Windows (Phone) app analytics

I was recently asked what the "best" analytics solution out there is for universal apps.

Unfortunately I haven't reviewed what options are available recently. In the work I do for other people they already have made the decision about what analytics solution they want to incorporate.
There are lots options available and what you'll want to use will depend on the actual analytics you want to gather and what you want to do with them.

Here, in no particular order, are the 3rd party app providers I'm aware of:

• http://www.apmetrix.com/analytics
• http://www.appannie.com/
• http://www.crittercism.com/
• http://www.wensus.com/
• http://www.flurry.com/solutions/analytics
• http://www.preemptive.com/
• http://buddy.com/
• http://appfireworks.com/
• https://marketing.adobe.com/developer
• http://www.localytics.com/
• http://appfireworks.com/
• https://mint.splunk.com/
• https://googleanalyticssdk.codeplex.com/
• http://www.telerik.com/analytics
• http://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/explore/application-insights-vs.aspx

There are a couple of other options too:

If you're using an ad solution that guarantees 100% fill rate then the number of ads served can be a good indication of the number of people using the app. It's the most basic level of analytics there is, but it comes for free. ;)

The last option (and the one I'm integrating into what I'm building in my rare moments of free time) is to integrate the analytics into the back-end of the application. Doing this is more work but has a few advantages:

• No extra requests need to be made by the app
• No managing a 3rd party component and service
• Able to get exactly (and only) the information wanted 
• Much easier to integrate with CRM systems
• No need to reconcile data from a 3rd party with own data