Samuel Axon
Apple has begun rejecting app submissions that do not follow its updated device privacy policy and fingerprint tracking, according to a Forbes report. This move strongly suggests that the release of iOS 14.5 – and possibly new hardware products – is imminent.
Here is an excerpt from the rejection letter some developers told Forbes they received:
Guideline 5.1.2 – Legal – Privacy – Data Use and Sharing
We found in our review that your app collects user and device information to create a unique identifier for the user’s devices. Apps that fingerprint the user’s device in this way violate the Apple Developer Program license agreement and are not eligible for the App Store.
Your app specifically uses algorithmically converted device and usage data to create a unique identifier to track the user. The information collected by your app may include the following: defaultManager, NSLocaleCollationIdentifier, NSLocaleCountryCode, NSLocaleQuotationEndDelimiterKey and NSLocaleGroupingSeparator.
According to Section 3.3.9 of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement, you or your app may not use any permanent, device-based identifier, or any data therefrom, to uniquely identify purposes.
This message to developers makes it clear that affected programs are in conflict because they use a technique to detect the user without permission (fingerprint of the device). A few months ago, Apple announced plans to implement ‘App Transparency Transparency’, which requires apps to prompt users to follow it with IDFAs, a common tracking tool that is essential for many targeted advertising techniques. This change has drawn the sadness of Facebook and other companies that rely on that kind of tracking to maximize advertising revenue. But it’s also clear that application transparency keeps track of applications that users do not want to follow in any way, IDFA or otherwise, will experience rejection. Device fingerprints have often been used as an alternative to IDFA when users or platforms prevent the use of the latter.
Mobile marketing analyst Eric Seufert told Forbes that thousands of apps could potentially be turned down because the breach appears to have been committed by at least some through a mobile analytics company’s SDK; the company claims that the SDK is used in more than 50,000 applications. Adjust has updated the SDK to remove at least some of the offending features, but not all developers use the latest version.
Why this means iOS 14.5 is around the corner
Although Apple recently updated its developer guidelines to reflect the new detection policy, the company said earlier that tracking the transparency of the app in the App Store would be enforced, thanks to the release of iOS 14.5 sometime this spring. The fact that apps are already being rejected on these grounds today makes a compelling case that several other Apple features and products are now just a few days away.
It is expected that iOS 14.5 (and its predecessor iPadOS 14.5, which will be launched on the same day as the iPhone software) will be a major feature update for the mobile operating system. Based on what we’ve seen in recent beta releases, iOS 14.5 will include a feature that can unlock Face ID devices with a synced Apple Watch if you wear a protective mask, numerous changes and adjustments to Siri, global support for dual-SIM 5G (previously only seen in China), support for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S controllers, hundreds of new emojis and the above ad changes, among others.
Product launches may also be on hand
When Apple releases new hardware products, it is usually updated with new versions of the operating systems that the products use – for example, an updated version of iOS is usually landed the same week as a new iPhone model is shipped.
Reports from normally reliable sources have repeatedly predicted that a new iPad Pro model will be announced by Apple sometime in the spring. Based on the history and some reports, it looked like it would happen at the end of March, but this expected time frame has come and gone. The product is likely to arrive soon, which means an event in April is likely.
For that reason, the fact that Apple is now applying this iOS 14.5-related rule to app developers may be contributing evidence that a new iPad is coming soon.
Apple is also expected to announce several new, higher-end Macs that will drop Intel processors in favor of Apple Silicon this year, and one or more of them could be announced this spring. Furthermore, leaks and rumors claim that Apple will soon launch a Tile competitor with AR features, although several launch windows for the product have come and gone over the past few years.
Apple is also known for working on a kind of mixed reality headset, which is probably mainly focused on augmented reality experiences. Some insiders said the product could be announced this year, though we expect Apple to announce a new category like the one at the company’s developer conference in June rather than at a smaller, spring launch event for the spring. And it remains possible that the mixed-reality headset announcement is still unavailable.