Test device

How it works

An attribution tool remembers devices. Once a phone has installed your app, a second install on that phone is normally treated as a returning user and is not credited to a new click. That is correct for real users and a problem for testing, because your own phone has almost always had the app before.

Registering the phone as a test device removes that memory for it. You add the device's advertising identifier, or another ID the tool asks for, to a list in the dashboard. Each fresh install on a listed device then goes through matching as if the tool had never seen it.

When it matters

You need a test device in three situations:

• Before launch, to confirm that a tap on a tracking link leads to a credited install.
• Before any release that updates the SDK or changes an event.
• When a report looks wrong and you want to reproduce one user's path.

Register one phone per platform you ship on. Remove devices from the list when they stop being used for testing, so a team member's everyday use does not appear in reports as a stream of new installs.

How it relates to attribution

Attribution depends on a set window after a click, called the lookback window, and on whether the device counts as new. A test device controls the second condition so you can check the first. The full procedure is in testing attribution before launch. Name the campaign on your test link clearly, then filter that name out of your reports.