Tim Cook says response to App Tracking Transparency has been 'tremendous'

Apple Ios Update Privacy Controls
Apple Ios Update Privacy Controls (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • Tim Cook was asked about App Tracking Transparency at the company's Q2 2021 earnings call.
  • The CEO said that the feature was worth doing regardless of the adoption by users.

Tim Cook believes App Tracking Transparency was a feature worth creating regardless of user adoption.

During the company's Q2 2021 earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked about its new App Tracking Transparency feature. David Volt of UBS asked what the initial feedback has been since the new feature went live with iOS 14.5 last week. In response, Tim Cook said that "the feedback that we've gotten from users both before it went live, when it was in the planning stages and so forth, and after has been tremendous."

When asked what percentage of users are turning the feature on, Cook responded by saying "frankly, even if it's very low of people that don't want to be tracked, it's worth doing because those people should make their own mind up, whether they would like to be tracked or not."

You can read the entire exchange below.

David Voit, UBSGreat, thanks, guys, and congratulations on a good quarter. Maybe if I could just ask a question, I know it's early days, I know it's early days, but any commentary color from maybe the developer community on ATT, and kind of what the initial feedback and data might look like that you can share with us? Thanks.Tim CookATT's focus is really on the user and giving the user the ability to make a decision about whether they want to be tracked or not. And so it's putting the user in the control, not Apple, not another company, but the user, where it should be. And so that's really the focus of it and the feedback that we've gotten from users both before it went live, when it was in the planning stages and so forth, and after has been tremendous. And so we're really standing up on behalf of the consumer here.David Voit, UBSMaybe just a quick follow up, then, can you kind of discuss what the downloads have looked like? I know it just rolled out earlier this week, and sort of the acceptance by the consumer at this point? Any sort of metrics that you can share with us, whether it's sort of opt in or opt out view from the consumer perspective?Tim CookI don't even know the answer to that. It's not something that we would have predicted beforehand. And frankly, even if it's very low of people that don't want to be tracked, it's worth doing because those people should make their own mind up, whether they would like to be tracked or not.

Earlier today, Apple announced its Q2 2021 earnings with record results in revenue.

Joe Wituschek
Contributor

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.