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Most Apple users understand the basics of getting the best out of their gadgets.

You’re rocking that camera, you’re making use of the Health app, and you use the screen recording function to show your less tech-savvy friends how to change various settings.

However, there is a chance you might be missing out on one of Apple’s most impressive features, the recently-launched iPhone privacy feature, App Tracking Transparency (ATT).

Forbes calls it a “triumphant success” and enabling the feature really is a breeze:

• Open ‘Settings’
• Select ‘Privacy’
• Select ‘Tracking’
• Tap the toggle next to ‘Allow Apps to Request to Tracking’

If you say yes (green), apps will have to notify you about tracking.

If you say no (grey), all apps that have yet to pose the pop-up will automatically treat the answer to the question as a denial of access to Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA).

Put simply, that means:

ATT effectively spelled the end of the identifier for advertisers (IDFA), a unique code that allows apps to track you across apps and websites you use on your iPhone.

If you say no to the new “Allow App to Track” iOS prompt, the app developer will be given a string of zeros instead of the unique code.

The impact of this is huge, as the IDFA was used to measure the success of ad campaigns – for example, if someone saw an ad on Facebook, but typed the site into Google and brought up the website, it was possible to track this.

The change makes it far harder to track, profile, and target users with ads.

ATT is not limited to iPhones, and the same feature can be enabled on iPads.

Facebook and Apple have been at war over privacy for some time, and the effectiveness of ATT has knocked the social media giant.

The latter has touted ATT in a number of ads, as you may recall:

So why should you care, and what is the real benefit to you, the average user?

Apple’s ATT feature is forcing companies such as Facebook and its advertisers to change the model. This is not a bad thing, since the previous model was broken, with intrusive tracking that was an invasion of people’s privacy…

And while Apple does benefit from its iPhone privacy features and anti-tracking ethos, it is not the only one. The user—you—is increasingly able to access privacy by default and design, and that’s certainly something to be happy about.

Also, there is finally a degree of transparency into the data that’s being collected and used to track you, which is important.

It won’t save those of you who insist on taking those inane Facebook quizzes that ask questions about the name of your first pet, or the street you grew up on.

You know those are the same security questions banks and other institutions use, right?

Privacy fans, perhaps it’s time to make the switch, which is where Digicape, South Africa’s largest independent Apple retailer, can help out.

They have all the latest goodies in stock, and if you happen to have a drawer stashed with old iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches, or Apple TVs, you can also dust them off and trade them in to get discounts and store credit.

Oh, and please, please, think twice about those Facebook quizzes.

[source:forbes]