Appdome Crash Reports for Android & iOS Apps

Last updated August 9, 2023 by Appdome

This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI/ML in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Initialize crash reports in Mobile apps.

What are Crash Reports?

Appdome’s Crash Reports feature integrates a crash reporting SDK, which allows Appdome to collect information about errors or crashes that may be encountered by end-users while using Appdome apps in a production environment. This information enables Appdome to monitor the app’s overall health in the production environment and be alerted in advance, to help deploy emergency maintenance fixes if needed, and detect issues related to the app in its original (pre-Appdome) state.

The Crash Reporting feature also provides crucial error reports, which contain data about the active subroutines (call stacks), Android or iOS lifecycle state, and mobile application logs before a crash. With that data, Appdome can help developers troubleshoot issues, conduct analysis, and to close out resolutions in a timely manner.

Why Should Developers Enable Crash Reports?

Enabling Appdome’s Crash Reports feature offers developers a data-driven approach to enhance app reliability and user experience. By collecting detailed crash information, including call stacks and application logs, developers can efficiently diagnose issues and promptly address them. This proactive monitoring enables developers to deploy emergency fixes, ensuring minimal disruptions for end-users and maintaining the app’s health in the production environment.

Prerequisites for Using Appdome's Crash Reports Plugins:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Initialize crash reports , you’ll need:

How to Implement Initialize crash reports in Mobile Apps Using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending Mobile Apps that Initialize crash reports without an SDK or gateway:

  1. Designate the Mobile App to be protected.

    1. Upload an app via the Appdome Mobile Defense platform GUI or via Appdome’s DEV-API or CI/CD Plugins.

    2. Mobile App Formats: .ipa for iOS, or .apk or .aab for Android
    3. Crash Reports is compatible with: Obj-C, Java, JS, C#, C++, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, and more.
  2. Select the defense: Crash Reports.

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Crash Reports feature as shown below:
        fusion set that contains Crash Reports

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Crash Reports feature

      2. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the Crash Reports feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.

      3. When you select the Crash Reports you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Crash Reports.

        Fusion Set applied Crash Reports

        Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Crash Reports protection
        Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      4. Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set. Copy the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below): fusion Set Detail Summary image

        Figure 3: Fusion Set Detail Summary

      5. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
        1. Refer to the Appdome API Reference Guide for API building instructions.
        2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository.
    1. Add the Crash Reports feature to your security template.

      1. Navigate to Build > Security tab > ONEShield™ section in the Appdome Console.
      2. Toggle On > Crash Reports.
        Crash Reports option

        Figure 4: Selecting Initialize crash reports

    2. Initiate the build command either by clicking Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 4) or via your CI/CD as described in Section 2.1.4.
    Congratulations!  The Crash Reports protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the Crash Reports feature in Mobile Apps

    After building Crash Reports, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Crash Reports protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Crash Reports protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: Crash Reports shown in Certificate secure

    Figure 5: Certified Secure™ certificate

    Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that Crash Reports has been added to each Mobile app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Crash Reports and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.

Using Threat-Events™ for crash reports Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when crash reports are detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for crash reports in Mobile Apps, use AddObserverForName in Notification Center, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for crash reports shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for crash reports are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Initialize crash reports Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name Crash Reports
Threat-Event Mode
OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging.
ON, IN-APP DETECTION Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce).
ON, IN-APP DEFENSE Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection).
Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check x
Visible in ThreatScope™ x
Developer Parameters for Initializing crash reports Threat-Event™
Threat-Event NAME
Threat-Event DATA reasonData
Threat-Event CODE reasonCode
Threat-Event REF
Threat-Event SCORE
currentThreatEventScore Current Threat-Event score
threatEventsScore Total Threat-events score
Threat-Event Context Keys
message Message displayed for the user on event
failSafeEnforce Timed enforcement against the identified threat
externalID The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events
osVersion OS version of the current device
deviceModel Current device model
deviceManufacturer The manufacturer of the current device
fusedAppToken The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app
kernelInfo Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine.
carrierPlmn PLMN of the device. Only available for Android devices.
deviceID Current device ID
reasonCode Reason code of the occurred event
buildDate Appdome fusion date of the current application
devicePlatform OS name of the current device
carrierName Carrier name of the current device. Only available for Android.
updatedOSVersion Is the OS version up to date
deviceBrand Brand of the device
deviceBoard Board of the device
buildUser Build user
buildHost Build host
sdkVersion Sdk version
timeZone Time zone
deviceFaceDown Is the device face down
locationLong Location longitude conditioned by location permission
locationLat Location latitude conditioned by location permission
locationState Location state conditioned by location permission
wifiSsid Wifi SSID
wifiSsidPermissionStatus Wifi SSID permission status
threatCode The last six characters of the threat code specify the OS, allowing the Threat Resolution Center to address the attack on the affected device.

With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), Mobile developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in Mobile applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when crash reports are detected.


The following is a code sample for native Mobile apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Crash Reports:


Important! Replace all placeholder instances of <Context Key> with the specific name of your threat event context key across all language examples. This is crucial to ensure your code functions correctly with the intended event data. For example, The <Context Key> could be the message, externalID, OS Version, reason code, etc.



Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured Mobile Apps by using Crash Reports. There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.

Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with Crash Reports

After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:

Related Articles:

How to Extract Secured iOS App Crash Logs for Troubleshooting

How to Use Appdome Build ID to Troubleshoot Secured Mobile Apps

How to Troubleshoot App Signing in Secured Android & iOS Apps

How to Integrate Sign Sealed iOS Apps in devops Pipeline

 

 

How Do I Learn More?

If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.

Thank you!

Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.

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