Apple CEO Tim Cook delivers a keynote during the European Union’s privacy conference at the EU Parliament in Brussels, Belgium October 24, 2018.
- The next major update to the iPhone operating system, iOS 14.5, will be released "next week," Apple said on Tuesday.
- IOS 14.5 has a lot of new features, but the one that's being most closely watched is called ATT, or App Tracking Transparency.
- Advertisers have said that the privacy change will reduce the effectiveness and profitability of targeted ads and possibly roil the online advertising business.
The next major update to the iPhone operating system, iOS 14.5, will be released "next week," Apple said Tuesday.
The detail was slipped into new product announcements Apple made Tuesday. IOS 14.5 has a lot of new features, but the one that's being most closely watched is called ATT, or App Tracking Transparency.
After iPhone users install iOS 14.5, when they open any app that wants to access a device ID called the Identifier for Advertisers, or IDFA, they will see a pop-up. The pop-up will ask if they want to be tracked and give them an opportunity to opt in. Companies that rely on online advertising, especially Facebook, have said that the privacy change will reduce the effectiveness and profitability of targeted ads and potentially roil the online advertising business.
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Apple has also said that it is prepared to remove apps that don't comply with the new policy. In a blog post, Apple said that all apps submitted starting on April 26 must be ready to support ATT.
IOS 14.5 also has other new features, including a redesigned vaccine emoji, a feature that helps quickly unlock an iPhone while wearing a mask, and new voices for Siri.
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Apple typically releases major software updates on Tuesdays. A new purple iPhone that hits stores on April 30 will have the software pre-installed.
