The Windows Development Team has released a new feature that provides app usage information to developers in the Windows Dev Center. This feature is included in all new Windows 10 (UWP) package submissions and provides increased reach into app analytics.
Developers can view a number of app usage statistics including user sessions, active users, session length, page views, and custom events created specifically for an app (for example how many times users reach a certain level in the game).
App developers are only provided aggregated statistics and not any information about individual users or devices. How to enable application usage:
- Build a UWP package in Visual Studio 2015.
- Select “Show telemetry in the Windows Dev Center” checkbox (which adds the Visual Studio Application Insights SDK to a project).
- All Windows 10 app submissions will include the telemetry SDK. For those who don’t want to use this feature, uncheck this box to disable app usage information.
- Developers who have an Azure subscription can select “Enable richer analytics with Application Insights” to see the data and do deeper analysis in the Azure portal.
- Submit the packages to the Store. Data will show up after users download the updated package and start using the app.
- View the report in the “Analytics/Usage” page in Dev Center.