Mobile to web identity sharing

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If your app opens mobile web content, you need to ensure that visitors are not identified separately as they move between the native and mobile web.

Visitor IDs in apps

The Mobile SDK generates a unique visitor ID when the app is installed. This ECID is stored in persistent memory on the mobile device and is sent with every hit. The ECID is removed "when the user uninstalls the app, sets the Mobile SDK global privacy status to optedout, or calls the resetIdentities API".

When the Mobile SDK privacy status is set to optedout, and the ECID is removed, a new unique visitor ID (ECID) is generated when the user sets the global privacy status to optedin.

App visitor IDs persist through upgrades.

Visitor IDs in the mobile web

Typical mobile web implementations use one of the Adobe JavaScript libraries available for web platform, such as Adobe Experience Platform Web SDK, or AppMeasurement.js. These libraries have their own methods of generating unique visitor IDs, which causes a different visitor ID to be generated when you open mobile web content from your app.

To use the same visitor ID in the app and mobile web and pass the visitor ID to the mobile web in the URL, complete the following steps:

Implementing visitor tracking between an app and the mobile web

Android

Java

To append visitor information to the URL that is being used to open the web view, call appendVisitorInfoForUrl:

Identity.appendVisitorInfoForURL("https://example.com", new AdobeCallback<String>() {
    @Override
    public void call(String urlWithAdobeVisitorInfo) {
        //handle the new URL here
        //For example, open the URL on the device browser
        //
        Intent i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
        i.setData(Uri.parse(urlWithAdobeVisitorInfo));
        startActivity(i);
    }
});
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Identity.appendVisitorInfoForURL("https://example.com", new AdobeCallback<String>() {
    @Override
    public void call(String urlWithAdobeVisitorInfo) {
        //handle the new URL here
        //For example, open the URL on the device browser
        //
        Intent i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
        i.setData(Uri.parse(urlWithAdobeVisitorInfo));
        startActivity(i);
    }
});

Alternately, starting in SDK version 1.4.0 (Identity version 1.1.0), you can call getUrlVariables and build your own URL:

Identity.getUrlVariables(new AdobeCallback<String>() {
    @Override
    public void call(String stringWithAdobeVisitorInfo) {
        //handle the URL query parameter string here
        //For example, open the URL on the device browser
        //
        Intent i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
        i.setData(Uri.parse("https://example.com?" + urlWithAdobeVisitorInfo));
        startActivity(i);
    }
});
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Identity.getUrlVariables(new AdobeCallback<String>() {
    @Override
    public void call(String stringWithAdobeVisitorInfo) {
        //handle the URL query parameter string here
        //For example, open the URL on the device browser
        //
        Intent i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
        i.setData(Uri.parse("https://example.com?" + urlWithAdobeVisitorInfo));
        startActivity(i);
    }
});

iOS

To append visitor information to the URL that is being used to open the web view, call appendToUrl:

Swift

let url = URL(string: "https://example.com")
Identity.appendTo(url: url) { appendedUrl, error in
    if error != nil {
        // handle error here
    } else {
        // handle appended url here
    }
}
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let url = URL(string: "https://example.com")
Identity.appendTo(url: url) { appendedUrl, error in
    if error != nil {
        // handle error here
    } else {
        // handle appended url here
    }
}

Objective-C

NSURL *sampleUrl = [NSURL URLWithString:@"https://example.com"];
[AEPMobileIdentity appendToUrl:sampleUrl completion:^(NSURL * _Nullable appendedUrl, NSError *error) {
    if (error != nil) {
        // Handle error here
    } else {
        // Handle appended url here
    }
}];
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NSURL *sampleUrl = [NSURL URLWithString:@"https://example.com"];
[AEPMobileIdentity appendToUrl:sampleUrl completion:^(NSURL * _Nullable appendedUrl, NSError *error) {
    if (error != nil) {
        // Handle error here
    } else {
        // Handle appended url here
    }
}];

Alternately, you can call getUrlVariables and build your own URL:

Swift

Identity.getUrlVariables { urlVariables, error in
    if error != nil {
        // handle error here
    } else {
        if let url = URL(string: "https://example.com?\(urlVariables ?? "")") {
            DispatchQueue.main.async {
                UIApplication.shared.open(url)
            }
        }
    }
}
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Identity.getUrlVariables { urlVariables, error in
    if error != nil {
        // handle error here
    } else {
        if let url = URL(string: "https://example.com?\(urlVariables ?? "")") {
            DispatchQueue.main.async {
                UIApplication.shared.open(url)
            }
        }
    }
}

Objective-C

[AEPMobileIdentity getUrlVariables:^(NSString * _Nullable urlVariables, NSError *error) {
    NSString *sampleURLString = @"https://example.com";
    if (error != nil) {
        // Handle variables being nil
    } else {
        NSString *stringWithData = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@?%@", sampleURLString, urlVariables];
        NSURL *appendedUrl = [NSURL URLWithString:stringWithData];
        dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
            [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:appendedUrl options:@{} completionHandler:nil];
        });
    }
}];
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[AEPMobileIdentity getUrlVariables:^(NSString * _Nullable urlVariables, NSError *error) {
    NSString *sampleURLString = @"https://example.com";
    if (error != nil) {
        // Handle variables being nil
    } else {
        NSString *stringWithData = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@?%@", sampleURLString, urlVariables];
        NSURL *appendedUrl = [NSURL URLWithString:stringWithData];
        dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
            [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:appendedUrl options:@{} completionHandler:nil];
        });
    }
}];

Java

To append visitor information to the URL that is being used to open the web view, call appendVisitorInfoForUrl:

Identity.appendVisitorInfoForURL("https://example.com", new AdobeCallback<String>() {
    @Override
    public void call(String urlWithAdobeVisitorInfo) {
        //handle the new URL here
        //For example, open the URL on the device browser
        //
        Intent i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
        i.setData(Uri.parse(urlWithAdobeVisitorInfo));
        startActivity(i);
    }
});
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Identity.appendVisitorInfoForURL("https://example.com", new AdobeCallback<String>() {
    @Override
    public void call(String urlWithAdobeVisitorInfo) {
        //handle the new URL here
        //For example, open the URL on the device browser
        //
        Intent i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
        i.setData(Uri.parse(urlWithAdobeVisitorInfo));
        startActivity(i);
    }
});

Alternately, starting in SDK version 1.4.0 (Identity version 1.1.0), you can call getUrlVariables and build your own URL:

Identity.getUrlVariables(new AdobeCallback<String>() {
    @Override
    public void call(String stringWithAdobeVisitorInfo) {
        //handle the URL query parameter string here
        //For example, open the URL on the device browser
        //
        Intent i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
        i.setData(Uri.parse("https://example.com?" + urlWithAdobeVisitorInfo));
        startActivity(i);
    }
});
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Identity.getUrlVariables(new AdobeCallback<String>() {
    @Override
    public void call(String stringWithAdobeVisitorInfo) {
        //handle the URL query parameter string here
        //For example, open the URL on the device browser
        //
        Intent i = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
        i.setData(Uri.parse("https://example.com?" + urlWithAdobeVisitorInfo));
        startActivity(i);
    }
});

To append visitor information to the URL that is being used to open the web view, call appendToUrl:

Swift

let url = URL(string: "https://example.com")
Identity.appendTo(url: url) { appendedUrl, error in
    if error != nil {
        // handle error here
    } else {
        // handle appended url here
    }
}
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let url = URL(string: "https://example.com")
Identity.appendTo(url: url) { appendedUrl, error in
    if error != nil {
        // handle error here
    } else {
        // handle appended url here
    }
}

Objective-C

NSURL *sampleUrl = [NSURL URLWithString:@"https://example.com"];
[AEPMobileIdentity appendToUrl:sampleUrl completion:^(NSURL * _Nullable appendedUrl, NSError *error) {
    if (error != nil) {
        // Handle error here
    } else {
        // Handle appended url here
    }
}];
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NSURL *sampleUrl = [NSURL URLWithString:@"https://example.com"];
[AEPMobileIdentity appendToUrl:sampleUrl completion:^(NSURL * _Nullable appendedUrl, NSError *error) {
    if (error != nil) {
        // Handle error here
    } else {
        // Handle appended url here
    }
}];

Alternately, you can call getUrlVariables and build your own URL:

Swift

Identity.getUrlVariables { urlVariables, error in
    if error != nil {
        // handle error here
    } else {
        if let url = URL(string: "https://example.com?\(urlVariables ?? "")") {
            DispatchQueue.main.async {
                UIApplication.shared.open(url)
            }
        }
    }
}
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Identity.getUrlVariables { urlVariables, error in
    if error != nil {
        // handle error here
    } else {
        if let url = URL(string: "https://example.com?\(urlVariables ?? "")") {
            DispatchQueue.main.async {
                UIApplication.shared.open(url)
            }
        }
    }
}

Objective-C

[AEPMobileIdentity getUrlVariables:^(NSString * _Nullable urlVariables, NSError *error) {
    NSString *sampleURLString = @"https://example.com";
    if (error != nil) {
        // Handle variables being nil
    } else {
        NSString *stringWithData = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@?%@", sampleURLString, urlVariables];
        NSURL *appendedUrl = [NSURL URLWithString:stringWithData];
        dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
            [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:appendedUrl options:@{} completionHandler:nil];
        });
    }
}];
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[AEPMobileIdentity getUrlVariables:^(NSString * _Nullable urlVariables, NSError *error) {
    NSString *sampleURLString = @"https://example.com";
    if (error != nil) {
        // Handle variables being nil
    } else {
        NSString *stringWithData = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@?%@", sampleURLString, urlVariables];
        NSURL *appendedUrl = [NSURL URLWithString:stringWithData];
        dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
            [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:appendedUrl options:@{} completionHandler:nil];
        });
    }
}];

The ID service code on the destination domain extracts the ECID from the URL instead of sending a request to Adobe for a new ID. The ID service code on the destination page uses this ECID to track the visitor. On hits from the mobile web content, verify that the mid parameter exists on each hit, and that this value matches the midvalue that is being sent by the app code.

Troubleshooting

To ensure that the visitor tracking was properly implemented, please verify the following conditions:

Ensure that the output from the appendToUrl or getUrlVariables API includes accurate ECID and Experience Cloud orgID values. Please note that the orgID set up for the Mobile SDK must match the orgID configured in the web implementation.
Ensure the timestamp (TS) included in the appendToUrl or getUrlVariables result did not expire. Since the results expire five minutes after retrieval, you should not cache and re-use the results in your application. Instead, please retrieve the result on demand before loading the WebView.
Ensure you do not re-encode the generated query string. The query string returned by the getUrlVariables API is already URL encoded.

Once you've confirmed the mobile setup, check your web implementation.

If you're using the Adobe Experience Platform Web SDK, ensure that you're using the latest version of Web SDK. For further information, please read the guide on mobile-to-web and cross-domain ID sharing in Web SDK.

If you're using the AppMeasurement.js library, ensure that you're using the latest version of the Visitor ID and the AppMeasurement libraries. For further information, please read the guide on the overwriteCrossDomainMCIDAndAID API in Identity Service.

Tutorials

Push identifier sync

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Mobile to web identity sharing

Visitor IDs in apps.css-83mclq{margin-left:var(--spectrum-global-dimension-size-100);}

Visitor IDs in the mobile web

Implementing visitor tracking between an app and the mobile web

Java.css-jmmyhj{margin-left:var(--spectrum-global-dimension-size-50);}

Swift

Objective-C

Swift

Objective-C

Java

Swift

Objective-C

Swift

Objective-C

Troubleshooting

Visitor IDs in apps

Java