Oliver Haslam·

Apple Confirms ‘Allow Apps to Request to Track’ Option In iOS 14.5 Might Be Grayed Out For Some, Here’s Why

Apple recently released iOS 14.5 to the public with one feature in particular capturing a lot of attention. The new App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature means that apps must ask a user’s permission before they can track them from one app to another.

Users can either allow or block that tracking on an app-by-app basis, or block them entirely across their device. But some users have noted that they don’t have the ability to do that.

Normally, opening the Settings app and tapping Privacy and then Tracking would offer a toggle. That toggle has been grayed out for some people, with all apps blocked from tracking users by default.

Apple has now published a support document that might go some way to explaining why that is.

In some circumstances, the “Allow Apps to Request to Track” setting is disabled, including:

  • For users with child accounts or under age 18 by birth year, signed in with their Apple ID*
  • If your Apple ID is managed by an educational institution or uses a configuration profile that limits tracking
  • If your Apple ID was created in the last 3 days

Again, in this instance, all requests by an app to track a user will be immediately declined by iOS.

You can read the full support document for more details on how App Tracking Transparency works.

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