Mobile Data Capturing

This section covers how to capture real-time user interactions from your native mobile app (iOS and Android) and send them to Data Cloud. The overall flow mirrors the web data capturing process — create a connector, upload a schema, integrate the SDK, and deploy data streams — but adapted for the mobile context.

Overview

Mobile data capturing follows a similar pattern to web data capturing:

1. Create a Mobile App Connector
2. Upload a Mobile Event Schema
3. Integrate the SDK (iOS or Android)
4. Configure Mobile Event Tracking
5. Deploy Mobile Data Streams

1. Create a Mobile App Connector

A mobile app connector links your native mobile application to Data Cloud, similar to how a website connector links a website.

Steps

1. Navigate to Data Cloud Setup.
2. Under CONFIGURATION, click Websites & Mobile Apps.
3. Click New.
4. Provide a Connector Name (e.g., "NTO iOS App" or "NTO Mobile").
5. From the Connector Type dropdown, select Mobile App.
6. Click Save.

2. Upload Mobile Event Schema

Just like the web connector, your mobile app connector needs an event schema defining the structure of the events your mobile app will track.

Steps

1. Download the recommended mobile event schema file from the connector setup page, or prepare a custom schema file tailored to your app's event structure.
2. On the mobile app connector setup page, scroll to the Schema section.
3. Click Upload Schema and select your schema file.
4. Confirm that all events and their associated fields are populated correctly.
5. Click Save.

The recommended mobile schema covers event types similar to the web schema:

3. iOS SDK Integration

The Salesforce Interactions Mobile SDK for iOS allows you to capture user interactions from your iOS app and send them to Data Cloud in real time.

Installation

You can install the Salesforce Interactions Mobile SDK via CocoaPods or Swift Package Manager (SPM).

CocoaPods

Add the SDK to your Podfile:

rubyCopypod 'SalesforceInteractionsMobile'

Then run:

bashCopypod install

Swift Package Manager

1. Open your Xcode project.
2. Navigate to File → Add Package Dependencies.
3. Enter the Salesforce Interactions Mobile SDK repository URL.
4. Select the appropriate version and add the package to your target.

Initialization

Initialize the SDK early in your app's lifecycle — typically in your AppDelegate or App struct:

swiftCopyimport SalesforceInteractionsMobile

// In your AppDelegate or App initialization
SalesforceInteractions.initialize(
    connectorId: "YOUR_CONNECTOR_ID",
    consents: [
        Consent(
            provider: "YourConsentProvider",
            purpose: "Tracking",
            status: .optIn
        )
    ]
)

Sending Events

Send engagement events when users perform actions in your app:

swiftCopy// Track a product view
SalesforceInteractions.sendEvent(
    interaction: Interaction(
        name: "product_view",
        eventType: "catalogEngagement",
        attributes: [
            "id": productId,
            "name": productName,
            "category": productCategory
        ]
    )
)

// Track an add-to-cart action
SalesforceInteractions.sendEvent(
    interaction: Interaction(
        name: "add_to_cart",
        eventType: "cartEngagement",
        attributes: [
            "catalogObjectId": productId,
            "price": price,
            "quantity": quantity
        ]
    )
)

Send profile events to capture user identifying information:

swiftCopy// Capture user email (profile event)
SalesforceInteractions.sendEvent(
    user: UserAttributes(
        eventType: "contactPointEmail",
        attributes: [
            "email": userEmail
        ]
    )
)

4. Android SDK Integration

The Salesforce Interactions Mobile SDK for Android captures user interactions from your Android app.

Installation

Add the SDK dependency to your module-level build.gradle file:

kotlinCopydependencies {
    implementation("com.salesforce.interactions:mobile-sdk:LATEST_VERSION")
}

Sync your Gradle project after adding the dependency.

Initialization

Initialize the SDK in your Application class:

kotlinCopyimport com.salesforce.interactions.SalesforceInteractions

class MyApplication : Application() {
    override fun onCreate() {
        super.onCreate()

        SalesforceInteractions.initialize(
            context = this,
            connectorId = "YOUR_CONNECTOR_ID",
            consents = listOf(
                Consent(
                    provider = "YourConsentProvider",
                    purpose = "Tracking",
                    status = ConsentStatus.OPT_IN
                )
            )
        )
    }
}

Sending Events

Send engagement events when users perform actions:

kotlinCopy// Track a product view
SalesforceInteractions.sendEvent(
    interaction = Interaction(
        name = "product_view",
        eventType = "catalogEngagement",
        attributes = mapOf(
            "id" to productId,
            "name" to productName,
            "category" to productCategory
        )
    )
)

// Track an add-to-cart action
SalesforceInteractions.sendEvent(
    interaction = Interaction(
        name = "add_to_cart",
        eventType = "cartEngagement",
        attributes = mapOf(
            "catalogObjectId" to productId,
            "price" to price,
            "quantity" to quantity
        )
    )
)

Send profile events to capture user identity data:

kotlinCopy// Capture user email (profile event)
SalesforceInteractions.sendEvent(
    userAttributes = UserAttributes(
        eventType = "contactPointEmail",
        attributes = mapOf(
            "email" to userEmail
        )
    )
)

5. Mobile Event Tracking Patterns

While mobile apps don't use a "sitemap" file like the web SDK, the same data structuring concepts apply. You need to think about:

Screen Types (Equivalent to Web Page Types)

Map your app's screen types to event categories, just as you would map page types in a web sitemap:

Engagement vs. Profile Events

The same distinction from web data capturing applies:

• Engagement events: Use eventType on the interaction object — product views, cart actions, purchases, screen views
• Profile events: Use eventType on the user.attributes object — email capture, phone number, login credentials

Event Type Splitting

The mobile SDK performs the same event type splitting as the web SDK. A single event containing both engagement and profile data is automatically split into separate events before being sent to Data Cloud.

6. Deploy Mobile Data Streams

Deploying mobile data streams follows the same process as web data streams.

Steps

1. In Data Cloud, navigate to the Data Streams tab and click New.
2. Under Connected Sources, select Mobile App and click Next.
3. From the Mobile App dropdown, select the mobile app connector you configured.
4. Select the events you'd like to capture and click Next.
5. Review and verify the events and their associated fields.
6. Click Next.
7. Select the target Data Space if you have more than one.
8. Set the Refresh Mode to Partial for each profile event.
9. Click Deploy.

After deployment, map the mobile data stream DLO fields to DMOs using the same approach described in Web Data Capturing — Map DLOs to DMOs. The mapping patterns (behavioral events, contact point email, contact point phone, identity, party identification) are identical.

Summary Checklist

• [ ] Mobile app connector created — Connector type set to "Mobile App"
• [ ] Mobile event schema uploaded — Schema covering all engagement and profile events your app will track
• [ ] iOS SDK integrated (if applicable) — SDK installed via CocoaPods or SPM, initialized with consent config, events sending correctly
• [ ] Android SDK integrated (if applicable) — SDK added via Gradle, initialized in Application class, events sending correctly
• [ ] Mobile event tracking patterns defined — Screen types mapped to event categories, engagement vs. profile events structured correctly
• [ ] Mobile data streams deployed — All event definitions selected, Partial refresh mode set, DLOs mapped to DMOs

What's Next?

With web and/or mobile data flowing into Data Cloud, it's time to structure that data and unify customer identities. Head to the next section to learn about DLO-to-DMO mapping strategies and Identity Resolution configuration.

← Previous: Web Data Capturing | Next: DLO-DMO Mapping & Identity Resolution →

Additional Resources

• Salesforce Personalization: Personalize Mobile Experiences
• Salesforce Help: Data Mapping
• Salesforce Help: Data Streams