Last November at Connect(), we announced we’ll focus our efforts for mobile and desktop app developers on HockeyApp. HockeyApp is key component of our Mobile DevOps solution for building apps across platforms like iOS, Android, OS X, Windows, Xamarin, Cordova and Unity. Visual Studio Application Insights continues to focus on detect, triage and diagnose scenarios for web apps and services with interactive analytics and out-of-the-box insights.
Transition to HockeyApp
Today, we are announcing an update for our mobile and desktop app customers. As part of our investments in HockeyApp and the positive feedback we’re seeing from HockeyApp customers, we decided to sunset the mobile experiences in Application Insights with the following target dates:
- April 15, 2016: We will stop accepting new apps for iOS, Android, Windows Store and Windows Phone in Application Insights. Existing apps will continue to be shown in the Azure Portal. Around this date, we will give you an option to transition your instrumentation key to HockeyApp.
- June 15, 2016: We will stop showing data for iOS, Android, Windows Store, and Windows Phone apps in Application Insights. Instead, you will be able to access this data through HockeyApp. If you have not transitioned your instrumentation key to HockeyApp before this date, you will need to open a support request with the HockeyApp support team.
User, session, and custom event data from the current Application Insights SDKs for mobile apps will continue to be processed after June 15, 2016 as they are compatible with the HockeyApp SDKs, preventing data loss from older versions of your apps. You will need to transition your instrumentation key in the outlined timeframe, otherwise you won’t be able to see the data in HockeyApp after the final transition date.
What do I get with HockeyApp?
HockeyApp is our premier solution for mobile developers. It allows you to distribute your mobile apps through fast over-the-air distribution, and perfectly integrates into the Mobile DevOps workflow. Together with Visual Studio Team Services, you can streamline development, management and delivery of your mobile apps.
HockeyApp also offers best-in-class crash reporting and direct user engagement through the feedback feature. With the new HockeyApp Preseason program, you can now collect user and session metrics, connect your developer and test team with Azure Active Directory, and integrate HockeySDK into your UWP apps.
While HockeyApp provides a free offering, it is now easier than ever to purchase it through the Visual Studio Marketplace using your Microsoft Azure subscription (including Enterprise Agreements). We encourage you to get started with HockeyApp for free today!
Conclusion
We realize this transition is a turning point from our previous strategy and may cause some additional work for you. Our goal with this shift is to provide you with the best experiences possible for you to distribute, test, monitor and manage your mobile apps. HockeyApp is the solution to provide you this experience.
The Application Insights and HockeyApp support teams are ready to make this transition as seamless as possible. If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact us. We look forward to supporting you through this transition.
UPDATE: Since we announced this transition plan for Mobile Apps to HockeyApp from Application Insights, we received feedback from our customers expressing concerns about the features that are in Application Insights but currently unavailable in HockeyApp. After considering the feedback, we have decided to make changes to our plan. While HockeyApp will continue to be our main offering for mobile apps, we will provide important functionality in Application Insights that will allow customers to access and perform in-depth analytics on device telemetry. You can read through the details in this Azure blog post.
