14 DAY TRIAL // The App Tracking Transparency policy is now live in iOS 14.5, so users can choose if they want to allow apps to track them across other apps and websites or just block them on the first launch.
Needless to say, this has caused a storm of criticism against Apple, but on the other hand, the company has already defended its decision, explaining that it’s all for protecting user privacy.
The release of this new feature came alongside a new set of policies supposed to prevent cases when app makers turn to all kinds of tricks to convince users to enable tracking. Including offering incentives, that is, as Apple says that apps implementing such an approach might end up being blocked in the App Store.
“App tracking is a sensitive issue. In some cases, it might make sense to display custom messaging that clearly describes the benefits of tracking,” the company explains.
“Never precede the system-provided alert with custom messaging that could confuse or mislead people. People sometimes tap quickly to dismiss alerts without reading them. A custom messaging screen that takes advantage of such behaviors to influence choices will lead to rejection by App Store Review.”
No incentives allowed
For example, Apple says apps won’t be allowed to display an alert image or offer any kind of compensation in exchange for allowing tracking on their devices.
“There are several prohibited custom-messaging designs that will cause rejection. Some examples are offering incentives, displaying a screen that looks like a request, displaying an image of the alert, and annotating the screen behind the alert. Don’t offer incentives for granting the request. You can’t offer people compensation for granting their permission, and you can’t withhold functionality or content or make your app unusable until people allow you to track them,” the company says.
The full policy is detailed under the Human Interface Guidelines section here.