Apple monitors everything you do in the App Store. Apple has always insisted that privacy is a basic human right. Also, the company has never liked the idea of having ads on their platforms. Now, however, ads have begun to appear in the App Store, and many have begun to worry that the company’s policy may change. Moreover, the developers have discovered the fact that Apple can remember all your actions in the App Store.
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Apple monitors what you click in the App Store
The two developers, who call themselves “Mysk,” have become concerned about user privacy, which could be hindered by ads in the App Store. They found that the iOS system sends Apple a complete history of user activity in the App Store.
The report contains all the data about what the user clicks on the screen. All of this real-time information is sent to Apple as a JSON file.
According to the developers, Apple has been monitoring all user activity in the App Store since the release of iOS 14.6 in May 2021. Interestingly, App Tracking Transparency was introduced a month earlier in iOS 14.5.
There is no official explanation for how Apple uses this data. It appears that the company is still tracking user activity on the App Store to this day. Ever since Apple added ads to the App Store, developers have had access to their ad stats. Perhaps data collection is related to this.
Apple will certainly claim that the data it collects is not sent to third parties, but the situation is still compromising. Apple is trying in every possible way to prevent third-party apps and services from tracking iOS users. According to the developers of Mysk, data from the App Store is sent to Apple even when personalized advertising is disabled.
Advertising in the App Store
Last month, Apple introduced updated ads in the App Store. Previously, developers could only advertise their apps in App Store search, but now they can buy ads on other app pages as well as the Today tab.
Shortly after the changes, there were many user complaints about inappropriate and unethical advertising. For example, many displayed ads for casino apps and dating apps. The company temporarily removed ads for such applications, but what will happen next is unknown.
According to rumors, Apple plans to add even more ads in the future. At the same time, the company is aggressively preventing its competitors from displaying ads on iOS. Ultimately, such actions may lead to an investigation.