What is In-App Event? Complete Guide for 2026

How in-app events work

An in-app event is a named action with optional parameters. For example:

• sign_up with method: google
• add_to_cart with item_id and price
• purchase with amount: 499 and currency: INR

The event is sent from the SDK on the device or from your backend. The MMP stores it against the user and, because it already attributed that user's install, credits the event to the install's source. That is what turns a list of user actions into campaign performance: cost per sign-up, purchases per campaign, revenue by creative.

Planning an event schema

A short, consistent event list beats a long, messy one.

1. Map events to the funnel. Install, sign-up, activation, first value, first purchase, repeat purchase.
2. Name events once. Use lowercase with underscores and never rename a live event, or history splits in two.
3. Attach value where it exists. Revenue events need amount and currency.
4. Decide the source of truth. Payments from the server, UI actions from the SDK.
5. Document it. One sheet with event names, triggers and parameters saves weeks of debugging.

From events to decisions

A worked example: two campaigns each drive 5,000 installs at $1 CPI. Campaign A produces 1,500 sign-ups and 100 purchases. Campaign B produces 1,000 sign-ups and 200 purchases. Cost per sign-up favors A ($3.33 against $5), but cost per purchase favors B ($25 against $50). Without the purchase event attributed to each campaign, you would scale the wrong one.

Events also feed ad network optimization. Map your purchase event to Meta's purchase and Google's conversion action, include the value, and the networks can bid toward buyers.

In-app events in Linkrunner

Linkrunner captures events through its SDKs (iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter, Expo, Capacitor, Cordova and Unity) or the server-side event capture API, and attributes each one to the campaign behind the install. The Events tab shows funnels and a raw event log. Events can be mapped per network for postbacks, with delivery logs, and revenue events report alongside spend in ROAS measurement. Webhooks and exports are covered in APIs and webhooks.