iOS 14.5 is almost, almost, almost here.
We’ve been waiting for weeks, and it’s a big deal. iOS 14.5 finally fully implements all the privacy protections that Apple promised in over half a year ago, delayed late in 2020, and is implementing in the iOS 14.5 public betas.
Very soon — this week? — the last beta will be shipped. And when iOS 14.5 is released to the public, how app publishers deal with privacy, device data, and the IDFA will change forever.
Apple signaled today that the next version of its mobile operating system, iOS 14.5, will be coming out soon, and that app developers need to take privacy seriously at risk of being in violation of Apple’s developer program. In addition, as it has in the past, Apple clearly stated that device fingerprinting is not OK.
Fingerprinting is collecting device metadata to track phones and people.
“Collecting device and usage data with the intent of deriving a unique representation of a user, or fingerprinting, continues to be a violation of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement,” Apple said today in a release on its developer site.