Mobile & app · also called SKAdNetwork, SKAN, AdAttributionKit, AAK
SKAdNetwork / AdAttributionKit
SKAdNetwork and its successor AdAttributionKit are Apple's privacy-preserving frameworks that tell advertisers which ad network drove an iOS app install, without revealing user-level identity.
Apple launched SKAdNetwork in 2018 and it became essential after App Tracking Transparency arrived in 2021, because most iOS users no longer shared their IDFA. Instead of user-level data, the device itself records that an ad was shown or tapped and that the app was later installed and opened. After a delay, Apple sends a signed, anonymised "postback" to the ad network and advertiser with the campaign and a limited conversion value.
Privacy protections are built in: timers delay postbacks, conversion values are coarse, and details such as the publisher app are withheld unless enough installs occur to protect anonymity. Version 4, released in 2022, added multiple postbacks over time and hierarchical campaign IDs. In 2024 Apple introduced AdAttributionKit, which is interoperable with SKAdNetwork, supports alternative app marketplaces in the EU and adds features such as re-engagement attribution; Apple now points developers to it for new work.
These frameworks make iOS measurement aggregated and delayed, so advertisers combine them with MMP modelling, incrementality tests and marketing mix modeling. Apple signs postbacks cryptographically, which makes them harder to forge than traditional install claims.
Think of it like this
SKAdNetwork is like a sealed ballot box: it tells you how many votes each candidate got, but never who voted for whom.
An example
A food delivery app in Japan receives AdAttributionKit postbacks showing Network A drove 3,200 installs with high conversion values last week, but it cannot see which individual users they were.
Related terms
App Tracking Transparency (ATT)
App Tracking Transparency (ATT) is Apple's framework, introduced with iOS 14.5 in 2021, requiring apps to ask users' permission before tracking them across other companies' apps and websites or accessing the IDFA.
IDFA
IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers) is Apple's resettable advertising identifier for iPhones and iPads, which apps can access only if the user grants permission through App Tracking Transparency.
MMP (mobile measurement partner)
An MMP (mobile measurement partner) is an independent company that attributes app installs and in-app events to the ads and ad networks that drove them, and detects mobile install fraud.
Attribution
Attribution is the process of assigning credit for a conversion, such as a sale, sign-up or install, to the ads, channels or touchpoints that a customer encountered beforehand.
App install campaign
An app install campaign is advertising designed to get people to download and install a mobile app, usually optimised and often paid per install or per post-install action.
Sources: Apple Developer: SKAdNetwork, Apple Developer: AdAttributionKit, Apple Developer: App Tracking Transparency