I work in mobile gaming and we are having discussions about the future of "deferred deeplinks" on iOS.
For those of you who might not know, that is just an fancy way of saying "a universal link that works correctly through an app install."
Note that this is not for advertising, or third party attribution, or anything like that. It's just to send some GET data to the app, the same as a universal link normally would, but through the app installation process.
Apple does not support this directly, but there are numerous companies that offer this service. (Branch.io, Adjust, Apps Flyer, etc.)
It's OBVIOUS that these services must be either violating apples privacy rules flagrantly, or else have some secret deal with them that isn't public.
The particular rule they must all be violating is the absolute ban on anty device or user fingerprinting for any reason.
"No. Per the Apple Developer Program License Agreement, you may not derive data from a device for the purpose of uniquely identifying it. Examples of user or device data include, but are not limited to: properties of a user’s web browser and its configuration, the user’s device and its configuration, the user’s location, or the user’s network connection."
As long as they don't send this data to advertisers, however, Apple seems to turn a blind eye. They even still allow forum posts on the official developer forum where these services are considered the solution for the install problem.
This is actually kind of annoying, as it presents an unpredictable environment where we have no idea what is actually allowed and what isn't, or why some large companies are allowed to break the rules, or whether we can be taken to task for simply following along and using the tools that are available. (Even if we make sure not to use them for any type of permanent tracking or advertising.)
I am curious how other app developers are dealing with this situation. And what you think of it.
For those of you who might not know, that is just an fancy way of saying "a universal link that works correctly through an app install."
Note that this is not for advertising, or third party attribution, or anything like that. It's just to send some GET data to the app, the same as a universal link normally would, but through the app installation process.
Apple does not support this directly, but there are numerous companies that offer this service. (Branch.io, Adjust, Apps Flyer, etc.)
It's OBVIOUS that these services must be either violating apples privacy rules flagrantly, or else have some secret deal with them that isn't public.
The particular rule they must all be violating is the absolute ban on anty device or user fingerprinting for any reason.
"No. Per the Apple Developer Program License Agreement, you may not derive data from a device for the purpose of uniquely identifying it. Examples of user or device data include, but are not limited to: properties of a user’s web browser and its configuration, the user’s device and its configuration, the user’s location, or the user’s network connection."
As long as they don't send this data to advertisers, however, Apple seems to turn a blind eye. They even still allow forum posts on the official developer forum where these services are considered the solution for the install problem.
This is actually kind of annoying, as it presents an unpredictable environment where we have no idea what is actually allowed and what isn't, or why some large companies are allowed to break the rules, or whether we can be taken to task for simply following along and using the tools that are available. (Even if we make sure not to use them for any type of permanent tracking or advertising.)
I am curious how other app developers are dealing with this situation. And what you think of it.
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