Android - Is it possible to get install referrer programmatically

Question

I have noticed some Google Play app links in the browser has the referrer= attribute to them, which obviously tells the referrer that sent you to that app's page in Google Play.

Is it possible to see that referrer (if any) in the code of my app? And if not, to see it anywhere at all?

Answer 1

You can use com.android.vending.INSTALL_REFERRER.

The Google Play com.android.vending.INSTALL_REFERRER Intent is broadcast when an app is installed from the Google Play Store.

Add this receiver to AndroidManifest.xml

<receiver
    android:name="com.example.android.InstallReferrerReceiver"
    android:exported="true"
    android:permission="android.permission.INSTALL_PACKAGES">
    <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="com.android.vending.INSTALL_REFERRER" />
    </intent-filter>
</receiver>

Create a BroadcastReceiver:

public class InstallReferrerReceiver extends BroadcastReceiver {
    @Override
    public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
        String referrer = intent.getStringExtra("referrer");

        //Use the referrer
    }
}

You can test the referral tracking following the steps of this answer.

Answer 2

Use Google Play Referrer API (from 20 Nov 2017)

InstallReferrerClient mReferrerClient
...
mReferrerClient = newBuilder(this).build();
mReferrerClient.startConnection(this);

@Override
public void onInstallReferrerSetupFinished(int responseCode) {
   switch (responseCode) {
       case InstallReferrerResponse.OK:
           try {
               ReferrerDetails response = mReferrerClient.getInstallReferrer();
               String referrer = response.getInstallReferrer()
               mReferrerClient.endConnection();
           } catch (RemoteException e) {
               e.printStackTrace();
           }
           break;
       case InstallReferrerResponse.FEATURE_NOT_SUPPORTED:
           Log.w(TAG, "InstallReferrer not supported");
           break;
       case InstallReferrerResponse.SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE:
           Log.w(TAG, "Unable to connect to the service");
           break;
       default:
           Log.w(TAG, "responseCode not found.");
   }
}

Answer 3

Campaign Parameters are used to pass information about the campaign or traffic source that referred a user to your app's Google Play Store page into your app's Google Analytics implementation.

Once you've built your campaign parameter string, add it to your Google Play Store URLs as the value of the referrer parameter, as in this example:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.example.app
&referrer=utm_source%3Dgoogle
%26utm_medium%3Dcpc
%26utm_term%3Drunning%252Bshoes
%26utm_content%3DdisplayAd1
%26utm_campaign%3Dshoe%252Bcampaign

The Google Play Store will pass the value of the referrer parameter to your app's Google Analytics implementation.

References: https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/android/v2/campaigns https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/android/v2/campaigns#google-play-url-builder