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Settingly

Privacy and security

Allow Apps to Request to Track

Most people call this stopping apps following you between other apps.

Turning this off means no app can even ask to follow what you do in other companies' apps and websites, and every app is treated as if you said no.

Available

This setting is present on your iPhone.

  • We have this path on file but have not yet confirmed it against an official source.

Where to find it - iOS 16 and later

  1. Settings
  2. Privacy & Security
  3. Tracking

What it does

Tracking here means linking your activity in one app to your activity in another company's apps or sites, usually for advertising. With the master switch on, each app must ask once and you can answer per app. With it off, the request never appears and the answer is always no.

What changes

When it is on

Apps may show a prompt asking to track you. You decide individually.

When it is off

No prompts appear and every app is denied. Ads you see become less targeted.

Should you turn it on?

Good reasons to turn it on

  • You want to allow tracking for a specific app you trust.
  • Some free apps ask you to allow it to support them.

Good reasons to turn it off

  • No app can build a profile of you across other apps.
  • You stop being interrupted by tracking prompts.
  • It costs you nothing functionally. Apps still work.

Battery

No real change

Privacy

Helps

Performance

No real change

Cellular data

No real change

Storage

No real change

Out of the box: The master switch is on, but each individual app is denied until you allow it.

What your iPhone needs

  • Needs iOS 14 or later

Where this setting used to live

Apple moves settings between releases. This is every location we have on file.

  1. iOS 16 and later

    Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking

  2. iOS 14 to iOS 15

    Settings > Privacy > Tracking

Questions people actually ask

How do I stop apps tracking me?
Settings, then Privacy and Security, then Tracking, and turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track.
Does this break any apps?
No. Apps work the same way. You may see less relevant advertising.

If it is not working

  • Turning the master switch off resets every app to denied. Turning it back on does not restore previous permissions.
  • This is separate from Personalised Ads, which controls Apple's own advertising.
  • Apps can still track you within their own services. This controls cross company tracking.

Related settings