In April 2021, Apple released its iOS 14.5 version, introducing the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework, which gives users the freedom to enable or disable tracking. According to data gathered in March 2022, the overall ATT opt-in rate by iOS users worldwide was 46 percent. Finance and utilities apps had a higher ATT opt-in rate compared to the overall figure, with a 53 percent rate, respectively. In comparison, education apps, as well as health and fitness apps had a lower opt-in rate, with 41 percent and 42 percent of global users opting in via iOS ATT in the examined month.

iOS App developers adapt to the ATT During the third quarter of 2021, 80 percent of iOS users took advantage of the new possibility given by Apple’s ATT framework and decided to opt-out of tracking while using several social media platforms on their mobile devices. This resulted in 40 percent of advertising impressions being lost for advertisers on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. According to a survey of app publishers, as of November 2021, a large part of respondents considered it was “too early” to tell if Apple’s ATT could cause a drop in advertising revenues in the app market. In 2022, the impact of Apple’s ATT was revealed when Meta reported slowing revenue growth and identified changes in the iOS framework as one of the causes behind the trend.

App privacy: what users want As seen from the immediate adoption of Apple’s App Tracking framework from U.S. users in one of iOS regional strongholds, when it comes to app privacy, mobile users appear to want the privilege of choosing to share their data or not. Additionally, almost five in 10 Android users reported that their main reason for switching to devices powered by the iOS operating system would be for better data protection. Android users might not have to buy a new iPhone after all, as Google announced in February 2022 its project ‘Privacy Sandbox.’ The initiative will see users gaining more control over their data and possible major restructuring around the use of advertising ID.

The latest Apple iOS version includes a new privacy feature which means that mobile apps are forced to ask users for permission to allow them to collect tracking data. Among those that have already installed the iOS 14.5 update, the opt-in rate (how many people are choosing to allow app tracking) is around 25 percent, as of April 2022. With so many users concerned about their online activities being tracked, a low opt-in rate had been predicted.