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Couldn't they also just let you check a flag instead of checking for a magic number / proscribed id? And to be more specific on my question, I get that they do

by erdevs 10y ago

Couldn't they also just let you check a flag instead of checking for a magic number / proscribed id? And to be more specific on my question, I get that they don't allow apps to punish users explicitly for OS-enabled choices. But what about rewarding users? Ie you can play/use the app however you want. But we'll give you 50 coins/10 loyalty points/whatever if you enable location tracking? I mean to follow this all the way through... it should mean that apps can't choose to show, say, rewarded video ads (presently a $1B+ revenue/yr industry on iOS) only to users who have do not restrict ad tracking. Because then by definition only users who don't restrict ad tracking could get the reward from viewing the video. Will this be the case? It's an important question and a lot of startup value could be effected depending on the answer.

potatolicious 10y ago
Yeah, most of the newer APIs let you check a flag, the older ones that didn't have permission built into them from the beginning (see: Address Book) need some behavior so old apps don't break though, so returning a "zero" ID seems reasonable. AFAIK incentivizing permissions is allowed, so yeah, "50 coins for your location" is permissible. Though keep in mind that Apple will reject apps for requesting permissions without any functional need - so if your app isn't actually using the location data (and collecting it purely for ad targeting) it's likely your app will be rejected from the store. You will have to invent some veneer of an excuse for collecting this user data, though how thin your excuse can be varies depending on Apple's mood.
- erdevs 10y ago
  Gotcha. So, if an app is monetizing (wholly or partially) through ads, they can still offer rewards for viewing those ads and turning on ad-tracking. Cool and thanks for dropping the knowledge. Think there's any chance that the policy regarding incentivizing turning on ad tracking will change alongside iOS 10?

by erdevs 10y ago

potatolicious 10y ago

Yeah, most of the newer APIs let you check a flag, the older ones that didn't have permission built into them from the beginning (see: Address Book) need some behavior so old apps don't break though, so returning a "zero" ID seems reasonable. AFAIK incentivizing permissions is allowed, so yeah, "50 coins for your location" is permissible. Though keep in mind that Apple will reject apps for requesting permissions without any functional need - so if your app isn't actually using the location data (and collecting it purely for ad targeting) it's likely your app will be rejected from the store. You will have to invent some veneer of an excuse for collecting this user data, though how thin your excuse can be varies depending on Apple's mood.

erdevs 10y ago
Gotcha. So, if an app is monetizing (wholly or partially) through ads, they can still offer rewards for viewing those ads and turning on ad-tracking. Cool and thanks for dropping the knowledge. Think there's any chance that the policy regarding incentivizing turning on ad tracking will change alongside iOS 10?