That programs have bugs is a given in modern times. We all make mistakes, and even if we don’t, we use somebody else’s code, which may contain errors. When your program crashes on user’s computer, you should know about it, and that’s where Crash Reporting comes in. We all have seen it in Windows, MacOS X and even in KDE applications. But what if you want to add such capability to your own project?
As long as you’re only using mobile platforms like iOS, Android or Windows Phone, you have a rich choice of 3rd-party APIs which allows generation, collection and processing of crash reports. iOS has TestFlight. For a cross-platform applications, you may use HockeyApp SDK or CApptain. But on desktop, your choice is limited.
Actually, I was unable to find any free alternatives to Google’s Breakpad. The good news, however, is that Breakpad is a well-tested piece of code (it is used in Mozilla Firefox and some other major software products) and it’s certainly cross-platform. In fact, not only does it support desktop, but also mobile platforms!
However, its integration is far from straightforward.