What is SKAdNetwork (SKAN)?

SKAdNetwork is Apple's framework for measuring eligible app advertising results without giving advertisers a person-level trail. Apple determines attribution and sends signed postbacks with limited information about the ad and resulting app activity. It can work when a person has not authorized cross-app tracking through App Tracking Transparency.

How does it work?

An eligible ad interaction can be linked to an app install. The advertised app may then update a conversion value to summarize permitted activity after the install. Apple sends postbacks after a privacy delay. The amount of detail available depends on the framework version and privacy conditions, so a low-volume campaign may receive a coarser result.

The conversion value is a compact code, not a full event log. Advertisers choose a mapping between values and outcomes, such as signup or purchase, then document that mapping before comparing campaigns.

What are the limits?

SKAdNetwork helps compare campaigns, but its delayed and limited postbacks cannot reconstruct each person's journey. Advertisers should not treat a missing field as proof that no conversion happened. They should also avoid publishing a fixed install threshold or delay as if Apple guarantees one for every campaign.

Apple's newer AdAttributionKit builds on this privacy-preserving approach and supports additional attribution scenarios. Check the framework and version used by each network before designing reports around its postback fields.

How Hardal handles it

Hardal's mobile app tracking supports SKAdNetwork alongside first-party app events, so you can read SKAN postbacks next to the in-app activity you measure directly. For postback timing, conversion value mapping and privacy thresholds in detail, read the full SKAdNetwork (SKAN) guide.

Related terms: App Tracking Transparency, Web-to-app, Attribution