How it works
From the tap to the number in your report
Five steps, and an honest table of what each platform will and will not tell you.
The path an install takes
- 1
The ad or link
Someone taps your ad inside another app, or a creator’s link. Ad platforms record the click on their side; your own links record it on ours, with a click ID.
- 2
The store
They land on the App Store or Google Play and install. Google Play carries your click ID through to the app; Apple carries a Search Ads token, and otherwise nothing.
- 3
The first launch
Your app starts, the SDK records the install with whatever the platform handed it, and sends it — or keeps it safely on disk until there is a network.
- 4
The match
The install is matched to the click that caused it: by click ID, by Apple’s token, or by an advertising ID the user agreed to share. Unmatched installs stay unattributed.
- 5
The numbers
Installs, retention and revenue roll up per campaign, creator and link, beside the spend imported from each ad platform.
What each case gives you
Android answers exactly. iPhone answers exactly where Apple allows it, and in campaign totals where it does not.
| Case | Signal used | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Android, install through your link | Google Play install referrer | Exact, per user |
| Android, ad network campaign | Advertising ID, unless the user deleted it | Exact, per user |
| iPhone, Apple Search Ads | AdServices token, exchanged with Apple within 24 hours | Exact, per user |
| iPhone, ad in another app, tracking allowed | Advertising ID (IDFA) | Exact, per user |
| iPhone, ad in another app, tracking declined | Apple’s SKAdNetwork reports | Totals per campaign, a day or more later |
| iPhone, your own link or a creator | A code the user types, or a copied link they approve | Exact, per user |
There is no row for guessing from IP addresses and device details. Apple forbids it, apps carrying SDKs that do it can be rejected, and behind carrier networks and Private Relay it is unreliable anyway. Where the evidence runs out, we say so.
See where your users really come from
Add the SDK to your app, connect your ad accounts, and watch the first installs land.