How to block apps from tracking your activities on iPhone

iOS 14.5 is finally here, along with its highly anticipated app tracking feature that allows users to grant or deny apps permission to track their activity for advertising. . In addition to granting per-app permissions, iOS 14.5 users can also decide to block any activity tracking apps entirely.

How to block activity tracking apps

First you need to download iOS 14.5. Once the operating system is installed, you can go in Settings and drag down the item Privacy. From there, you will see the section Tracking At the top. Select that item and then you can turn on “Allows the app to request a follow-up“. That’s just when you want to let apps ask before they track your activity. If you don’t want any apps to do this, you can disable this option.

If the app declines an app’s tracking request, the app may also use the Apple IDFA or any other identifier such as email to track and share your information with the broker. data or a third party to target ads. Be clear though, this doesn’t mean you’ll stop seeing ads – they won’t be personalized for you anymore.

What if I allow apps to track activity?

You will see a pop-up showing which app is making the request and why it wants to track your data. Below that, you will have the option of “Require the app to not track” or “Allow”.

You will most likely see a prompt after installing or reinstalling an app, but not 100%. According to Apple, what triggers the prompt will depend on the app developer, so you might see an external pop-up launching or installing the app.

You’ll also be able to see a list of specific apps that trigger reminders in the Tracking menu, below the “Allow apps to request follow-up” switch. You can edit your permissions from that list.