Apple’s latest software update—iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5—comes with a feature that is finally urging apps to stop tracking its users, an under-the-table operation that many apps have been doing over the past decade.
Such apps would dig your device for personal information or record your online activities to target you with ads based on your preferences or even sell your data to others companies.
With the new function that Apple calls “App Tracking Transparency,” iOS users now have the option to take the necessary measure against trackers and data brokers.
So how does it work? Every time you open an app on iOS 14.5 for the first time and it wants to track you, you will get a prompt asking for your permission to allow the app “to track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites.” Simply click the “Ask app not to track” button and you’re good to go.
If you accidentally gave an app permission to track you, you can revert this by going to Settings, then Privacy. Click Tracking, then turn the toggle corresponding to the app from on to off.
You can also tell all apps to stop tracking you at once by making sure that “Allow Apps to Request to Track” is turned off.
Aside from the App Tracking Transparency, Apple enhanced its OS with the option to unlock iPhone with Apple Watch while you’re wearing a face mask, support for AirTag, new skin tone for emojis, and more voice options for Siri.
