Android SDK observability reference
The LaunchDarkly observability features are available for early access
Observability features in the LaunchDarkly UI are publicly available in early access.
The observability SDKs, implemented as plugins for LaunchDarkly server-side and client-side SDKs, are designed for use with the in-app observability features. They are currently in available in Early Access, and APIs are subject to change until a 1.x version is released.
If you are interested in participating in the Early Access Program for upcoming observability SDKs, sign up here.
Overview
This topic documents how to get started with the LaunchDarkly observability plugin for the Android SDK.
The Android SDK supports the observability plugin for error monitoring, logging, and tracing.
SDK quick links
LaunchDarkly’s SDKs are open source. In addition to this reference guide, we provide source, API reference documentation, and a sample application:
Prerequisites and dependencies
This reference guide assumes that you are somewhat familiar with the LaunchDarkly Android SDK.
The observability plugin is compatible with the Android SDK, version 5.9.0 and later.
The LaunchDarkly Android SDK is compatible with Android SDK versions 21 and higher (Android 5.0, Lollipop).
Get started
Follow these steps to get started:
- Install the plugin
- Initialize the Android SDK client
- Configure the plugin options
- Configure additional instrumentations
- Explore supported features
- Review observability data in LaunchDarkly
Install the plugin
LaunchDarkly uses a plugin to the Android SDK to provide observability.
The first step is to make both the SDK and the observability plugin available as dependencies.
Here’s how:
Then, import the plugin into your code:
Initialize the client
Next, initialize the SDK and the plugin.
To initialize, you need your LaunchDarkly environment’s mobile key. This authorizes your application to connect to a particular environment within LaunchDarkly. To learn more, read Initialize the client in the Android SDK reference guide.
Here’s how to initialize the SDK and plugin:
Configure the plugin options
You can configure options for the observability plugin when you initialize the SDK. The plugin constructor takes an optional object with the configuration details.
Here is an example:
For more information on plugin options, read Configuration for client-side observability.
Configure additional instrumentations
To enable HTTP request instrumentation and user interaction instrumentation, add the following plugin and dependencies to your top level application’s Gradle file.
Explore supported features
The observability plugins supports the following features. After the SDK and plugins are initialized, you can access these from within your application:
Review observability data in LaunchDarkly
After you initialize the SDK and observability plugin, your application automatically starts sending observability data back to LaunchDarkly, including errors and logs. You can review this information in the LaunchDarkly user interface. To learn how, read Observability.