Samuel Axon
Apple has begun to reject applications for applications that do not follow its updated privacy policies regarding the device’s fingerprint and user tracking, according to a Forbes report. This change strongly suggests that the release of iOS 14.5 – and possibly new hardware products – is imminent.
Here is an excerpt from the rejection letter that some developers told Forbes they received:
Guideline 5.1.2 – Legal – Privacy – Use and sharing of data
We found in our review that your app collects user and device information to create a unique identifier for user devices. Apps that fingerprint the user’s device in this way violate the Apple Developer Program License Agreement and are not appropriate for the App Store.
Specifically, your app uses algorithm-converted device and usage data to create a unique identifier to track the user. The device information collected by your application can include some of the following: defaultManager, NSLocaleCollationIdentifier, NSLocaleCountryCode, NSLocaleQuotationEndDelimiterKey and NSLocaleGroupingSeparator.
In accordance with section 3.3.9 of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement, neither you nor your application may use any permanent device-based identifier, or any data derived therefrom, for the purpose of uniquely identifying a device.
This message to developers makes it clear that the affected applications are violating because they use a technique that aims to track the user without consent (fingerprint of the device). A few months ago, Apple announced plans to implement “Application Tracking Transparency”, which would require applications to request user membership to track them using IDFAs, a common tracking tool that is vital to many targeted advertising techniques . This change has drawn the ire of Facebook and other companies that rely on this type of tracking to maximize advertising revenue. But it is also clear that transparency in application tracking means that applications that seek to track users in a non-consensual manner by any means, IDFA or otherwise, will face rejection. The device’s fingerprint has often been used as an alternative to IDFA when users or platforms avoid using the latter.
Mobile marketing analyst Eric Seufert told Forbes that many thousands of apps can be rejected because, at least for some, the breach appears to be caused by an SDK from the mobile analytics firm Adjust; the company claims that the SDK is used in more than 50,000 applications. Adjust updated the SDK to remove at least some of the tampering functionality, but not all developers are using the latest version.
Why this means that iOS 14.5 is coming
Although Apple has recently updated its developer guidelines to reflect the new tracking policy, the company previously said that Application Tracking Transparency would be applied on the App Store, starting with the release of iOS 14.5 sometime this spring. The fact that applications are already being rejected based on this today makes it a convincing case that several other Apple features and products are only a few days away.
IOS 14.5 (and its closest brother, iPadOS 14.5, which will almost certainly be released on the same day as the iPhone software) is expected to be an important update for the mobile operating system. Based on what we saw in recent beta versions, iOS 14.5 will include a feature that allows you to unlock facial identification devices with a synchronized Apple Watch when you wear a face mask, numerous changes and adjustments to Siri, global support for dual-SIM 5G (previously seen only in China), support for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X controllers | S, hundreds of new emojis and the ad tracking change mentioned above, among other things.
Product launches may also be imminent
When Apple releases new hardware products, they are usually synchronized with new versions of the operating systems that these products run – for example, an updated version of iOS usually arrives in the same week that a new iPhone model is shipped.
Reports from normally trusted sources have repeatedly predicted that a new model of the iPad Pro will be announced by Apple sometime during the spring. Based on history and some reports, it looked like it would happen at the end of March, but that expected deadline has come and gone. The product is yet to arrive soon, though, which means that an event sometime in April looks likely.
For that reason, the fact that Apple is now starting to apply this rule related to iOS 14.5 with application developers may add to the evidence that a new iPad will be coming soon.
Apple is also expected to announce several new high-end Macs that will abandon Intel CPUs in favor of the Apple Silicon this year, and one or more of them may be announced this spring. In addition, leaks and rumors continue to claim that Apple will soon introduce a competitor of Tile with AR capabilities, although several rumored release windows for that product have surfaced and disappeared in the past two years.
Apple is also known to be working on some type of mixed reality headset, probably focused primarily on augmented reality experiences. Some experts said the product could be announced this year, although we expect Apple to announce an entirely new category like this at the company’s developer conference in June, rather than at a smaller consumer-facing product launch event. And it is still possible that the mixed reality headset ad is even more distant.