Approximately 18 million iOS users in the United States have turned on Apple's "Limit Ad Tracking" feature in settings, effectively preventing advertisements within apps from being targeted directly at them and their browsing habits. Based on a recent report from Adjust (via Advertising Age), that's now 20 percent of total iOS users in the United States who have LAT turned on.

Although it's been available for users since iOS 6 in 2012, a tweak to the feature in iOS 10 lets users completely avoid what's referred to as an "Identifier for Advertising," which pinpoints devices with a unique ID number to serve up targeted advertisements. With LAT turned on, users now become ghosts to IDFA requests from ad networks, making tracking the behavior of an iOS user "significantly more complicated."

limit-ad-tracking
Despite Apple's bolstering of the feature in iOS 10, Adjust's report noted that "on a global level, there's no evidence of an upward trend" of users becoming aware of LAT, which is somewhat hidden in the Privacy sub-menu of Settings.

"If people were more interested in reducing the number of retargeted ads, and if they were aware of the effects of the Limit Ad Tracking settings, we would expect a steadily rising trend throughout the last month as adoption of iOS 10 rises and people become aware of the changes. So far, on a global level, there's no evidence of an upward trend - the global rates are stagnant, at around 18%.

In spite of global stagnation, Adjust mentioned that in certain places -- particularly the United States -- LAT is beginning to become more well-known among consumers. Specifically, following the launch of iOS 10 in September, 2 million people activated LAT for the first time in the U.S.

Among other countries, Germany follows the U.S. in total iOS users with LAT activated (19.3 percent), followed by territories including the United Kingdom (16.5 percent), and Canada (14.4 percent). Places like the Netherlands, with 22 percent, beat out the United States. Countries where privacy concerns are raised see a higher percentage of users opting out of targeted advertising, but as Adjust said, "it’s not evenly distributed across countries, and it’s additionally not evenly distributed among target audiences."

With the growth of public knowledge surrounding such ad-blocking features, co-founder of Adjust Paul Muller noted that, "this is trending in a direction where it's not just the tech-savvy, ad-allergic crowd any more. Marketers will face a large, distributed and worst of all 'unknown' segment of users, especially in places like Germany and the U.S."

Related Forum: iOS 10

Top Rated Comments

Afee Avatar
109 months ago
Disabling it on your end because of some paranoid "privacy" concern only hurts developers who simply want to see how their creations are performing, and have intentions of making them better.
That's up to me to decide, thank you very much.
It's just something I noticed, that's why I mention it. I actually block all those requests, on macOS with LittleSnitch and on iOS with Weblock. Works perfectly (for me).
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RedWing512 Avatar
109 months ago
1) Loads of iOS and macOS apps use (Google) Analytics in their apps for app analytics. There's no way to disable those requests, there is no mention in Apple's app guidelines and these requests infringe on user privacy.
Facepalm.

As a web designer/developer, Google Analytics is one of those things that is super, super handy for me, as it allows me to see how my sites are performing across different demographics. If there's a certain area where my website is not performing as well, that data makes it possible for me to find ways to make the user experience better.

Now, I've never developed apps before, but I can imagine that app developers can use that same Google Analytics data in much the same way. Disabling it on your end because of some paranoid "privacy" concern only hurts developers who simply want to see how their creations are performing, and have intentions of making them better.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thewebb Avatar
109 months ago
I've had that turned on for years. Surprised it's only at 20% in the US
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Afee Avatar
109 months ago
It's a nice feature to have and I've used it for years, creating a random new one every so often.

Three things I still have an issue with:

1) Loads of iOS and macOS apps use (Google) Analytics in their apps for app analytics. There's no way to disable those requests, there is no mention in Apple's app guidelines and these requests infringe on user privacy.

2) Apps that set their own (generated) ID or cookie. Take for example the Youtube app. You have to remove the app and reinstall it if you want to get rid of the 'recommended' video's it serves. Resetting LAT has no effect so it has to use a different beacon.

3) Since iOS 8 the Wifi and BT MAC addresses are randomized when an in store beacon tries to track a user. Sadly, the entropy of these generated addresses is pretty low, so tracking is now only hampered instead of fully ommitted.

I hope these items will get 'fixed' soon!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Afee Avatar
109 months ago
Retargeted ads? I thought it said retarded ads. Seems more appropriate.
The main issue with retargeted ads is that they have no clue when you've actually bought an item, or a way to tell this in ad. I've had tv ads for months while my new tv was already present in my home.
The same with Youtube: it keeps presenting you videos that you've already watched... So annoying!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
longofest Avatar
109 months ago
Personally, I like it turned off. If I'm seeing ads, I'd rather ads that I care about than ads that I could care less about.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Next Week With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...
apple launch feb 2025 alt

What to Expect From the 'Apple Launch' Next Week

Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week. Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
apple launch feb 2025

Tim Cook Teases an 'Apple Launch' Next Wednesday

Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag. The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle. Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro With All-New Camera Bar Design Allegedly Revealed

Thursday February 13, 2025 5:49 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro will feature three rear cameras arranged in a familiar triangular layout, but the cameras will be housed in an all-new rectangular camera bar with rounded corners, according to YouTube channel Front Page Tech. iPhone 17 Pro camera design render created by Asher for Front Page Tech In a video uploaded today, Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser said the camera ...
iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

'New' iPhone SE Product Listing Appears on French Website

Wednesday February 12, 2025 6:49 am PST by
As the wait continues for Apple's long-rumored, fourth-generation iPhone SE, French electronics retailer Boulanger has prematurely published a product listing for a "new" model of the iPhone SE. The placeholder page says the device is "coming soon," but it offers no further information, and the price shown is obviously not real. The listing was spotted by a reader of the French technology...
M4 Mac mini Apple Video

Apple's Refurbished Mac Mini Pricing Has a Problem

Thursday February 13, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple this week began selling refurbished Mac mini models with the M4 chip for the first time, but this has led to a pricing conundrum. In the United States, Apple is offering a refurbished Mac mini with the base M4 chip, 256GB of storage, 16GB of RAM, and Gigabit Ethernet for $509, down from $599 new. This is the standard 15% discount that Apple offers on refurbished Macs. The issue is...
iPhone 16 Apple Store

iPhone 17 in New Sizes This Year: What to Know

Thursday February 13, 2025 2:45 am PST by
Last year, Apple tweaked iPhone 16 Pro screen sizes to make them bigger than 2023's iPhone 15 Pro models, and this year we are also expecting a change in the size of the displays in the iPhone 17 lineup. Here's what we know. Standard iPhone 17 Apple could introduce a new display size for the standard iPhone 17 model in 2025. The iPhone 17 could measure in at 6.3 inches, up from 6.1 inches,...
iphone air concept weis

iPhone 17 Air Could Look Like This in Real Life

Friday February 14, 2025 3:41 am PST by
There have been several alleged leaked details of the iPhone 17 Air, Apple's rumored new slim iPhone, but images have been limited to grainy shots taken in component factories. However, this hyper-realistic concept created by WEIS Studio gives us the best idea yet of what Apple's thin device might actually look like. The concept design is inspired by recent leaks indicating that the device...