Developers are trying to determine the optimal time to prompt users for permission to use app tracking in light of Apple’s new App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy. GameRefinery, a gaming analytics company, has recently investigated when it is best to send these notifications and has published their findings. They first looked at the top 200 list of grossing US games to identify which games among them used the ATT pop-ups during their initial play session, the first 25 minutes of play. According to GameRefinery, 88% of these games had ATT pop-ups in this duration. However, of this 88%, 72% of those displayed them within the first 30 seconds of gameplay.

Out of the top 200 games, 23% used pre-ATT prompts or small pop-ups before the ATT request message appeared. These messages promised players a customized or tailored experience by allowing app tracking. Notably, when the sample group of games was narrowed down to the top 100, the number of games using pre-ATT prompts increased to 27%.

Furthermore, 13% of the top 200 games had message prompts asking for more user information, such as the user’s phone number, age, or gender.

GameRefinery concludes that a ‘golden window’ exists somewhere within the first six to 30 seconds of gameplay for sending users ATT pop-ups. This finding covers the perfect sweet spot between user engagement and fulfilling ATT transparency requirements. However, GameRefinery cautions developers to not send notifications too early as it may cause users to get annoyed and exit out of the app.

Why it Matters

The quick introduction of ATT notifications may be because developers want to provide users with all necessary information upfront. This way, they won’t feel cautious about using app tracking from the very beginning of the game. The slight reluctance of users to accept additional ATT tracking requests might be due to the players’ lack of need for detailed tracking information.

Sending pre-ATT prompts to users can set the stage for users about what to expect from ATT. Reviewing GameRefinery’s results, pushing ATT requests first and clarifying to users what permissions a game wants is, for now, the most effective technique.

GameRefinery recently shared insights about the present state of the mobile gaming market this April.