App analytics without the ATT prompt

Apple's tracking prompt is for apps that follow people across other companies' apps and sites. Analytics that stays in your app doesn't need it, as long as it never reads the advertising id.

Free during beta. One email when your spot opens, nothing else.

What Apparent never reads

  • The IDFA or IDFV on iOS.
  • The advertising id (GAID) on Android.
  • Contacts, location or anything typed into the app.
  • The IP address, beyond telling the country.

What it uses instead

  • One random id per install, made by the SDK.
  • Your own user id, only if you set one.
  • Store downloads and sales from App Store Connect and Google Play, which need no SDK at all.

When you'd still need the prompt

If another SDK in your app reads the IDFA (many ad networks and attribution tools do), Apple still expects the prompt. Apparent doesn't add a reason for one.

Apparent's page for an example app: a sentence about how it did, the key numbers, and highlights like a first sale in Japan.
An example app on Apparent. Open the live demo: every button works.

Questions

Does Firebase Analytics need the ATT prompt?

Not if it never collects the IDFA. Once ad id collection is on, Apple expects the prompt.

Can I still see which ads brought installs?

Yes. Apple Ads and Google Ads report their own installs, and Apparent reads those without the IDFA.

What about Android?

The SDKs never read the advertising id, so the AD_ID permission isn't needed for Apparent.

Also read

Your app already has a story. Start reading it.

Free during beta. One email when your spot opens, nothing else.