Methods and apparatus to detect uninstallation of an on-device meter
View Patent ↗Example methods and apparatus to detect uninstallation of an on-device meter are disclosed. An example method includes identifying, at a second application on a mobile device, a first notification that the first application is to be uninstalled. A prompt is displayed asking whether the second application is to be uninstalled in response to the first notification. An uninstallation notification is transmitted to a remote data collector, the uninstallation notification including an identifier to identify at least one of the mobile device associated with the uninstallation or a user of the mobile device.
1. A method to detect uninstallation of an on-device meter application on a mobile device, the method comprising:
identifying, at an application on the mobile device, a first notification that the on-device meter application is to be uninstalled, the first notification broadcast within the mobile device in response to a user instruction to uninstall the on-device meter application, the on-device meter application to monitor usage of the mobile device, the first notification not communicated external to the mobile device, wherein the first notification is received from a package manager;
transmitting, with a transmitter on the mobile device and in response to the identification of the first notification, monitoring information to a remote data collector, the monitoring information stored in an event log by the on-device meter application, the monitoring information not transmitted to the remote data collector by the on-device meter application; and
transmitting, with the transmitter on the mobile device, an uninstallation notification to the remote data collector, the uninstallation notification including an identifier to identify at least one of the mobile device associated with the uninstallation or a user of the mobile device.
2. The method as described in claim 1 , wherein the application is an on-device meter monitor to monitor uninstallation of the on-device meter application.
3. The method as described in claim 1 , wherein the uninstallation notification further includes a reason for the uninstallation of the first application.
4. The method as described in claim 1 , wherein the application is to detect uninstallation of the on-device meter application.
5. The method as described in claim 1 , wherein the application is dedicated to monitoring only the on-device meter application.
6. The method as described in claim 1 , wherein the application does not respond to uninstallations of applications different than the on-device meter application or the application.
7. The method as described in claim 1 , further including:
displaying, in response to the first notification, a prompt asking wither the application is to be uninstalled; and
uninstalling the application in response to a user response to the prompt indicating that the application is to be uninstalled.
8. The method as described in claim 7 , wherein transmitting the uninstallation notification is performed prior to uninstalling the application.
9. The method as described in claim 1 , wherein the application is to initiate a survey on the mobile device in response to the uninstallation of the on-device meter application.
10. The method as described in claim 1 , further including determining if the on-device meter application was uninstalled during startup of the mobile device.
11. An apparatus to detect uninstallation of an audience metering application on a mobile device, the apparatus comprising:
an uninstall detector on the mobile device to detect that the audience metering application is to be uninstalled from the mobile device based on a notification broadcast within the mobile device, the notification not communicated external to the mobile device, the notification received from a package manager, the audience metering application to store monitoring information representative of usage of the mobile device;
an uninstaller to prompt a package manager to remove the uninstall detector from the mobile device when the audience metering application is uninstalled; and
a communicator to:
transmit the monitoring information to a data collector, the monitoring information stored in an event log by the audience metering application, the monitoring information not transmitted to the data collector by the audience metering application; and
transmit an uninstallation notification to the data collector when the audience metering application is to be uninstalled, the uninstallation notification to enable identification of a panelist associated with the mobile device, at least one of the uninstall detector, the uninstaller, or the communicator implemented by a processor.
12. The apparatus as described in claim 11 , further including a startup detector to cause the uninstall detector to determine if the audience metering application has been uninstalled during startup of the mobile device.
13. A tangible computer readable medium excluding propagating signals, comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a processor of a mobile device to at least:
identify a first notification that an on-device meter is to be uninstalled, the on-device meter to monitor media usage, the first notification broadcast within the mobile device in response to a user instruction to uninstall the on-device meter, the first notification not communicated external to the mobile device, the first notification received from a package manager;
transmit, in response to the identification of the first notification, monitoring information to a remote data collector, the monitoring information stored in an event log by the on-device meter, the monitoring information not transmitted to the remote data collector by the on-device meter; and
transmit an uninstallation notification to the remote data collector, the uninstallation notification including an identifier to identify at least one of the mobile device.
14. The computer readable medium as described in claim 13 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to implement an on-device meter monitor dedicated to monitoring only the on-device meter.
15. The computer readable medium as described in claim 13 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to implement an on-device meter monitor which does not respond to uninstallations of applications different than the on-device meter.
16. The computer readable medium as described in claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor to at least:
display a prompt regarding whether an on-device meter monitor is to be uninstalled when the first notification that the on-device meter is to be uninstalled is identified; and
uninstall the on-device meter monitor if the response indicates that the on-device meter monitor is to be uninstalled.
17. The computer readable medium as described in claim 16 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to transmit the uninstallation notification prior to uninstalling the on-device meter monitor.
18. The computer readable medium as described in claim 13 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to initiate a survey on the mobile device in response to the uninstallation of the on-device meter.
19. The computer readable medium as described in claim 13 , wherein the instructions cause the processor to determine if the on-device meter was uninstalled during startup of the mobile device.