Does this app use the Advertising Identifier (IDFA)? - AdMob 6.8.0

Question

I\'m currently uploading my App to the App Store and Apple is asking me if this app users IDFA. I\'m using the latest Admob SDK or 6.8.0 and I don\'t know if it uses IDFA or

Answer 1

It seems many indie developers like me are desperately looking for an answer to these questions for years. Strangely, even after 5 years this question was asked, it seems the answer to this question is still not clear.

As far as I can see, there is not any official statement in Google AdMob documentation or website about how a developer can safely answer these questions. It seems developers are left on their own in the mystery about answering some legally binding questions about the SDK.

In their support forums they can advice questioners to reach out to Apple Support:

Hi there,

I believe it would be best for you to reach out to Apple Support for your concern as it tackles with Apple Submission Guidelines rather than our SDK.

Regards, Joshua Lagonera Mobile Ads SDK Team

Or they can say that it is out of their scope of support:

Hello Robert,

On this forum, we deal with Mobile Ads SDK related technical concerns only. We would not be able to address you question as this is out of scope for our team.

Regards, Deepika Uragayala Mobile Ads SDK Team

The only answer I could find from a "Google person" is about the 4th question. It is not in the AdMob forum but in the "Tag Manager" forum but still related. It is like so:

Hi Jorn,

Apple asks you about your use of IDFA when submitting your application (https://developer.apple.com/Library/ios/documentation/LanguagesUtilities/Conceptual/iTunesConnect_Guide/Chapters/SubmittingTheApp.html). For an app that doesn't display advertising, but includes the AdSupport framework for conversion attribution, you would select the appropriate checkbox(es). In respect to the Limit Ad Tracking stipulation, all of GTM's tags that utilize IDFA respect the limit ad tracking stipulations of the SDK.

Thanks,

Eric Burley Google Tag Manager.

Here is an Internet Archive link in case they remove this page.

Lastly, let me mention about AdMob's only statement I've seen about this issue (here is the Internet Archive link):

The Mobile Ads SDK for iOS utilizes Apple's advertising identifier (IDFA). The SDK uses IDFA under the guidelines laid out in the iOS developer program license agreement. You must ensure you are in compliance with the iOS developer program license agreement policies governing the use of this identifier.

In conclusion, it seems most developers using AdMob simply checks 1st and 4th checkmarks and submit their apps without being completely sure about what Google exactly does in its SDK and without any official information about it. I wish good luck to us all.

Answer 2

If you have Google analytics or Facebook api in you app, you need to check all of them to make sure it works!

Edit: This is an old answer - see comments or other answers for an exact answer.

Answer 3

BTW, Yandex Metrica also uses IDFA.

./Pods/YandexMobileMetrica/libYandexMobileMetrica.a

They say on their GitHub page that

"Starting from version 1.6.0 Yandex AppMetrica became also a tracking instrument and uses Apple idfa to attribute installs. Because of that during submitting your application to the AppStore you will be prompted with three checkboxes to state your intentions for idfa usage. As Yandex AppMetrica uses idfa for attributing app installations you need to select Attribute this app installation to a previously served advertisement."

So, I will try to select this checkbox and send my app without actually no any ads in it.

Answer 4

You can track all calls to [ASIdentifierManager advertisingIdentifier] with symbolic breakpoint in Xcode:

Answer 5

Yes, it does. From the AdMob page:

The Mobile Ads SDK for iOS utilizes Apple's advertising identifier (IDFA). The SDK uses IDFA under the guidelines laid out in the iOS developer program license agreement. You must ensure you are in compliance with the iOS developer program license agreement policies governing the use of this identifier.

Answer 6

I'm having the same issue here and I was a bit afraid of checking the last box, since I have no idea what the 3rd party SDK will do with the data collected and if they will respect the Limit Ad Settings.

But I found a post by a Google Admob programmer, Eric Leichtenschlag, on their forums:

The Google Mobile Ads SDK and the Google Conversion Tracking SDK utilize Apple's advertising identifier introduced in iOS 6 (IDFA). While each developer is responsible for how they access device data, the SDKs use IDFA under the guidelines laid out in the iOS developer program license agreement, including Limit Ad Tracking.

Including Limit Ad Tracking. This is what the last box is all about. So you must check the that box if you use AdMob. If you use other SDK I strongly recommend checking if they respect the guidelines as well.

Since I run only ads (Google AdMob), I checked the first (Serve ads...) and last box (I, ___, confirm...). App was approved and released, no issues.

Source: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/google-admob-ads-sdk/BsGRSZ-gLmk