Apple will require app devs to explain exactly why they use certain APIs
Some seemingly innocuous APIs are misused to track users, Apple says.
Enlarge / The back of the iPhone 13. (credit: Samuel Axon)
Apple has announced an additional hoop developers must jump through to get their apps approved on its App Store. Soon, developers of apps that use certain APIs will have to clarify their reasons for using them when submitting those apps.
Apple is trying to close some fingerprinting loopholes here. The term “fingerprinting” in this context refers to various techniques for learning information about a device or its user and tracking them across multiple unrelated apps or websites.
It’s something that Apple has been saying is not allowed in iPhone apps for a while, and the company introduced the controversial App Tracking Transparency initiative in 2021 to give users a choice in whether things like mobile ad networks (for example) could track them in this way.
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