I know that when app crashes a bug report is sent to my developer console.
Now I’d like to add a statistics usage function: for example each week app gathers my app’s preferences settings and send them to my dev console. This way I could see what users like more and, on the other hand, what has to be improved.
Is it possible with some android function? I know I could do something like send an email, or make an hidden connection to my server but I’d like a more “standard” way (moreover these hidden methods could not be liked by some user)…moreover error logs are sent so there IS a mechanism, problem is if I can attach to it or not
Well, it’s not the developer console, but you can use Google Analytics for that. There is an API to use it with Android, explained here: https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/android/
It’s up to you, what exactly you’re gonna track, but it’s very easy and for dealing with the statistics you have all the power of Google Analytics at hand.
EDIT: For best results with least effort, you should use the EasyTracker library, which makes sure that communication with the server is done in a separate thread; otherwise you will experience ‘hickups’ in the UI.