how does the application installed event get triggered on mixpanel
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The "application installed" event (often called "App Install" or "First App Open") is not automatically tracked by Mixpanel's mobile SDKs by default. Instead, it is typically triggered in one of two ways: 1. Legacy Automatic Tracking (Not Recommended):
Mixpanel’s mobile SDKs have a legacy feature that can automatically collect common mobile events, including the first app open (which is often used as a proxy for "app installed"). This event is called $ae_first_open
. However, Mixpanel does not recommend enabling this feature because it relies on client-side state and can be unreliable. To disable this, set trackAutomaticEvents
to NO
(Objective-C) or false
(Swift) during initialization. If enabled, $ae_first_open
is triggered the first time the user opens the app, and is retriggered if the user reinstalls the app or clears local storage.
See more details here.2. Manual Tracking (Recommended):
The recommended approach is to manually trigger an "App Install" or "First App Open" event in your app code. This is typically done the first time the app is launched after installation. You would use the Mixpanel SDK’s track()
method to send this event, optionally with properties such as attribution data if available. This approach gives you more control and reliability. For example, in Android, you might check if this is the first launch and then call:
```LBKS In iOS (Swift), after initializing Mixpanel, you would do something similar:
```LBKS Mixpanel.mainInstance().track(event: "App Installed")
```LBKSLBKS3. **Attribution Partners:**
If you use a mobile attribution partner (like Adjust, AppsFlyer, etc.), you can receive install events and attribution data via their SDK or webhooks. You can then send this data to Mixpanel as a custom event (e.g., "App Installed") with the relevant properties. This is often done either directly on the device (SDK-to-SDK) or via your backend (webhook to server to Mixpanel) [Mobile Attribution: SDK to SDK](https://docs.mixpanel.com/docs/tracking-methods/integrations/mobile-attribution-tracking#sdk-to-sdk), [Webhooks](https://docs.mixpanel.com/docs/tracking-methods/integrations/mobile-attribution-tracking#webhooks).LBKS**Summary:**
Mixpanel does not automatically track an "application installed" event by default. You should manually trigger this event in your app code on first launch, or use a mobile attribution partner to send the event to Mixpanel. The legacy automatic tracking feature exists but is not recommended due to reliability concerns.LBKS[Legacy Automatically Tracked Events](https://docs.mixpanel.com/docs/tracking-methods/sdks/ios#legacy-automatically-tracked-events)
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