On 16th of September, Apple released iOS 14, the system was introduced back in June 2020. There are significant changes from the appearance to the functionality of the system. For instance, the widgets that can be dragged across different screens, app library which allows the user to see every app on the same screen. There are several features that developers can explore in with the new system. Since the release of iOS 14, there are various new apps on the App Store specifically for the newly introduced features. Developers are able to create their own widgets using a new API which they can take advantage of for redesigning the widgets.
Despite all these fancy tricks that users can now do with their iOS 14, the major concern for many developers and marketers is the change in privacy settings. Apple announced that apps will now have to request access for devices’ advertising ID also known as IDFA. This raised many concerns in the digital marketing and developer community as many marketers do rely on these data to sustain their businesses.
What is IDFA?
IDFA is the identifier for Advertisers and it is assigned by Apple to each individual user’s device. IDFA is valuable for marketers because it can be used to track the data of this individual and deliver customized ads for this specific user. IDFA can track when the user clicked on a specific campaign or interaction information. For example, IDAF can identify when the user clicks on an ad for attribution. With these data, marketers can enhance the quality of users and the accuracy of the campaign. By doing so, the campaign can be more effective and cost-efficient for marketers. However, it is important to note that IDFA does not reveal personal information of the user to marketers.
Simply put, many marketers do rely on these data to measure their effectiveness and KPIs. Moreover, these data are solid evidence for marketers to justify their charge for the campaign. Thus, announcing the new regulation with IDFA can throw the marketers and developers community into a panic. There is no concrete information regarding how Apple will regard the situation. But Apple disclosed that they will roll out the policy early 2021 to give more time for marketers to prepare for the new policy.
