Firebase-ios-sdk: Using `Analytics` under macOS

[vincedev]

Describe your environment

• Xcode version: 9.4.1 (9F2000)
• Firebase SDK version: 5.6.0
• Firebase Component: Core
• Component version: 5.1.1

Describe the problem

I'm trying to use Firebase Analytics in a macOS Swift project.
Installed FirebaseCore via Cocoa Pods, but there are missing symbols, in particular :

• Analytics
  and all the parameter names constants, for example AnalyticsParameterItemID.

It seems I'm missing FirebaseAnalytics where those are declared and defined.

Steps to reproduce:

• install FirebaseCore via Cocoa Pods
• import FirebaseCore
• try compile some code : Analytics.logEvent(event, parameters: ...)

The compiler complains about undefined identifiers : Use of unresolved identifier 'Analytics'

Relevant Code:

Any code that tries to access Analytics or any parameter names constants.

Maybe I'm missing something, but anyone knows how to solve this ?

[dylanmaryk]

I was able to fix this issue by adding this pod:
pod 'Firebase/Analytics', '5.6.0'

[vincedev]

@dylanmaryk : I already tried installing Analytics along via Cocoa Pods, but it complains it does not support macOS :

[!] The platform of the target MyApp (macOS 10.11) is not compatible with Firebase/Analytics (5.6.0), which does not support osx.

[dylanmaryk]

Ah yes sorry, I was thinking about iOS...

[paulb777]

See the macOS documentation. FirebaseAnalytics is not currently supported for macOS.

[martindufort]

Any updates on supporting analytics for macOS now that Fabric is being folded into Firebase... and Fabric was supporting analytics for macOS.

[zackdotcomputer]

Going to chime in as well, would love to be able to use more of Firebase on native apps, especially the Analytics tools!

[guidedways]

Same here. It would be great to have this, along with FirebasePerformance added to the mix. FirebasePerformance is perhaps one of the things that's exciting me about the move from Fabric to Firebase.

[EpicDraws]

Definitely want to add a +1 here.

[dudemeister]

Same here!!

[GetyUp]

+1. FirebaseAnalytics support for macOS would be fantastic!

[ohokay]

+1 to this!

[lucas-ferreira-machado]

+1 to this!

[ghost]

+1 to this!

[phr85]

Any updates about FirebaseAnalytics support for macOS?

[proxi]

+1 please! It’s important now that we have to migrate away from Fabric.

[paulb777]

We are investigating. Tracked internally at b/138987204

[jsproull]

hate to say 'me too!', but 'me too!

[guidedways]

Just received an email from Google announcing a deadline where Answers and Fabric will stop working by March 2020.

We heavily rely on Answers (i.e. now Google Analytics) for our macOS apps and since there's no macOS support yet, I don't see how "Migrate your apps to Firebase now" makes any sense. This deadline should either be moved to allow porting of Firebase Analytics over to macOS or Google needs to prioritize bringing it over to macOS sooner. I realize this is in the works, but some discussions seem to mix supporting Catalyst with native macOS. I'm here asking for the latter. Thanks.

[OlexandrStepanov]

+1 to Firebase Analytics support on macOS.

[andy61i]

+1

[chenshengzhi]

+1

[datinc]

+1

[mpogra]

+1

[guidedways]

I wrote to Google Developer Support (for Fabric) after receiving a “Fabric is shutting down” email yesterday and they’ve clearly said there are no plans of bringing analytics to macOS in the foreseeable future. It’s officially not going to happen and repeatedly asking for it and waiting for it won’t help. I’ve recently discovered AppCenter by Microsoft. I suggest you guys move away too.

[Fidetro]

any plans?

[emreoktem]

+1

[paulsumit1993]

+1

[guidedways]

@paulb777 this thread should be a reply to your questions asked here

[cbenhagen]

Please upvote the issue instead of leaving +1 comments which send a notification to everyone subscribed. Thanks!

[appfrilans]

Any news on this one? Is this the blocking issue for macOS community-support för Analytics?

[paulb777]

@appfrilans This is the right issue to track. Note that Catalyst support for Analytics is a higher priority for us and will likely happen before traditional macOS support.

[emreoktem]

@appfrilans This is the right issue to track. Note that Catalyst support for Analytics is a higher priority for us and will likely happen before traditional macOS support.

@paulb777 Do you have a date?

[paulb777]

@emreoktem Sorry, by policy, we don't provide dates for future features.

[appfrilans]

@appfrilans This is the right issue to track. Note that Catalyst support for Analytics is a higher priority for us and will likely happen before traditional macOS support.

Oh, I was actually wondering about Catalyst support. Which issue is the right one to follow then?

[paulb777]

@appfrilans See #4563 to track FirebaseAnalytics and Catalyst

[ConfusedVorlon]

Fabric shuts down in 8 days.
It's pretty shoddy to not have a MacOS solution to replace Answers yet.

[houmie]

Guys, I would really appreciate your advice here.

We are porting our iOS app for the first time to Macos. Google Firebase analytics was incredibly helpful on iOS to observe users' behaviour and of course to see the crashes. Now with Fabric gone, what are our options for Macos?

Is there a free Analytics/crash reporting for Macos you could recommend? Ideally, one that supports both iOS and Macos. It makes no sense for us to split the analytics between iOS and Macos. We need to understand the entire market for both users in one dashboard.

Many Thanks,

[Fidetro]

@houmie Firebase crash report support both iOS and Macos,but analytics doesn't support it

[guidedways]

@houmie Microsoft App Center supports free Analytics, Crashes and Distribution for iOS, macOS and Android. I've moved due to the lack of proper macOS support in Firebase (it's not just missing analytics - the Firebase console shows these apps as "iOS" apps and you can no longer see version adoption / active user sessions / daily usage etc as you could with Fabric, so you have absolutely no idea how many people have actually upgraded to your new rolled out release vs. those crashing in the wild). I don't care much about Events (I'm sure many do) as I do about "active users" per day, or total users using the version. It's not just an important metric to have but one that is required when judging the severity of crash reports. 4 crashes out of 70,000 active users per day may not sound as bad as 4 crashes out of 300 active users. Good luck figuring that out on your own. Even built-in crash reporting baked into Xcode offers better metrics than Firebase.

The Firebase team has had more than two years to support macOS, but for unexplained reasons they have chosen not to. I still don't understand why, since everything worked just fine in Fabric. Oh wait, maybe the hint was there all along: "firebase-ios-sdk"! Sorry macOS, no love for you.

Any way, MS App Center is worth a shot. It's much faster to load with a lot less bloat than Firebase Console. You get all the (now missing) metrics from Fabric plus a better all-in-one analytics overview.

[Tibbs]

@guidedways I switch to Microsoft App Center about a year ago and I agree with your comments. I was never able to make fabric/firebase events work on macOS but it works very nicely on MS App Center. I created events to track which macOS versions the existing and new users use which is super useful.
Having said that, I still use Firebase Crashlytics, Database, and now remote config

[houmie]

@guidedways Thank you for the detailed reply. I have tried Microsoft App Center and it looks good.

Is there a way to obtain the country of the Mac Users? I looked at the FAQ and it seems that is not possible. A shame that a simple IP check could have just done that. Thanks

[vgorloff]

+1