Backends

No more Google Forms

Using Google Forms as an ACRA backend has been a nice free solution when starting android development. Though, Google asked us to stop using this solution and it won't be supported in future releases.

You can read more details on this topic here.

Selecting your backend for collecting ACRA reports may be the most difficult task. Here is a review of various solutions by Antoine Bouthors

Official backend

Acralyzer is the new open source backend created by the author of ACRA. Still in early development stage but already more usable than the GoogleDocs spreadsheet solution.

Its main advantages:

• Can be hosted for free on Cloudant or IrisCouch (reasonable pricing plan based on your usage on both services, you'll most likely stay in the free zone)
• Based on a full open source stack, it can also be hosted on your own servers with the only requirement of installing CouchDB. Your data is yours.
• Guarantees to display ALL possible data collected by ACRA.

Alternative backends

Being an open source project, ACRA welcomes all initiatives to integrate its reports in any other backend/analysis tool.

Here is a list of solutions we are aware of.

Commercial solutions

Their UI is often more polished than Acralyzer and they can provide some more handy features or integration with other bug tracking / project management tools.

• Bugsense - Android, iOS, AppEngine and Windows Phone bug analysis platform
• Zubhium - platform dedicated to Android applications beta distribution, crash analytics and users support.
• Sentry also released an ACRA Sender
• Hockeyapp OSX, iOS and Android beta distribution platform and crash reports collection. There is a more complete sender contributed by Antoine Bouthors
• Bugify - commercial PHP bug and issue tracker published an ACRA sender
• LogEntries, log management service you can eventually use to collect crash reports.

Open source solutions

We did not test any of the following backends. Some are in early development stage. Support is provided by their respective developers.

Google AppEngine hosting:

• acra-reporter - java AppEngine backend by Matthew Winters.
• sdimmick's android crash reports - python AppEngine backend

PHP Hosting:

• The Simplest PHP ACRA backend - 10 lines of code to just write each received report to a single file.
• CrashReportsViewer opensource PHP backend by Benoit Duffez
• Crash Report Dashboard open source PHP backend for ACRA by Arvid Gerstmann.
• X2ON's Android ACRA Server + sender by Felix Schulze / X2ON
• ACRA Mailer forwards reports to an email address in a nicely formatted email. Allows to receive reports by mail without going through an intent (and user action to send the mail)
• TBSFactory ACRA Server
• pacralyzer
• acra php server

Ruby Hosting:

• Acracadabra forwards reports to an email address. Allows to receive reports by mail without going through an intent (and user action to send the mail)
• Johnny Crash

Python Hosting:

• ACRA Web.py

Node.js Hosting:

• node acra reporter provided by Gavin Mogan who is also contributing to Acralyzer.
• acra node server