currentRouteName);
        }
        
        routeNameRef.current = currentRouteName;
      }}
    >
      {/* Your app screens */}
    </NavigationContainer>
  );
}

Flutter

Installation

Add dependency

Add to pubspec.yaml:

dependencies:
  formbricks_flutter: ^1.0.0

Install packages

flutter pub get

Initialize in main.dart

import 'package:formbricks_flutter/formbricks_flutter.dart';

void main() async {
  WidgetsFlutterBinding.ensureInitialized();
  
  await Formbricks.initialize(
    environmentId: 'your-environment-id',
    apiHost: 'https://your-formbricks-instance.com',
  );
  
  runApp(MyApp());
}

Tracking Events

// Track events
await Formbricks.track('button_clicked');

// Track with properties
await Formbricks.track(
  'purchase_completed',
  properties: {
    'order_value': '99.99',
    'product_category': 'electronics',
  },
);

User Identification

// Set user ID
await Formbricks.setUserId('user_12345');

// Set attributes
await Formbricks.setAttributes({
  'email': 'user@example.com',
  'plan': 'premium',
});

// Logout
await Formbricks.logout();

Common Features

The following features work across all platforms:

Display Configuration

Control when and how surveys appear:

{
  "displayOption": "displayOnce",
  "recontactDays": 7,
  "displayLimit": 3,
  "displayPercentage": 50
}

Trigger Actions

Define triggers in the Formbricks dashboard:

Code Triggers: Match tracked events by identifier
Screen View: Trigger on specific screen names
Custom Logic: Combine multiple conditions

Audience Targeting

Target users based on attributes:

{
  "segment": {
    "filters": [
      {
        "attribute": "plan",
        "operator": "equals",
        "value": "premium"
      },
      {
        "attribute": "app_version",
        "operator": "greaterThan",
        "value": "2.0.0"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Offline Support

All SDKs support offline response queueing:

Responses are stored locally when offline
Automatically sync when connection restores
Configurable retry logic
Storage limits to prevent data buildup

Best Practices

Initialize early

Initialize Formbricks as early as possible in your app lifecycle to ensure surveys can trigger on app launch.

Track meaningful events

Focus on key user actions that indicate engagement or friction points:

Onboarding completed
Feature discovered
Purchase completed
Error encountered

Respect app permissions

Request appropriate permissions before collecting data. Be transparent about data usage.

Test on real devices

Always test surveys on physical devices across different screen sizes and OS versions.

Monitor SDK performance

Track SDK impact on app performance:

Bundle size increase
Memory usage
Battery consumption
Network requests

Handle errors gracefully

Wrap SDK calls in try-catch blocks to prevent crashes:

do {
    try Formbricks.track("event_name")
} catch {
    print("Formbricks error: \(error)")
}

Platform-Specific Considerations

iOS

App Tracking Transparency: Request tracking permission on iOS 14.5+
Background Mode: Survey data syncs when app returns to foreground
Universal Links: Support deep linking from survey notifications

Android

ProGuard: Add ProGuard rules if using code obfuscation
Background Restrictions: Handle Android’s battery optimization
Multi-Window: Test surveys in split-screen mode

React Native

Hermes: Compatible with Hermes JavaScript engine
Expo: Works with both bare and managed workflows
Navigation: Supports React Navigation and React Native Navigation

Flutter

Web Support: Limited web platform support
Desktop: Experimental support for macOS and Windows
Hot Reload: Initialization persists across hot reloads

Troubleshooting

SDK not initializing

Verify environmentId and apiHost are correct
Check network connectivity
Review app logs for initialization errors
Ensure SDK is initialized before tracking events

Surveys not appearing

Confirm survey type is set to App
Verify trigger conditions match tracked events
Check if user meets audience targeting criteria
Review recontact days and display limits
Test in development/staging environment first

Events not tracking

Verify event names match exactly (case-sensitive)
Check network tab for failed API requests
Ensure user is identified if required by segment
Confirm app has internet connectivity

Build errors

Update to latest SDK version
Clear build cache and rebuild
Check platform-specific requirements
Review SDK changelog for breaking changes

Example: Complete Integration

Here’s a complete example for iOS:

import UIKit
import Formbricks

@main
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {
    
    func application(_ application: UIApplication,
                    didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {
        
        // Initialize Formbricks
        Formbricks.configure(
            environmentId: "clxxx123456789",
            apiHost: "https://app.formbricks.com"
        )
        
        return true
    }
}

class ViewController: UIViewController {
    
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        
        // Identify user
        Formbricks.setUserId("user_12345")
        Formbricks.setAttributes([
            "email": "user@example.com",
            "plan": "premium"
        ])
    }
    
    override func viewDidAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
        super.viewDidAppear(animated)
        
        // Track screen view
        Formbricks.trackScreen(name: "HomeScreen")
    }
    
    @IBAction func checkoutButtonTapped(_ sender: UIButton) {
        // Track event
        Formbricks.track(
            name: "checkout_started",
            properties: [
                "cart_value": "299.99",
                "item_count": "3"
            ]
        )
    }
}

Website Surveys

Implement surveys on websites

iOS SDK Reference

Complete iOS SDK documentation

Android SDK Reference

Complete Android SDK documentation

Conditional Logic

Create dynamic survey flows

Survey Types

Question Types

Features

Documentation Index

​Overview

​Platform Support

iOS

Android

React Native

Flutter

​iOS (Swift)

​Installation

​Tracking Events

​User Identification

​Screen Tracking

​Android (Kotlin)

​Installation

​Tracking Events

​User Identification

​Activity Tracking

​React Native

​Installation

​Tracking Events

​User Identification

​Screen Tracking with React Navigation

​Flutter

​Installation

​Tracking Events

​User Identification

​Common Features

​Display Configuration

​Trigger Actions

​Audience Targeting

​Offline Support

​Best Practices

​Platform-Specific Considerations

​iOS

​Android

​React Native

​Flutter

​Troubleshooting

​Example: Complete Integration

​Related Resources

Website Surveys

iOS SDK Reference

Android SDK Reference

Conditional Logic

Overview

Platform Support

iOS (Swift)

Installation

Tracking Events

User Identification

Screen Tracking

Android (Kotlin)

Installation

Tracking Events

User Identification

Activity Tracking

React Native

Installation

Tracking Events

User Identification

Screen Tracking with React Navigation

Flutter

Installation

Tracking Events

User Identification

Common Features

Display Configuration

Trigger Actions

Audience Targeting

Offline Support

Best Practices

Platform-Specific Considerations

iOS

Android

React Native

Flutter

Troubleshooting

Example: Complete Integration

Related Resources