App tracking has only 5% opt-in rate since iOS 14.5 update, analyst says
Bad news for apps like Facebook that want to track your activity online.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
App tracking is not popular among iOS 14.5 users right now.
Apple's iOS 14.5 update means iPhone and iPad apps now have to ask permission from users before tracking their movements online. According to a new analysis by Flurry Analytics, only 5% of US daily users with iOS 14.5 have opted in so far.
Flurry Analytics, owned by Verizon Media, is used in more than 1 million mobile apps across 2 billion devices. It's collecting and updating data daily on the app tracking opt-in rates, looking at the approximately 2.5 million daily mobile active users who have the new operating system so far.
Read more: Stop iPhone apps from tracking you in iOS 14.5. Here's how
Worldwide opt-in rates are a little higher, the study, reported earlier Monday by Mashable, said: It's sitting at 13% as of May 7. Flurry has data on 5.3 million global iOS 14.5 users.
iOS 14.5 launched in April, with the most controversial change being to make companies like Facebook gain consent from users on whether they want their activity tracked across apps and websites. Facebook will include an in-app message explaining why it uses app tracking, and has also pushed back against Apple's update.