Appy

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App Store campaign tracking

See how many App Store downloads each Appy link brought in, inside App Store Connect and without an SDK. Appy adds your provider token and the link name to every visit it sends to the App Store.

Before you start

  • App Store campaign tracking is part of the Pro, Business and Enterprise plans. Free accounts see the setting, and saving a token needs Pro.
  • You need access to the app's analytics in App Store Connect, to generate a campaign link once and to read the results.
  • Nothing changes in your app: no SDK, no code and no new release.

How it works

  1. 1

    You save the provider token

    In the dashboard, Settings > App Store installs per link lists every App Store app your links point to, from the iPhone and iPad targets and the fallback URL. Save the provider token next to each app.

  2. 2

    Someone taps your link

    Whenever the link sends a visitor to apps.apple.com or itunes.apple.com, Appy adds pt=<your token>, ct=<link name> and mt=8 to that address. This covers every route that ends in the App Store: device targets, the fallback, the page shown when a deep link does not open the app, and the in-app browser page.

  3. 3

    Apple counts the download

    When the person downloads the app for the first time within 24 hours of the tap, App Store Connect credits the campaign named after your link.

Example
Appy link:    https://appy.to/spring-sale
Destination:  https://apps.apple.com/us/app/acme/id123456789
Visitors get: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/acme/id123456789?ct=spring-sale&mt=8&pt=118445

Find your provider token

  1. 1

    Open App Analytics

    In App Store Connect, select your app and open the Analytics tab.

  2. 2

    Generate a campaign link

    Under Acquisition, click Campaigns, then the + button next to Campaigns. Enter any campaign name and generate the link.

  3. 3

    Copy the pt value

    The number after pt= is your provider token. You can also paste the whole generated link into Appy, and it reads the pt value for you.

Apple says the provider token identifies your developer account and stays the same for all your campaigns. It does not say whether every app in the account shares it, so Appy stores one token per app. If you manage apps from several developer accounts, take each token from that app's own account.

See the results

  • In App Store Connect, open the app's Analytics > Metrics, click Add Filter and choose Campaign. Each Appy link shows up under its own name.
  • A campaign appears at the earliest 24 hours after its first tap, and only once at least five people downloaded through it. Below that, Apple hides the numbers.
  • When a person taps two campaign links, Apple credits the most recent one.
  • For bulk exports, use the detailed reports of the App Store Analytics API.

Rules

SituationWhat Appy does
The App Store address already has pt or ctLeaves the address as it is, so campaign links you built yourself keep their names.
The link name is longer than 30 charactersApple allows 30 characters in ct, so Appy uses the first 30. Two links whose names start with the same 30 characters share a campaign.
Other query parameters, such as ppid for a custom product page or l for the languageThey stay. Appy only adds pt, ct and mt, and keeps an mt you set.
Google Play, AppGallery and other storesNot affected by this setting. Google Play links already carry the link name in the install referrer as appy_slug, which your app can read with the Play Install Referrer API.
An Enterprise app registered for the SDK has its own iOS provider tokenThe SDK app's token wins. The token saved in Settings is used for apps without one.
The account moves to the Free planLinks stop adding the token from the next tap. The saved token stays and works again after an upgrade.
You save or remove a tokenYour links pick up the change within about a minute.

Privacy

Nothing about the visitor is added to the address. pt identifies your developer account and ct is the name of your link. Apple decides what to count and shows the numbers only to your team in App Store Connect.