iOS14 Update Announced: What Is In It For Mobile Marketing?

Apple held its annual WWD Conference on June 26, 2020, and its iOS 14 announced its update, which is in the Beta stage. iOS 14 will be released in September with its final version. Apple introduced a few new features and exciting changes, among which it was quite noticeable that Apple removed the Identifier for Advertising (IDFA) for its advertising platform. This IDFA change Apple made with iOS 14 could cause a serious setback for the mobile advertising industry.

What Is IDFA?

IDFA is very important for mobile marketers because IDFA is the most reliable and most accessible resource for measuring mobile users’ interests and interactions. Users also prefer it because it provides a high level of privacy. Every iOS device has a unique IDFA. Users can determine the access level of IDFAs on their devices. Apple broke IDFA, the backbone of the advertising industry, with its update to iOS 14. IDFA will no longer be available on the mobile metering platform. Therefore, iOS 14 users’ explicit consent will now be required to track users’ interests and interactions or access iPhone’s IDFA.

Now, Apple asks mobile marketers to add a string to the system prompt of iOS 14 that explains the purpose of tracking this user. This will make it very difficult for mobile marketers to acquire new users. Therefore, understanding your users will be the most critical factor in growing your market.

What is SKAdnetwork?

In response to this disadvantage for mobile marketers, Apple created a new feature called “App Clips”. Thanks to these app clips, Apple tried to eliminate the disadvantage of acquiring new users and gaining lost users. The two most important goals of mobile marketing that could arise due to the removal of IDFA. It is worth noting that; We cannot say that IDFA has wholly disappeared. We may continue to monitor users who allow IDFA, but even so, the data we obtain is worthless because the reliable analysis is not possible. Therefore, we can say that the IDFA period is over. Announced by Apple as an alternative to IDFA, SKAdnetwork will never replace IDFA, although it allows us to obtain some primary data.

iPHONE MODELS TO GET iOS 14 UPDATE

iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 11, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XR, iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone SE, iPod touch (7th generation)