diff --git a/api b/api
index 8b0679e494..57ae631498 100755
--- a/api
+++ b/api
@@ -1379,44 +1379,40 @@ app_prefix_category() { #lists all apps in a category with format "category/app"
   fi
 }
 
-# bitly_link() { #Runs whenever an app is installed/uninstalled to tally the number of users for each app
-#   #This cannot possibly be used to identify you, or any information about you.
-#   #It simply "clicks" a bitly link - a shortened URL - so that the total number of clicks can be tallied to determine how popular a certain app is.
-#   app="$1"
-#   trigger="$2"
-#
-#   [ -z "$app" ] && error "bitly_link(): requires an app argument"
-#   [ -z "$trigger" ] && error "bitly_link(): requires a trigger argument"
-#
-#   #if the 'Enable Analytics' setting is enabled
-#   if [ "$(cat "${DIRECTORY}/data/settings/Enable analytics")" == 'Yes' ];then
-#     #determine the name of the link to "click"
-#     bitlylink="https://bit.ly/pi-apps-$trigger-$(echo "$app" | tr -d ' ' | sed 's/[^a-zA-Z0-9]//g')"
-#     #click it
-#     curl -L --user-agent "Pi-Apps Raspberry Pi app store" "$bitlylink" &>/dev/null &
-#   fi
-# }
-
 bitly_link() { #compatibility function pointing to shlink_link (incase old manage script is running with new api)
   shlink_link "$@"
 }
 
 shlink_link() { #Runs whenever an app is installed/uninstalled to tally the number of users for each app
+  {
   #This cannot possibly be used to identify you, or any information about you.
   #It simply "clicks" a shlink link - a shortened URL - so that the total number of clicks can be tallied to determine how popular a certain app is.
-  app="$1"
-  trigger="$2"
+  local app="$1"
+  local trigger="$2"
   
   [ -z "$app" ] && error "shlink_link(): requires an app argument"
   [ -z "$trigger" ] && error "shlink_link(): requires a trigger argument"
   
   #if the 'Enable Analytics' setting is enabled
-  if [ "$(cat "${DIRECTORY}/data/settings/Enable analytics")" == 'Yes' ];then
+  if [ "$(cat "${DIRECTORY}/data/settings/Enable analytics" 2>/dev/null)" != 'No' ]; then
+    #obtain model and SOC_ID
+    get_model &>/dev/null
+    local model="$(echo $model | tr -d '"'\; | head -1)"
+    # obtain (hashed) machine_id (only if file exists and has contents)
+    [ -s /etc/machine-id ] && machine_id="$(cat /etc/machine-id | sha1sum | awk '{print $1}' | head -1)"
+    # obtain (hashed) serial_number (only if file exists and has contents)
+    [ -s /sys/firmware/devicetree/base/serial-number ] && serial_number="$(cat /sys/firmware/devicetree/base/serial-number | sha1sum | awk '{print $1}' | head -1)"
+    #obtain operating system name
+    #not using PRETTY_NAME to only get the ID and OS major version (eg: Ubuntu 24.04 instead of Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS)
+    local os_name="$(cat /etc/os-release | grep ^ID= | tr -d '"'\; | awk -F= '{print $2}' | head -1) $(cat /etc/os-release | grep ^VERSION_ID= | tr -d '"'\; | awk -F= '{print $2}' | head -1)"
+
     #determine the name of the link to "click"
-    shlinklink="https://analytics.pi-apps.io/pi-apps-$trigger-$(echo "$app" | tr -d ' ' | sed 's/[^a-zA-Z0-9]//g')/track"
+    local shlinklink="https://analytics.pi-apps.io/pi-apps-$trigger-$(echo "$app" | tr -d ' ' | sed 's/[^a-zA-Z0-9]//g')/track"
     #click it
-    curl -s -X 'GET' "$shlinklink" -H 'accept: image/gif' -A "Pi-Apps Raspberry Pi app store" >/dev/null &
+    #NOTE: any future changes to the user agent should only APPEND
+    curl -s -X 'GET' "$shlinklink" -H 'accept: image/gif' -A "Pi-Apps Raspberry Pi app store; $model; $SOC_ID; $machine_id; $serial_number; ${os_name^}" >/dev/null
   fi
+  } &
 }
 
 usercount() { #Return number of users for specified app. $1 is app name. If empty, all are shown.
diff --git a/gui b/gui
index 1b341d914e..6cb2a6a5bc 100755
--- a/gui
+++ b/gui
@@ -109,11 +109,8 @@ mkdir -p "${DIRECTORY}/data/status" "${DIRECTORY}/data/update-status" \
 "${DIRECTORY}/updater" set-status &
 trap "kill $! &>/dev/null" EXIT #kill the above subprocess on exit
 
-#Click pi-apps usage link every time the GUI is run only if the 'Enable Analytics' setting is enabled
-if [ "$(cat "${DIRECTORY}/data/settings/Enable analytics")" == 'Yes' ];then
-  #click it
-  curl -s -X 'GET' "https://analytics.pi-apps.io/pi-apps-active-usage/track" -H 'accept: image/gif' -A "Pi-Apps Raspberry Pi app store" >/dev/null &
-fi
+#Click pi-apps usage link every time the GUI is run
+shlink_link usage active
 }
 
 #Determine the app list mode. Allowed values: 'yad-*', 'xlunch-*'
diff --git a/install b/install
index 3f515328c2..ddcbe6bd2a 100755
--- a/install
+++ b/install
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ elif [ ! -d "$DIRECTORY" ];then
     error "Pi-Apps download failed!\ngit clone output was: $output"
   fi
   #click new installation analytics link
-  curl -s -X 'GET' "https://analytics.pi-apps.io/pi-apps-install-script/track" -H 'accept: image/gif' -A "Pi-Apps Raspberry Pi app store" >/dev/null &
+  "${DIRECTORY}/api" shlink_link script install
 fi
 
 #Past this point, DIRECTORY variable populated with valid pi-apps directory
diff --git a/uninstall b/uninstall
index e6440cd541..a4d6c237eb 100755
--- a/uninstall
+++ b/uninstall
@@ -8,9 +8,7 @@ function error {
 DIRECTORY="$(readlink -f "$(dirname "$0")")"
 
 #click new uninstallation analytics link
-if [ "$(cat "${DIRECTORY}/data/settings/Enable analytics")" == 'Yes' ];then
-  curl -s -X 'GET' "https://analytics.pi-apps.io/pi-apps-uninstall-script/track" -H 'accept: image/gif' -A "Pi-Apps Raspberry Pi app store" >/dev/null &
-fi
+"${DIRECTORY}/api" shlink_link script uninstall
 
 if [ -z "$(dpkg-query -W --showformat='${Status}\n' yad 2>/dev/null | grep "install ok installed")" ];then
   zenity --title='Pi-Apps' --window-icon="${DIRECTORY}/icons/logo.png" \