📢 Pre-Announcement: Introducing the NG Analytics Service in NG Extension Manager v2.3.81

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📢 Pre-Announcement: Introducing the NG Analytics Service in NG Extension Manager v2.3.81

Hello everyone,

We're preparing for the upcoming release of NG Extension Manager version 2.3.81, and we want to give you a heads-up about a significant new feature we'll be introducing: the NG Analytics Service.

Starting with version 2.3.81, the NG Analytics Service will be integrated into the extension and will remain a permanent part of it going forward, unless we announce otherwise in the future.

Why did we develop the NG Analytics Service?

As the UNBOUND LABEL team, we develop various extensions and software, and while we do our best, identifying all bugs and issues on our own can be challenging. This is especially true for errors that only occur in specific environments or under particular circumstances. Furthermore, our motivation for developing this service is strongly linked to our commitment to improving the stability and security of our projects. We've encountered various bugs, including security-related ones, and version 2.3.81 is specifically planned to address some of these security issues. The NG Analytics Service is a tool that will help us more effectively discover and fix these problems, ensuring a more reliable and secure experience for everyone.

What does the NG Analytics Service do?

The service is designed to collect strictly anonymous usage data from your installation of the extension. Its sole purpose is to provide the UNBOUND LABEL team with insights that help us improve the software. This includes:

• Error and Log Reporting: Automatically collecting anonymous details about crashes, errors, and important console logs (like warnings) that occur while using the extension. This is invaluable for diagnosing and fixing issues you might encounter.

• Technical & Environmental Information: Gathering anonymous data about the extension version, your browser, operating system, and basic hardware/network capabilities. This helps us understand compatibility and performance across different user setups.

• Feature Usage (Anonymous): Collecting anonymous, aggregated counts of how often certain features within the extension are used. This helps us understand which parts of the extension are most valuable to you and where we should focus our development efforts.

• Custom Anonymous Events: Logging specific, non-sensitive interactions or occurrences as anonymous events to track specific workflows or potential points of friction.

Your Privacy is Paramount:

We want to emphasize that the data collected is completely anonymous. We do not collect any personal information that could identify you, such as your name, email address, IP address, or browsing history outside the extension's immediate context. The data collected helps us understand how the extension is performing and being used in general, not who is using it.

You will be clearly informed about the NG Analytics Service when you update to version 2.3.81, and you will have full control over whether to enable or disable it. You will also have the option to view the data collected locally and clear it at any time.

Regarding the Release of v2.3.81:

We are actively working on version 2.3.81, and while we are excited about these improvements, it is not ready for release just yet. We are currently busy with development and testing to ensure everything is stable and secure. We will provide further updates on the release timeline as soon as possible.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support. The NG Analytics Service is a step we're taking to make our extensions and software better for everyone, and we appreciate your trust.