How does iOS recognize the source of an App installation

Writing in the front

In terms of data statistics, especially when promoting app, it is crucial to count the source of installation, so as to distinguish the channels of installation, accurately locate the source of installation, and make correct data analysis for marketing and big data statistics

However, as we all know, the download and installation of iOS is basically through AppStore. Although Apple has identified the source of iOS in AppstoreConnect, Apple’s privacy policy only allows the statistics to be reported and analyzed. However, most domestic users do not check the diagnostic analysis and upload log after starting up, resulting in extremely low accuracy

At present the mainstream way of promotion or by comparison with idfa identification, to determine the source of the installation, idfa unique identifier is recognized as the apple of equipment, this project also need not additional SDK integration, only need to compare the idfa can know the source, it usually role in brush list, in this, but if the user manually shut down AD tracking, The idFA obtained by the code becomes 0000… Especially after iOS14, AD recognition for a single app is turned off by default, which adds a lot of difficulty to source statistics

An accurate method of calculation is urgently needed

How to do

Generally, the installation method is first in the browser, then jump to the Appstore, and then download the app to the desktop. The user opens the app, so we need to find a way to mark the unique identity that can be obtained uniformly in the browser and app

1. The first thing that comes to mind is to use cookies. We can write a unique identifier into the cookie when the browser user clicks download, and then search the corresponding attribute of the cookie in the app after the app starts

function setCookie(key,value,t){
	var oDate=new Date(a); oDate.setDate(oDate.getDate()+t);document.cookie=key+"="+value+"; expires="+oDate.toDateString();
}
Copy the code

2. Make an upload mark when clicking download through the unique identifier of the device such as IP address, and then the user opens the APP to obtain the same data for comparison

3. Another way is to provide the invitation code during distribution, and enter the invitation code to confirm the installation source during user registration

conclusion

Idfa mode accuracy in iOS14 after the default off will be very low

Since downloading will jump to Appstore, and downloading is also a long process, there will be various possibilities of serial changes, especially for iP, which will change when users switch networks, so the certainty will not be too high

The invitation code has high requirements on users, and many users do not want to enter the invitation code manually

At this time looking for some third-party channel statistics tools to try to find several now mainstream channel statistics tools found Xinstall is a good recommendation to use