Session Replay Player for Apps

Features Overview

To help you understand the main functions of the replay player, we’ve broken it down into four (4) key components. Click on each one for more information:

1) Metadata bar: information relating to the user’s session.

2) Screenviews and event stream: a list of screenviews and *events to see exactly where and what’s happening in the session, as it happens.

3) Timeline: an interactive playback timeline, which helps you pinpoint high (and low) activity, jump to areas of interest and analyze further.

4) Player settings and configuration: settings in the bottom right allow you to adjust your playback experience and buttons in the top right allow you to share the replay with others, or open in a new tab.

Metadata bar

From the metadata bar you can:

• See session related data: date and timestamp (based on Contentsquare user project settings), OS version, App version and device. 

Screenviews and event stream

Access the list of screenviews and events by clicking the numbered list menu, in the top left corner.

From there you can:

• View screenview information: the URL path and the timestamp (the relative time from the beginning of the session).
• View corresponding screenview events: use the expand arrows next to each screenview to see the events that happened during that screenview.
• Collapse all: collapse all expanded screenview events to easily view and navigate all the screenviews listed.

• Quantify impact of events: use the checkbox next to each event to jump to Impact Quantification and further analyze the impact of that event (you can also Quantify by clicking the insight icon from the timeline). Note, you can quantify up to nine (9) events from the current screenview.

• Shortcut to error details (plans with Error Analysis only): expand an error and click “See in Error analysis” to view the error’s details page and/or share it with your team for further investigation.

• Filter and search: focus on activity of interest by filtering user actions, events and more. Enter keywords in the search bar to find a specific screenview, action or event (search for any visible term from the list).

• Zoom in to (and out of) a screenview: hover over the expand arrow and click the magnify icon to get a closer look at a screenview’s corresponding events and playback the singular screenview. Zoom back out to the full session anytime.
• Show dynamic variables: Hover over the expand arrow and select 'Custom events' to see and copy the Dynamic Variables (dVars) fired during the screenview or session.

Timeline

• Activity/Inactivity: The thick line represents user activity during the replay, whereas the thin line represents inactivity. This helps you instantly see the level of activity throughout and where to focus your attention in the replay.
  • Note: Inactivity corresponds to a duration of 3 seconds after the last activity event
• Screenview start/end: Hover over the timeline to enlarge a screenview and easily identify its start and end.

From the Timeline bar you can (starting from the left):

• Control the playback: play/pause the replay, skip between next/previous screenview, skip between next/previous session replays.
• See playback time: see the current playback time in relation to the entire session time.
• Zoom in to (and out of) a screenview: use the magnifier icon to get a closer look at a screenview’s corresponding events and playback the singular screenview. Zoom back out to the full session anytime.
• Click on Insights icons: (and Errors if applicable to your plan) to quantify, navigate through each one and see in Error Analysis (if Errors applicable).
• Add/view comments: hover over any part of the timeline to add a new internal comment, or click any visible comment icon to see an existing one.
• Capture a snapshot: hover over any part of the timeline to capture a snapshot that you want to save for future reference or reuse for a zoning.

• Go to the next screenview or session: at the end each screenview or session, use the “Next screenview” button (if watching at screenview level) or “Next session” button (if watching at session level).

Player settings and configuration

From the right of the top bar:

• Share replay: this allows you to share a replay with another person who does not have a Contentsquare account. For example, you might have identified a possible issue that you want to share with your developer (who doesn’t have access to Contentsquare), so they can analyze the replay themselves.

• Configure your playback experience (using the icons from the bottom right):

	Full-screen: Expand the player to full-screen.
	Go to another player: Quickly switch to the other player (Session player < > URL player).
	FIT: Select your replay viewport size.
	Settings: edit your player settings and replay speed.

Automasking process

In order to be compliant with the GDPR regarding personal information, collecting the consent of the user is mandatory before collecting their session. Besides, the session content is fully automasked at a general level, so that all texts and images are masked. This feature is called Auto-masking.

What does it look like in the player for iOS and Android:

Quality levels

Contentsquare provides different Session Replay quality levels, so you can choose the best trade-off between quality and data usage optimization (More information on network data consumption in our technical documentation). Quality level is defined by the frame rate and the image quality.

Three quality levels that can be defined independently for Wifi and Cellular Network are provided:

• Low: Reduced FPS* & image quality to lower the impact on data usage
• Medium (default): Default FPS & image quality (compromise between quality and data usage)
• High: High FPS & high image quality to optimize the replay quality.
• Disabled (Cellular only): Session collecting sending can be completely disabled over Cellular network

*FPS: Frame per second is the rate at which back to back images called frames appear in a display and form moving imagery.

Here are visual examples illustrating the 3 quality levels for iOS and Android: