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Initializing the Braze SDK

Learn how to initialize the Braze SDK using methods such as runtime, delayed initialization, or Google Tag Manager.

Prerequisites

Before you can use this feature, you’ll need to integrate the Braze Android SDK. Additionally, Braze requires an external image library to display animated GIFs.

Using runtime configuration

Runtime configuration is an optional way to configure your app at runtime in place of a braze.xml.

The use of both runtime configuration and braze.xml configuration is still possible. Runtime configured values will always take precedence over the same value in the braze.xml. If the Braze SDK can find all values in the runtime configuration, then the braze.xml is no longer needed and can be removed.

Example configuration

The following configuration uses a builder object that is then built and passed to Braze.configure(). The following example uses a subset of the runtime configuration options available, see our KDoc for a complete list of options.

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BrazeConfig brazeConfig = new BrazeConfig.Builder()
        .setApiKey("api-key-here")
        .setCustomEndpoint("YOUR_CUSTOM_ENDPOINT_OR_CLUSTER")
        .setSessionTimeout(60)
        .setHandlePushDeepLinksAutomatically(true)
        .setGreatNetworkDataFlushInterval(10)
        .build();
Braze.configure(this, brazeConfig);
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val brazeConfig = BrazeConfig.Builder()
        .setApiKey("api-key-here")
        .setCustomEndpoint("YOUR_CUSTOM_ENDPOINT_OR_CLUSTER")
        .setSessionTimeout(60)
        .setHandlePushDeepLinksAutomatically(true)
        .setGreatNetworkDataFlushInterval(10)
        .build()
Braze.configure(this, brazeConfig)

Another example can be found in our Hello Braze sample app.

Using Google Tag Manager

You can initialize, configure, and implement the Google Tag Manager into your Android or FireOS app.

In the following example, a music streaming app wants to log different events as users listen to songs. Using Google Tag Manager for Android, they can control which of Braze’s third-party vendors receive this event, and create tags specific to Braze.

Step 1: Create a trigger for custom events

Custom events are logged with actionType set to logEvent. The Braze custom tag provider in this example is expecting the custom event name to be set using eventName.

To get started, create a trigger that looks for an “Event Name” that equals played song

A custom trigger in Google Tag Manager set to trigger for some events when "event name" equals "played song".

Next, create a new tag (also known as a “Function Call”) and enter the class path of your custom tag provider described later in this article. This tag will be triggered when you log the played song event.

In the tag’s custom parameters (also known as the key-value pairs), set eventName to played song. This will be the custom event name logged to Braze.

A tag in Google Tag Manager with classpath and key-value pair fields. This tag is set to trigger with the previously created "played song" trigger.

You can also include additional key-value pair arguments to the tag, which will be sent as custom event properties to Braze. eventName and actionType will not be ignored for custom event properties. In the following example tag, genre is passed and defined using a tag variable in Google Tag Manager, which is sourced from the custom event logged in the app.

Because Google Tag Manager for Android uses Firebase as the data layer, the genre event property is sent to Google Tag Manager as a “Firebase - Event Parameter” variable.

A variable in Google Tag Manager where "genre" is added as an event parameter for the "Braze - Played Song Event" tag.

When a user plays a song in the app, an event will be logged through Firebase and Google Tag Manager using the Firebase analytics event name that matches the tag’s trigger name, played song:

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Bundle params = new Bundle();
params.putString("genre", "pop");
params.putInt("number of times listened", 42);
mFirebaseAnalytics.logEvent("played song", params);
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val params = Bundle()
params.putString("genre", "pop")
params.putInt("number of times listened", 42);
mFirebaseAnalytics.logEvent("played song", params)

Step 2: Log custom attributes

Custom attributes are set via an actionType set to customAttribute. The Braze custom tag provider is expecting the custom attribute key-value to be set via customAttributeKey and customAttributeValue:

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Bundle params = new Bundle();
params.putString("customAttributeKey", "favorite song");
params.putString("customAttributeValue", "Private Eyes");
mFirebaseAnalytics.logEvent("customAttribute", params);
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val params = Bundle()
params.putString("customAttributeKey", "favorite song")
params.putString("customAttributeValue", "Private Eyes")
mFirebaseAnalytics.logEvent("customAttribute", params)

Step 3: Call changeUser()

Calls to changeUser() are made via an actionType set to changeUser. The Braze custom tag provider is expecting the Braze user ID to be set via an externalUserId key-value pair within your tag:

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Bundle params = new Bundle();
params.putString("externalUserId", userId);
mFirebaseAnalytics.logEvent("changeUser", params);
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val params = Bundle()
params.putString("externalUserId", userId)
mFirebaseAnalytics.logEvent("changeUser", params)

Step 4: Add a custom tag provider

With the tags and triggers set up, you will also need to implement Google Tag Manager in your Android app which can be found in Google’s documentation.

After the Google Tag Manager is installed in your app, add a custom tag provider to call Braze SDK methods based on the tags you’ve configured within Google Tag Manager.

Be sure to note the “Class Path” to the file - this is what you’ll enter when setting up a Tag in the Google Tag Manager console.

This example highlights one of many ways you can structure your custom tag provider. Specifically, it shows how to determine which Braze SDK method to call based on the actionType key-value pair sent from the GTM Tag.

The actionType shown in this example are logEvent, customAttribute, and changeUser, but you may prefer to change how your tag provider handles data from Google Tag Manager.

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public class BrazeGtmTagProvider implements CustomTagProvider {
  private static final String TAG = BrazeLogger.getBrazeLogTag(BrazeGtmTagProvider.class);
  private static final String ACTION_TYPE_KEY = "actionType";

  // Custom Events
  private static final String LOG_EVENT_ACTION_TYPE = "logEvent";
  private static final String EVENT_NAME_VARIABLE = "eventName";

  // Custom Attributes
  private static final String CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_ACTION_TYPE = "customAttribute";
  private static final String CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_KEY = "customAttributeKey";
  private static final String CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE_KEY = "customAttributeValue";

  // Change User
  private static final String CHANGE_USER_ACTION_TYPE = "changeUser";
  private static final String CHANGE_USER_ID_VARIABLE = "externalUserId";

  private static Context sApplicationContext;

  /**
   * Must be set before calling any of the following methods
   * so that the proper application context is available when needed.
   *
   * Recommended to be called in your {@link Application#onCreate()}.
   */
  public static void setApplicationContext(Context applicationContext) {
    if (applicationContext != null) {
      sApplicationContext = applicationContext.getApplicationContext();
    }
  }

  @Override
  public void execute(Map<String, Object> map) {
    BrazeLogger.i(TAG, "Got google tag manager parameters map: " + map);

    if (sApplicationContext == null) {
      BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "No application context provided to this tag provider.");
      return;
    }

    if (!map.containsKey(ACTION_TYPE_KEY)) {
      BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "Map does not contain the Braze action type key: " + ACTION_TYPE_KEY);
      return;
    }
    String actionType = String.valueOf(map.remove(ACTION_TYPE_KEY));

    switch (actionType) {
      case LOG_EVENT_ACTION_TYPE:
        logEvent(map);
        break;
      case CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_ACTION_TYPE:
        setCustomAttribute(map);
        break;
      case CHANGE_USER_ACTION_TYPE:
        changeUser(map);
        break;
      default:
        BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "Got unknown action type: " + actionType);
        break;
    }
  }

  private void logEvent(Map<String, Object> tagParameterMap) {
    String eventName = String.valueOf(tagParameterMap.remove(EVENT_NAME_VARIABLE));
    Braze.getInstance(sApplicationContext).logCustomEvent(eventName, parseMapIntoProperties(tagParameterMap));
  }

  private BrazeProperties parseMapIntoProperties(Map<String, Object> map) {
    BrazeProperties brazeProperties = new BrazeProperties();
    for (Map.Entry<String, Object> entry : map.entrySet()) {
      final Object value = entry.getValue();
      final String key = entry.getKey();
      if (value instanceof Boolean) {
        brazeProperties.addProperty(key, (Boolean) value);
      } else if (value instanceof Integer) {
        brazeProperties.addProperty(key, (Integer) value);
      } else if (value instanceof Date) {
        brazeProperties.addProperty(key, (Date) value);
      } else if (value instanceof Long) {
        brazeProperties.addProperty(key, (Long) value);
      } else if (value instanceof String) {
        brazeProperties.addProperty(key, (String) value);
      } else if (value instanceof Double) {
        brazeProperties.addProperty(key, (Double) value);
      } else {
        BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "Failed to parse value into an BrazeProperties "
            + "accepted type. Key: '" + key + "' Value: '" + value + "'");
      }
    }

    return brazeProperties;
  }

  private void setCustomAttribute(Map<String, Object> tagParameterMap) {
    String key = String.valueOf(tagParameterMap.get(CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_KEY));
    Object value = tagParameterMap.get(CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE_KEY);

    Braze.getInstance(sApplicationContext).getCurrentUser(new IValueCallback<BrazeUser>() {
      @Override
      public void onSuccess(BrazeUser brazeUser) {
        if (value instanceof Boolean) {
          brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, (Boolean) value);
        } else if (value instanceof Integer) {
          brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, (Integer) value);
        } else if (value instanceof Long) {
          brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, (Long) value);
        } else if (value instanceof String) {
          brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, (String) value);
        } else if (value instanceof Double) {
          brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, (Double) value);
        } else if (value instanceof Float) {
          brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, (Float) value);
        } else {
          BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "Failed to parse value into a custom "
              + "attribute accepted type. Key: '" + key + "' Value: '" + value + "'");
        }
      }
    });
  }

  private void changeUser(Map<String, Object> tagParameterMap) {
    String userId = String.valueOf(tagParameterMap.get(CHANGE_USER_ID_VARIABLE));
    Braze.getInstance(sApplicationContext).changeUser(userId);
  }
}
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class BrazeGtmTagProvider : CustomTagProvider {

  override fun execute(map: MutableMap<String, Any>) {
    BrazeLogger.i(TAG, "Got google tag manager parameters map: $map")

    if (sApplicationContext == null) {
      BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "No application context provided to this tag provider.")
      return
    }

    if (!map.containsKey(ACTION_TYPE_KEY)) {
      BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "Map does not contain the Braze action type key: $ACTION_TYPE_KEY")
      return
    }
    val actionType = map.remove(ACTION_TYPE_KEY).toString()

    when (actionType) {
      LOG_EVENT_ACTION_TYPE -> logEvent(map)
      CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_ACTION_TYPE -> setCustomAttribute(map)
      CHANGE_USER_ACTION_TYPE -> changeUser(map)
      else -> BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "Got unknown action type: $actionType")
    }
  }

  private fun logEvent(tagParameterMap: MutableMap<String, Any>) {
    val eventName = tagParameterMap.remove(EVENT_NAME_VARIABLE).toString()
    Braze.getInstance(sApplicationContext).logCustomEvent(eventName, parseMapIntoProperties(tagParameterMap))
  }

  private fun parseMapIntoProperties(map: Map<String, Any>): BrazeProperties {
    val brazeProperties = BrazeProperties()
    map.forEach { param ->
      val key = param.key
      val value = param.value
      when (value) {
        is Boolean -> brazeProperties.addProperty(key, value)
        is Int -> brazeProperties.addProperty(key, value)
        is Date -> brazeProperties.addProperty(key, value)
        is Long -> brazeProperties.addProperty(key, value)
        is String -> brazeProperties.addProperty(key, value)
        is Double -> brazeProperties.addProperty(key, value)
        else -> BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "Failed to parse value into an BrazeProperties "
            + "accepted type. Key: '" + key + "' Value: '" + value + "'")
      }
    }

    return brazeProperties
  }

  private fun setCustomAttribute(tagParameterMap: Map<String, Any>) {
    val key = tagParameterMap[CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_KEY].toString()
    val value = tagParameterMap[CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE_KEY]

    Braze.getInstance(sApplicationContext).getCurrentUser { brazeUser ->
      when (value) {
        is Boolean -> brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, value)
        is Int -> brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, value)
        is Long -> brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, value)
        is String -> brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, value)
        is Double -> brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, value)
        is Float -> brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, value)
        else -> BrazeLogger.w(
          TAG, "Failed to parse value into a custom "
            + "attribute accepted type. Key: '" + key + "' Value: '" + value + "'"
        )
      }
    }
  }

  private fun changeUser(tagParameterMap: Map<String, Any>) {
    val userId = tagParameterMap[CHANGE_USER_ID_VARIABLE].toString()
    Braze.getInstance(sApplicationContext).changeUser(userId)
  }

  companion object {
    private val TAG = BrazeLogger.getBrazeLogTag(BrazeGtmTagProvider::class.java)
    private val ACTION_TYPE_KEY = "actionType"

    // Custom Events
    private val LOG_EVENT_ACTION_TYPE = "logEvent"
    private val EVENT_NAME_VARIABLE = "eventName"

    // Custom Attributes
    private val CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_ACTION_TYPE = "customAttribute"
    private val CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_KEY = "customAttributeKey"
    private val CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE_KEY = "customAttributeValue"

    // Change User
    private val CHANGE_USER_ACTION_TYPE = "changeUser"
    private val CHANGE_USER_ID_VARIABLE = "externalUserId"

    private var sApplicationContext: Context? = null

    /**
     * Must be set before calling any of the following methods so
     * that the proper application context is available when needed.
     *
     * Recommended to be called in your [Application.onCreate].
     */
    fun setApplicationContext(applicationContext: Context?) {
      if (applicationContext != null) {
        sApplicationContext = applicationContext.applicationContext
      }
    }
  }
}

In your Application.onCreate() be sure to add the following initialization for the previous snippet:

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BrazeGtmTagProvider.setApplicationContext(this.getApplicationContext());
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BrazeGtmTagProvider.setApplicationContext(this.applicationContext)

Prerequisites

Before you can use this feature, you’ll need to integrate the Braze Swift SDK.

Using delayed initialization

You can initialize your Braze Swift SDK asynchronously while ensuring push notification handling is preserved. This can be useful when you need to set up other services before initializing the SDK, such as fetching configuration data from a server, or waiting for user consent.

Considerations

When you use Braze.prepareForDelayedInitialization(pushAutomation:), you are configuring the SDK to automatically use push notification automation features. Any system delegate methods that handle push notifications will not be called for push notifications originating from Braze.

The SDK will only process a Braze push notification and the resulting action after the SDK is initialized. For example, if a user taps a push notification that opens a deep link, the deep link will only open after the Braze instance is initialized.

If you need to perform additional processing on Braze push notifications, see Subscribing to push notifications updates. Keep in mind, to receive updates for push notifications that were previously enqueued, you must implement the subscription handler directly after initializing the SDK.

Step 1: Prepare the SDK

By default, if an end-user opens your push notification while your app is in a terminated state, the push notification cannot be processed before the SDK is initialized.

Starting with Braze Swift SDK version 10.1.0 and later, you can handle this using the static helper method: Braze.prepareForDelayedInitialization(pushAutomation:). This method will prepare the SDK for delayed initialization by setting up the push automation system.

Before the SDK is initialized, all push notifications originating from Braze will be captured and queued. After the SDK is initialized, those push notifications will be processed by the SDK. This method must be called as early as possible in your application lifecycle, either in or before the application(_:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:) method of your AppDelegate.

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func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {
  // Prepare the SDK for delayed initialization
  Braze.prepareForDelayedInitialization()

  // ... Additional non-Braze setup code

  return true
}

SwiftUI applications require implementing the @UIApplicationDelegateAdaptor property wrapper to call the prepareForDelayedInitialization() method.

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@main
struct MyApp: App {
  @UIApplicationDelegateAdaptor var appDelegate: AppDelegate

  var body: some Scene {
    WindowGroup {
      ContentView()
    }
  }
}

class AppDelegate: NSObject, UIApplicationDelegate {
  
  func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey : Any]? = nil) -> Bool {
    // Prepare the SDK for delayed initialization
    Braze.prepareForDelayedInitialization()

    // ... Additional non-Braze setup code

    return true
  }
  
}
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- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions {
  // Prepare the SDK for delayed initialization
  [Braze prepareForDelayedInitialization];
  
  // ... Additional non-Braze setup code

  return YES;
}

Step 2: Initialize the SDK

After you’ve prepared the SDK for delayed initialization, you can initialize the SDK asynchronously at any time in the future. Then the SDK will process all queued push notifications events originating from Braze.

To initialize the Braze SDK, follow the standard Swift SDK initialization process.

Using Google Tag Manager

The Braze Swift SDK can be initialized and controlled by tags configured within Google Tag Manager.

In the following example, a music streaming app wants to log different events as users listen to songs. Using Google Tag Manager for iOS, they can control which of Braze’s third-party vendors receive this event and create tags specific to Braze.

Step 1: Create a trigger for custom events

Custom events are logged with actionType set to logEvent. In this example, the Braze custom tag provider is expecting the custom event name to be set using eventName.

First, create a trigger that looks for an eventName that equals played song.

A custom trigger in Google Tag Manager set to trigger for some events when "eventName" equals "played song".

Next, create a new Tag (also known as a “Function Call”) and enter the class path of your custom tag provider described later in this article. This tag will be triggered when you log the played song event. Because eventName is set to played song it will be used as custom event name that’s logged to Braze.

A tag in Google Tag Manager with classpath and key-value pair fields. This tag is set to trigger with the previously created "played song" trigger.

You can also include additional key-value pair arguments to the tag, which will be sent as custom event properties to Braze. eventName and actionType will not be ignored for custom event properties. In the following example tag, pass in genre, which was defined using a tag variable in Google Tag Manager and sourced from the custom event logged in the app.

The genre event property is sent to Google Tag Manager as a “Firebase - Event Parameter” variable since Google Tag Manager for iOS uses Firebase as the data layer.

A variable in Google Tag Manager where "genre" is added as an event parameter for the "Braze - Played Song Event" tag.

When a user plays a song in the app, log an event through Firebase and Google Tag Manager using the Firebase analytics event name that matches the tag’s trigger name, played song:

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let parameters: [String: Any] = ["genre": "pop",
                                 "number of times listened": 42]
Analytics.logEvent("played song", parameters: parameters)
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NSDictionary *parameters = @{@"genre" : @"pop",
                             @"number of times listened" : @42};
[FIRAnalytics logEventWithName:@"played song" parameters:parameters];

Step 2: Log custom attributes

Custom attributes are set via an actionType set to customAttribute. The Braze custom tag provider is expecting the custom attribute key-value to be set via customAttributeKey and customAttributeValue:

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let parameters: [String: Any] = ["customAttributeKey": "favoriteSong",
                                 "customAttributeValue": "Private Eyes"]
FIRAnalytics.logEvent(withName:"customAttribute", parameters: parameters)
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NSDictionary *parameters = @{@"customAttributeKey" : @"favoriteSong",
                             @"customAttributeValue" : @"Private Eyes"};
[FIRAnalytics logEventWithName:@"customAttribute" parameters:parameters];

Step 3: Call changeUser()

Calls to changeUser() are made via an actionType set to changeUser. The Braze custom tag provider is expecting the Braze user ID to be set via an externalUserId key-value pair within your tag:

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let parameters: [String: Any] = ["externalUserId": "favorite userId"]
Analytics.logEvent(withName:"changeUser", parameters: parameters)
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NSDictionary *parameters = @{@"externalUserId" : userId};
[FIRAnalytics logEventWithName:@"changeUser" parameters:parameters];

Step 4: Add a custom tag provider

With the tags and triggers set up, you will also need to implement Google Tag Manager in your iOS app which can be found in Google’s documentation.

After Google Tag Manager is installed in your app, add a custom tag provider to call Braze SDK methods based on the tags you’ve configured within Google Tag Manager.

Be sure to note the “Class Path” to the file - this is what you’ll enter when setting up a tag in the Google Tag Manager console.

This example highlights one of many ways you can structure your custom tag provider. Specifically, it shows how to determine which Braze SDK method to call based on the actionType key-value pair sent from the GTM Tag. This example assumes you’ve assigned the Braze instance as a variable in the AppDelegate.

The actionType supported in this example are logEvent, customAttribute, and changeUser, but you may prefer to change how your tag provider handles data from Google Tag Manager.

Add the following code to your BrazeGTMTagManager.swift file.

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import FirebaseAnalytics
import GoogleTagManager
import BrazeKit

let ActionTypeKey: String = "actionType"

// Custom Events
let LogEventAction: String = "logEvent"
let LogEventName: String = "eventName"

// Custom Attributes
let CustomAttributeAction: String = "customAttribute"
let CustomAttributeKey: String = "customAttributeKey"
let CustomAttributeValueKey: String = "customAttributeValue"

// Change User
let ChangeUserAction: String = "changeUser"
let ChangeUserExternalUserId: String = "externalUserId"

@objc(BrazeGTMTagManager)
final class BrazeGTMTagManager : NSObject, TAGCustomFunction {
  @objc func execute(withParameters parameters: [AnyHashable : Any]!) -> NSObject! {
    var parameters: [String : Any] = parameters as! [String : Any]
    guard let actionType: String = parameters[ActionTypeKey] as? String else {
      print("There is no Braze action type key in this call. Doing nothing.")
      return nil
    }
    parameters.removeValue(forKey: ActionTypeKey)
    if actionType == LogEventAction {
      logEvent(parameters: parameters)
    } else if actionType == CustomAttributeAction {
      logCustomAttribute(parameters: parameters)
    } else if actionType == ChangeUserAction {
      changeUser(parameters: parameters)
    }
    return nil
  }
  
  func logEvent(parameters: [String : Any]) {
    var parameters: [String : Any] = parameters
    guard let eventName: String = parameters[LogEventName] as? String else { return }
    parameters.removeValue(forKey: LogEventName)
    AppDelegate.braze?.logCustomEvent(name: eventName, properties: parameters)
  }
  
  func logCustomAttribute(parameters: [String: Any]) {
    guard let customAttributeKey = parameters[CustomAttributeKey] as? String else { return }
    let customAttributeValue = parameters[CustomAttributeValueKey]
    
    if let customAttributeValue = customAttributeValue as? String {
      AppDelegate.braze?.user.setCustomAttribute(key: customAttributeKey, value: customAttributeValue)
    } else if let customAttributeValue = customAttributeValue as? Date {
      AppDelegate.braze?.user.setCustomAttribute(key: customAttributeKey, value: customAttributeValue)
    } else if let customAttributeValue = customAttributeValue as? Double {
      AppDelegate.braze?.user.setCustomAttribute(key: customAttributeKey, value: customAttributeValue)
    } else if let customAttributeValue = customAttributeValue as? Bool {
      AppDelegate.braze?.user.setCustomAttribute(key: customAttributeKey, value: customAttributeValue)
    } else if let customAttributeValue = customAttributeValue as? Int {
      AppDelegate.braze?.user.setCustomAttribute(key: customAttributeKey, value: customAttributeValue)
    } else if let customAttibuteValue = customAttributeValue as? [String] {
      AppDelegate.braze?.user.setCustomAttributeArray(key: customAttributeKey, array: customAttibuteValue)
    }
  }
  
  func changeUser(parameters: [String: Any]) {
    guard let userId = parameters[ChangeUserExternalUserId] as? String else { return }
    AppDelegate.braze?.changeUser(userId: userId)
  }
}

Add the following code to your BrazeGTMTagManager.h file:

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@import Firebase;
@import GoogleTagManager;

@interface BrazeGTMTagManager : NSObject <TAGCustomFunction>

@end

And add the following code to your BrazeGTMTagManager.m file:

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#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#import "BrazeGTMTagManager.h"
#import "BrazeKit"
#import "AppDelegate.h"

static NSString *const ActionTypeKey = @"actionType";

// Custom Events
static NSString *const LogEventAction = @"logEvent";
static NSString *const LogEventEventName = @"eventName";

// Custom Attributes
static NSString *const CustomAttributeAction = @"customAttribute";
static NSString *const CustomAttributeKey = @"customAttributeKey";
static NSString *const CustomAttributeValueKey = @"customAttributeValue";

// Change User
static NSString *const ChangeUserAction = @"changeUser";
static NSString *const ChangeUserExternalUserId = @"externalUserId";

@implementation BrazeGTMTagManager

- (NSObject *)executeWithParameters:(NSDictionary *)parameters {
  NSMutableDictionary *mutableParameters = [parameters mutableCopy];
  
  NSString *actionType = mutableParameters[ActionTypeKey];
  if (!actionType) {
    NSLog(@"There is no Braze action type key in this call. Doing nothing.", nil);
    return nil;
  }
  
  [mutableParameters removeObjectForKey:ActionTypeKey];
  
  if ([actionType isEqualToString:LogEventAction]) {
    [self logEvent:mutableParameters];
  } else if ([actionType isEqualToString:CustomAttributeAction]) {
    [self logCustomAttribute:mutableParameters];
  } else if ([actionType isEqualToString:ChangeUserAction]) {
    [self changeUser:mutableParameters];
  } else {
    NSLog(@"Invalid action type. Doing nothing.");
  }
  return nil;
}

- (void)logEvent:(NSMutableDictionary *)parameters {
  NSString *eventName = parameters[LogEventEventName];
  [parameters removeObjectForKey:LogEventEventName];
  [AppDelegate.braze logCustomEvent:eventName
                         properties:parameters];
}

- (void)logCustomAttribute:(NSMutableDictionary *)parameters {
  NSString *customAttributeKey = parameters[CustomAttributeKey];
  id customAttributeValue = parameters[CustomAttributeValueKey];
  
  if ([customAttributeValue isKindOfClass:[NSString class]]) {
    [AppDelegate.braze logCustomEvent:customAttributeKey
                           properties:parameters];
  } else if ([customAttributeValue isKindOfClass:[NSDate class]]) {
    [AppDelegate.braze.user setCustomAttributeWithKey:customAttributeKey
                                            dateValue:customAttributeValue];
  } else if ([customAttributeValue isKindOfClass:[NSNumber class]]) {
    if (strcmp([customAttributeValue objCType], [@(YES) objCType]) == 0) {
      [AppDelegate.braze.user setCustomAttributeWithKey:customAttributeKey
                                              boolValue:[(NSNumber *)customAttributeValue boolValue]];
    } else if (strcmp([customAttributeValue objCType], @encode(short)) == 0 ||
               strcmp([customAttributeValue objCType], @encode(int)) == 0 ||
               strcmp([customAttributeValue objCType], @encode(long)) == 0) {
      [AppDelegate.braze.user setCustomAttributeWithKey:customAttributeKey
                                               intValue:[(NSNumber *)customAttributeValue integerValue]];
    } else if (strcmp([customAttributeValue objCType], @encode(float)) == 0 ||
               strcmp([customAttributeValue objCType], @encode(double)) == 0) {
      [AppDelegate.braze.user setCustomAttributeWithKey:customAttributeKey
                                            doubleValue:[(NSNumber *)customAttributeValue doubleValue]];
    } else {
      NSLog(@"Could not map NSNumber value to Braze custom attribute:%@", customAttributeValue);
    }
  } else if ([customAttributeValue isKindOfClass:[NSArray class]]) {
    [AppDelegate.braze.user setCustomAttributeArrayWithKey:customAttributeKey
                                                     array:customAttributeValue];
  }
}

- (void)changeUser:(NSMutableDictionary *)parameters {
  NSString *userId = parameters[ChangeUserExternalUserId];
  [AppDelegate.braze changeUser:userId];
}

@end

Prerequisites

Before you can use this feature, you’ll need to integrate the Braze Android SDK. Additionally, Braze requires an external image library to display animated GIFs.

Using runtime configuration

Runtime configuration is an optional way to configure your app at runtime in place of a braze.xml.

The use of both runtime configuration and braze.xml configuration is still possible. Runtime configured values will always take precedence over the same value in the braze.xml. If the Braze SDK can find all values in the runtime configuration, then the braze.xml is no longer needed and can be removed.

Example configuration

The following configuration uses a builder object that is then built and passed to Braze.configure(). The following example uses a subset of the runtime configuration options available, see our KDoc for a complete list of options.

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BrazeConfig brazeConfig = new BrazeConfig.Builder()
        .setApiKey("api-key-here")
        .setCustomEndpoint("YOUR_CUSTOM_ENDPOINT_OR_CLUSTER")
        .setSessionTimeout(60)
        .setHandlePushDeepLinksAutomatically(true)
        .setGreatNetworkDataFlushInterval(10)
        .build();
Braze.configure(this, brazeConfig);
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val brazeConfig = BrazeConfig.Builder()
        .setApiKey("api-key-here")
        .setCustomEndpoint("YOUR_CUSTOM_ENDPOINT_OR_CLUSTER")
        .setSessionTimeout(60)
        .setHandlePushDeepLinksAutomatically(true)
        .setGreatNetworkDataFlushInterval(10)
        .build()
Braze.configure(this, brazeConfig)

Another example can be found in our Hello Braze sample app.

Using Google Tag Manager

You can initialize, configure, and implement the Google Tag Manager into your Android or FireOS app.

In the following example, a music streaming app wants to log different events as users listen to songs. Using Google Tag Manager for Android, they can control which of Braze’s third-party vendors receive this event, and create tags specific to Braze.

Step 1: Create a trigger for custom events

Custom events are logged with actionType set to logEvent. The Braze custom tag provider in this example is expecting the custom event name to be set using eventName.

To get started, create a trigger that looks for an “Event Name” that equals played song

A custom trigger in Google Tag Manager set to trigger for some events when "event name" equals "played song".

Next, create a new tag (also known as a “Function Call”) and enter the class path of your custom tag provider described later in this article. This tag will be triggered when you log the played song event.

In the tag’s custom parameters (also known as the key-value pairs), set eventName to played song. This will be the custom event name logged to Braze.

A tag in Google Tag Manager with classpath and key-value pair fields. This tag is set to trigger with the previously created "played song" trigger.

You can also include additional key-value pair arguments to the tag, which will be sent as custom event properties to Braze. eventName and actionType will not be ignored for custom event properties. In the following example tag, genre is passed and defined using a tag variable in Google Tag Manager, which is sourced from the custom event logged in the app.

Because Google Tag Manager for Android uses Firebase as the data layer, the genre event property is sent to Google Tag Manager as a “Firebase - Event Parameter” variable.

A variable in Google Tag Manager where "genre" is added as an event parameter for the "Braze - Played Song Event" tag.

When a user plays a song in the app, an event will be logged through Firebase and Google Tag Manager using the Firebase analytics event name that matches the tag’s trigger name, played song:

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Bundle params = new Bundle();
params.putString("genre", "pop");
params.putInt("number of times listened", 42);
mFirebaseAnalytics.logEvent("played song", params);
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val params = Bundle()
params.putString("genre", "pop")
params.putInt("number of times listened", 42);
mFirebaseAnalytics.logEvent("played song", params)

Step 2: Log custom attributes

Custom attributes are set via an actionType set to customAttribute. The Braze custom tag provider is expecting the custom attribute key-value to be set via customAttributeKey and customAttributeValue:

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Bundle params = new Bundle();
params.putString("customAttributeKey", "favorite song");
params.putString("customAttributeValue", "Private Eyes");
mFirebaseAnalytics.logEvent("customAttribute", params);
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val params = Bundle()
params.putString("customAttributeKey", "favorite song")
params.putString("customAttributeValue", "Private Eyes")
mFirebaseAnalytics.logEvent("customAttribute", params)

Step 3: Call changeUser()

Calls to changeUser() are made via an actionType set to changeUser. The Braze custom tag provider is expecting the Braze user ID to be set via an externalUserId key-value pair within your tag:

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Bundle params = new Bundle();
params.putString("externalUserId", userId);
mFirebaseAnalytics.logEvent("changeUser", params);
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val params = Bundle()
params.putString("externalUserId", userId)
mFirebaseAnalytics.logEvent("changeUser", params)

Step 4: Add a custom tag provider

With the tags and triggers set up, you will also need to implement Google Tag Manager in your Android app which can be found in Google’s documentation.

After the Google Tag Manager is installed in your app, add a custom tag provider to call Braze SDK methods based on the tags you’ve configured within Google Tag Manager.

Be sure to note the “Class Path” to the file - this is what you’ll enter when setting up a Tag in the Google Tag Manager console.

This example highlights one of many ways you can structure your custom tag provider. Specifically, it shows how to determine which Braze SDK method to call based on the actionType key-value pair sent from the GTM Tag.

The actionType shown in this example are logEvent, customAttribute, and changeUser, but you may prefer to change how your tag provider handles data from Google Tag Manager.

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public class BrazeGtmTagProvider implements CustomTagProvider {
  private static final String TAG = BrazeLogger.getBrazeLogTag(BrazeGtmTagProvider.class);
  private static final String ACTION_TYPE_KEY = "actionType";

  // Custom Events
  private static final String LOG_EVENT_ACTION_TYPE = "logEvent";
  private static final String EVENT_NAME_VARIABLE = "eventName";

  // Custom Attributes
  private static final String CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_ACTION_TYPE = "customAttribute";
  private static final String CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_KEY = "customAttributeKey";
  private static final String CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE_KEY = "customAttributeValue";

  // Change User
  private static final String CHANGE_USER_ACTION_TYPE = "changeUser";
  private static final String CHANGE_USER_ID_VARIABLE = "externalUserId";

  private static Context sApplicationContext;

  /**
   * Must be set before calling any of the following methods
   * so that the proper application context is available when needed.
   *
   * Recommended to be called in your {@link Application#onCreate()}.
   */
  public static void setApplicationContext(Context applicationContext) {
    if (applicationContext != null) {
      sApplicationContext = applicationContext.getApplicationContext();
    }
  }

  @Override
  public void execute(Map<String, Object> map) {
    BrazeLogger.i(TAG, "Got google tag manager parameters map: " + map);

    if (sApplicationContext == null) {
      BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "No application context provided to this tag provider.");
      return;
    }

    if (!map.containsKey(ACTION_TYPE_KEY)) {
      BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "Map does not contain the Braze action type key: " + ACTION_TYPE_KEY);
      return;
    }
    String actionType = String.valueOf(map.remove(ACTION_TYPE_KEY));

    switch (actionType) {
      case LOG_EVENT_ACTION_TYPE:
        logEvent(map);
        break;
      case CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_ACTION_TYPE:
        setCustomAttribute(map);
        break;
      case CHANGE_USER_ACTION_TYPE:
        changeUser(map);
        break;
      default:
        BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "Got unknown action type: " + actionType);
        break;
    }
  }

  private void logEvent(Map<String, Object> tagParameterMap) {
    String eventName = String.valueOf(tagParameterMap.remove(EVENT_NAME_VARIABLE));
    Braze.getInstance(sApplicationContext).logCustomEvent(eventName, parseMapIntoProperties(tagParameterMap));
  }

  private BrazeProperties parseMapIntoProperties(Map<String, Object> map) {
    BrazeProperties brazeProperties = new BrazeProperties();
    for (Map.Entry<String, Object> entry : map.entrySet()) {
      final Object value = entry.getValue();
      final String key = entry.getKey();
      if (value instanceof Boolean) {
        brazeProperties.addProperty(key, (Boolean) value);
      } else if (value instanceof Integer) {
        brazeProperties.addProperty(key, (Integer) value);
      } else if (value instanceof Date) {
        brazeProperties.addProperty(key, (Date) value);
      } else if (value instanceof Long) {
        brazeProperties.addProperty(key, (Long) value);
      } else if (value instanceof String) {
        brazeProperties.addProperty(key, (String) value);
      } else if (value instanceof Double) {
        brazeProperties.addProperty(key, (Double) value);
      } else {
        BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "Failed to parse value into an BrazeProperties "
            + "accepted type. Key: '" + key + "' Value: '" + value + "'");
      }
    }

    return brazeProperties;
  }

  private void setCustomAttribute(Map<String, Object> tagParameterMap) {
    String key = String.valueOf(tagParameterMap.get(CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_KEY));
    Object value = tagParameterMap.get(CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE_KEY);

    Braze.getInstance(sApplicationContext).getCurrentUser(new IValueCallback<BrazeUser>() {
      @Override
      public void onSuccess(BrazeUser brazeUser) {
        if (value instanceof Boolean) {
          brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, (Boolean) value);
        } else if (value instanceof Integer) {
          brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, (Integer) value);
        } else if (value instanceof Long) {
          brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, (Long) value);
        } else if (value instanceof String) {
          brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, (String) value);
        } else if (value instanceof Double) {
          brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, (Double) value);
        } else if (value instanceof Float) {
          brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, (Float) value);
        } else {
          BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "Failed to parse value into a custom "
              + "attribute accepted type. Key: '" + key + "' Value: '" + value + "'");
        }
      }
    });
  }

  private void changeUser(Map<String, Object> tagParameterMap) {
    String userId = String.valueOf(tagParameterMap.get(CHANGE_USER_ID_VARIABLE));
    Braze.getInstance(sApplicationContext).changeUser(userId);
  }
}
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class BrazeGtmTagProvider : CustomTagProvider {

  override fun execute(map: MutableMap<String, Any>) {
    BrazeLogger.i(TAG, "Got google tag manager parameters map: $map")

    if (sApplicationContext == null) {
      BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "No application context provided to this tag provider.")
      return
    }

    if (!map.containsKey(ACTION_TYPE_KEY)) {
      BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "Map does not contain the Braze action type key: $ACTION_TYPE_KEY")
      return
    }
    val actionType = map.remove(ACTION_TYPE_KEY).toString()

    when (actionType) {
      LOG_EVENT_ACTION_TYPE -> logEvent(map)
      CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_ACTION_TYPE -> setCustomAttribute(map)
      CHANGE_USER_ACTION_TYPE -> changeUser(map)
      else -> BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "Got unknown action type: $actionType")
    }
  }

  private fun logEvent(tagParameterMap: MutableMap<String, Any>) {
    val eventName = tagParameterMap.remove(EVENT_NAME_VARIABLE).toString()
    Braze.getInstance(sApplicationContext).logCustomEvent(eventName, parseMapIntoProperties(tagParameterMap))
  }

  private fun parseMapIntoProperties(map: Map<String, Any>): BrazeProperties {
    val brazeProperties = BrazeProperties()
    map.forEach { param ->
      val key = param.key
      val value = param.value
      when (value) {
        is Boolean -> brazeProperties.addProperty(key, value)
        is Int -> brazeProperties.addProperty(key, value)
        is Date -> brazeProperties.addProperty(key, value)
        is Long -> brazeProperties.addProperty(key, value)
        is String -> brazeProperties.addProperty(key, value)
        is Double -> brazeProperties.addProperty(key, value)
        else -> BrazeLogger.w(TAG, "Failed to parse value into an BrazeProperties "
            + "accepted type. Key: '" + key + "' Value: '" + value + "'")
      }
    }

    return brazeProperties
  }

  private fun setCustomAttribute(tagParameterMap: Map<String, Any>) {
    val key = tagParameterMap[CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_KEY].toString()
    val value = tagParameterMap[CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE_KEY]

    Braze.getInstance(sApplicationContext).getCurrentUser { brazeUser ->
      when (value) {
        is Boolean -> brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, value)
        is Int -> brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, value)
        is Long -> brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, value)
        is String -> brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, value)
        is Double -> brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, value)
        is Float -> brazeUser.setCustomUserAttribute(key, value)
        else -> BrazeLogger.w(
          TAG, "Failed to parse value into a custom "
            + "attribute accepted type. Key: '" + key + "' Value: '" + value + "'"
        )
      }
    }
  }

  private fun changeUser(tagParameterMap: Map<String, Any>) {
    val userId = tagParameterMap[CHANGE_USER_ID_VARIABLE].toString()
    Braze.getInstance(sApplicationContext).changeUser(userId)
  }

  companion object {
    private val TAG = BrazeLogger.getBrazeLogTag(BrazeGtmTagProvider::class.java)
    private val ACTION_TYPE_KEY = "actionType"

    // Custom Events
    private val LOG_EVENT_ACTION_TYPE = "logEvent"
    private val EVENT_NAME_VARIABLE = "eventName"

    // Custom Attributes
    private val CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_ACTION_TYPE = "customAttribute"
    private val CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_KEY = "customAttributeKey"
    private val CUSTOM_ATTRIBUTE_VALUE_KEY = "customAttributeValue"

    // Change User
    private val CHANGE_USER_ACTION_TYPE = "changeUser"
    private val CHANGE_USER_ID_VARIABLE = "externalUserId"

    private var sApplicationContext: Context? = null

    /**
     * Must be set before calling any of the following methods so
     * that the proper application context is available when needed.
     *
     * Recommended to be called in your [Application.onCreate].
     */
    fun setApplicationContext(applicationContext: Context?) {
      if (applicationContext != null) {
        sApplicationContext = applicationContext.applicationContext
      }
    }
  }
}

In your Application.onCreate() be sure to add the following initialization for the previous snippet:

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BrazeGtmTagProvider.setApplicationContext(this.getApplicationContext());
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BrazeGtmTagProvider.setApplicationContext(this.applicationContext)

Prerequisites

Before you can use this feature, you’ll need to integrate the Unreal Engine Braze SDK.

Initializing the SDK

If you’d like precise control over when Braze initializes, you can disable AutoInitialize in your DefaultEngine.ini file. After AutoInitialize is disabled, you’ll need to manually initialize Braze from native C++ or Blueprint.

In native C++, access the BrazeSubsystem and call InitializeBraze() optionally passing it a Config to override Engine.ini settings.

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UBrazeSubsystem* const BrazeSubsystem = GEngine->GetEngineSubsystem<UBrazeSubsystem>();
UBraze* const BrazeInstance = BrazeSubsystem->InitializeBraze();

In Blueprint, the same functions are accessible as Blueprint nodes:
Use the GetBrazeSubsystem Node to call its Initialize node.
A BrazeConfig object can optionally be created in Blueprint and passed to Initialize

InitializeBraze

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