Tag Pages in your mobile app

Tagging Pages in your app as Pendo pages allows you to view Page traffic and understand the flow and behavior of your mobile users.

Pendo’s mobile SDKs start collecting analytics after a successful install. At the time of tagging, analytics are retroactive to the time the SDK was installed. This means that Pendo automatically tracks user actions in your app without any prior tagging.

Visit the Pendo Academy for a video on tagging Pages in your mobile app. 

How Pages are identified

When tagging a mobile Page, Pendo automatically sets a Page rule based on the Page's structure. Because applications vary, our automatic Page rule isn't always correct, and further configuration might be required to ensure the Page rule yields the correct analytics.

Page tagging rules 

Page rules and initial Page views are visible while tagging Pages in the Pendo UI. The Page views reflect the number of views from the last 24 hours, as well as the percentage of views from overall traffic in the last 24 hours. This gives an indication of whether the automatically assigned Page rule is accurate or needs refining.

Rule components

The table below provides guidance on how to use rule components to help identify your Page. You can select any combination of the components to build your Page rule.

In the following example:

• Pendo uses the Page title "Just Arrived" to identify the Page. Only pages with the "Just Arrived" title will be identified as this Page.
• Pendo uses the index of the selected tab to identify the Page. Pendo attributes a view to this Page only when the selected tab is the first tab. If another tab is selected, Pendo considers this a different Page. 
• Pendo doesn't use the selected tab's title ("Arrived") to identify the Page. This makes sense if this app is translated to several languages and this text isn't consistent across users. 
  
  

Tag a Page

1. Go to Product > Pages and select Tag Pages.
2. Select Mobile app and then select your app from the list.
3. Select Launch Designer.
4. Connect a mobile device by using the Connect a new device button and follow the instructions, or relaunch the app for a device that's already connected. After your device is connected, a camera icon appears on your device.
5. In your app, go to the Page you’d like to tag, select the camera icon on your device, and tag the Page elements.
6. When the Page’s screenshot shows in the Pendo UI, name the Page and, if required, assign it to a group.
7. Select Save and Exit to save the newly tagged Page. Alternatively, you can select Tag Features or continue tagging more Pages.

You can always go back and tag more Pages and Features. Analytics are retroactively collected.

Update a Page

If you update a Page with tagged Features, a new capture replaces the old one. This means that there might be tagged Features that don't exist on the new screenshot. You'll need to update the Page with the new Features. For instructions, see Tag Features in your mobile app.

Manage Page rules

After the initial tagging, you can access the Page Rules configuration and make further edits to manage your Page rules, and add a custom identifier if needed. In Pendo:

1. Go to Pages and select the Page.
2. Select Manage Page.
3. Go to the Page Rules tab.
4. Make any required changes and add custom identifiers.

Tip: When making a change, consider looking at the number of Page views in the last 24 hours to understand the effect of your changes.

Custom identifiers

Custom identifiers are unique labels that are specific to a particular Page. Pages in your application might have a similar Page structure and can’t be uniquely identified, which can result in duplicate data.

You can create custom identifiers when an element on a Page uses specific attributes. For iOS apps, a custom identifier uses the following attributes: text, accessibility label, accessibility hint, or accessibility identifier. The element must have at least one of these attributes, and the custom identifier is created using all the attributes that exist on the element.

Note: The accessibility identifier attribute is localization-safe, but the text attribute isn't. For iOS apps that use localization, if there's an element that uses both a text attribute and an accessibility identifier attribute, we recommend not using it for a custom identifier because the text attribute will change for each language supported in your app. Use an element that has the accessibility identifier attribute only, with no text, accessibility label, or accessibility hint attributes.

For Android apps,  use a custom identifier on an element that uses text and accessibility label attributes only. The element must have at least one attribute, and the custom identifier is created using one or both of the attributes.

To add a custom identifier:

1. Select one of the Pages with the duplicated data and select Manage Page.
2. Go to the Page Rules tab.
3. Add a custom identifier to the Page, such as marking a text label that identifies it.
4. Verify that the number of Page views seems correct.
5. Select + Add Custom Identifier, and then select a text label from the app's screen. 
   
   
   
   
6. In the Selection Mode bar that displays, select the checkmark to add it to the Page rule to specify the exact Page the feature is on.

Note: When capturing part of the screen that becomes visible only by scrolling, deleting a capture with a custom identifier doesn't remove the identifier from the Page rule. A warning displays notifying you that you've deleted the Page so you can decide whether to recapture the Page or not.

You can only add a custom identifier to a Page that exists across all app versions. 

Pendo also suggests custom identifiers to help you make the Page unique. The suggestions are textual and specific to this Page, ensuring your selection helps to make the Page unique.

1. Hover over a suggested identifier and select Add identifier. Alternatively, you can select Add manually to add your own identifiers. For more information, see Custom identifiers.
   
   
2. To delete identifiers, hover over an identifier and select the Trash icon.

As you add rules or custom identifiers, the number of duplicate Pages reduces as your Page starts to become more unique. A confirmation message displays when the Page is unique.

Make captured Pages unique

Unique Pages are defined by the Page structure and its unique components. When a new Page is captured, Pendo automatically detects if it's a duplicate of an existing Page due to Page rules that already match existing Pages. If this is the case, it'll result in duplicate data. Pendo informs you immediately and helps you determine your next steps.

There are a number of ways you can proceed to make sure you don’t have duplicate Pages:

• Differentiate the Page from the other Pages by selecting I want to tag a different Page.
• Add the new capture to the end of an existing Page by selecting I want to tag a different part of an existing Page.
• Update or override the current Page by selecting I want to capture a new version of an existing Page.

Tag a different Page

If you’ve captured a Page that Pendo detects is a duplicate, you can add suggested custom identifiers to make it unique. Pendo suggests custom identifiers that help make this Page capture unique. 

To tag a different Page:

1. Select Tag a different Page.
2. In the Page Name field, enter a name for the new Page.
3. (Optional) In the Description field, add a description.
4. (Optional) From the Assign to Product Area dropdown menu, select a Product Area.
5. If the rule component displays, use the arrow to expand to view and refine the Page rules.

Tag a different part of the same Page

You can tag different parts of the same Page by adding a new capture to the end of an existing Page.

1. Select Tag a different part of an existing Page. The Page selection window opens showing only Pages with the same SDK version and app version as the Page that you've captured. 
   
   
   
   
2. Hover over one of the Pages to select it. 
3. Select Continue in the confirmation message to confirm your selection. The Manage Page window opens and the new capture is added to the end of the existing Page.
4. Add Page rules and custom identifiers for the Page, and tag Features.

Capture a new version of an existing Page

If you capture a new version of an existing Page and the app versions are different, then the Page updates with the new captured version. If Pendo detects that the new Page is the same app version as the existing Page, then saving the new version overrides the old version.

To capture a new version of an existing Page:

1. Select Capture a new version on an existing Page. All duplicate Pages display in the Page selection window regardless of the SDK version and app version.
   
   
2. Hover over a Page to select it.
   • If you select a Page with a different app version, select Continue in the Update Page confirmation message. The Page updates and the previous data is saved.
   • If you select a Page with the same app version, select Override in the Override Page confirmation message. The new capture overrides the existing Page and removes the existing Page rules and custom identifiers.
3. Add Page rules and custom identifiers for the Page, and tag Features.