In this article, you’ll learn about the data that is collected for Session Replay for apps, how long it's retained for, and other configurations that affect how you collect replays.
What data is collected
The following data is collected to help you analyze what your users are experiencing:
- Gestures (such as taps and swipes)
- Screenviews
- Transactions
- Dynamic variables
- Custom variable
- App visibility (app in background/foreground)
- Replay details (replay start/stop, app restarted, quality changes)
Define when Session Replay starts
By default, the Contentsquare SDK starts Session Replay automatically when the app launches. Using the on-demand Session Replay start APIs, you control exactly when Session Replay data collection starts and stops, to ensure data is only collected under certain conditions.
This is typically used to:
- Limit Session Replay collection to authorized geolocations.
- Start Session Replay only after receiving explicit user consent for Session Replay, independently from analytics consent.
Once Session Replay is enabled with these APIs, the sampling rate and Event Triggered Replay logic still apply (i.e. only sessions triggered with the global sampling rate or ETR are collected).
Technical configuration:
Visit our technical documentation to configure this using our APIs: iOS | Android | Flutter | React Native
Sampling rate
The sampling rate determines the percentage (%) of your sessions that are tracked for Session Replay. The rate can be set from 0% to 100%, depending on your plan.
How it works:
In Session Replay for apps, full user sessions are collected randomly, according to your sampling rate. A random number is drawn between 0 and 1 and the session will be collected if the number drawn is below the sampling rate. For example, if the number drawn is 0.2 and the sampling rate is 10% (i.e. 0,1), this session will not be collected for Session replay.
Configuration:
To adjust this configuration please contact your Customer Success Manager.
Event triggered replays (ETR)
Note
This feature is a paid add-on. Contact your Customer Success Manager (CSM) or Implementation Manager to request it.
Event triggered replays (ETR) allow you to selectively collect specific screens or sessions for Session Replay, based on predefined custom events. Once configured, you can use “ETR events” to filter your analysis context to specific replays, or view these events as they happen in the player event stream.
Replays can be captured at either the screen or session level:
- Screen: captures 100% of screens where the event is triggered (at any time during the screenview).
- Session: captures the entire user session when the event is triggered (at any time during that session).
Technical configuration:
ETR requires custom events to be configured first. Visit the technical documentation to get started: iOS | Android | Flutter | React Native
Retention period
The minimum data retention period for Session Replay is 30 days, however this does increase depending on your plan. After the retention period has ended, Session Replay data is deleted.
Configuration:
To adjust this configuration please contact your Customer Success Manager.
Quality levels
Session Replay has three quality levels available - High, Medium and Low - that impact the frame rate and image quality of your replays. These quality levels can be adjusted, separately for Wifi and Cellular Network, depending on your needs.
Visit our technical documentation for more details on quality and performance impact: iOS | Android | Flutter
Configuration:
To adjust this configuration please contact your Customer Success Manager.