Can I chain multiple crash reporting handlers in an MvvmCross app

Overview of Crash Reporting in MvvmCross

MvvmCross is a framework that allows you to develop cross-platform applications using C# and the .NET framework. While MvvmCross itself does not provide built-in crash reporting, you can integrate third-party crash reporting tools into your app. Popular options include App Center Diagnostics, Instabug, and Xamarin.Insights.

Chaining Multiple Crash Reporting Handlers

Android

On Android, you can use multiple crash reporting tools simultaneously. However, it's crucial to ensure that each tool is properly initialized and configured to avoid concurrency issues. For instance, if you're using Instabug alongside another tool, Instabug should be initialized after all other crash reporters to prevent potential conflicts[3][6].

iOS

Using multiple crash reporters on iOS is not recommended due to how exception and signal handlers work on the platform. iOS does not guarantee that all crash reporters will catch all exceptions and signals, which could lead to missed crashes[3]. Therefore, it's best to stick with a single crash reporting tool for iOS apps.

Implementing Crash Reporting in MvvmCross

To implement crash reporting in an MvvmCross app, you typically need to:

1. Choose a Crash Reporting Tool: Select a tool like App Center Diagnostics or Instabug based on your needs.

2. Integrate the Tool: Add the necessary NuGet packages to your project and initialize the tool in your app's startup code. For App Center, this involves calling `AppCenter.Start()` with the appropriate configuration[2][7].

3. Handle Unhandled Exceptions: Use the tool's API to catch and report unhandled exceptions. For example, App Center provides callbacks to handle crashes before they are sent to the server[7].

4. Optional: Track Handled Errors: You can also track handled exceptions using methods like `Crashes.TrackError()` in App Center[7].

Example with App Center

Here's a basic example of how you might integrate App Center Diagnostics into an MvvmCross app:

csharp
using Microsoft.AppCenter;
using Microsoft.AppCenter.Crashes;

public class Setup : MvxSetup
{
    protected override void InitializeFirstChance()
    {
        base.InitializeFirstChance();
        
        // Initialize App Center
        AppCenter.Start("YOUR_APP_SECRET", typeof(Crashes));
    }
}

// To track handled exceptions
try
{
    // Your code here
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
    Crashes.TrackError(ex);
}

In summary, while chaining multiple crash reporting handlers is possible on Android, it's not recommended on iOS due to potential issues with exception handling. For most cases, using a single robust crash reporting tool like App Center Diagnostics is sufficient and easier to manage.