Tracking campaign information through app store to iOS app

Question

Given a link to an iOS app on the app store, I'd like to be able to find the source of the purchase/installation inside my app.

I can't really find anything online, maybe I'm searching the wrong keywords.

I'm hoping handleOpenURL may get passed a bunch of information when you start the app after purchasing or something?

The end goal is for example:

• User clicks advert offering £10 in-app credit when installed, the link to the app store contains some special tags to identify this type of install
• User clicks install on the app store that was opened
• App is installed and opened for the first time
• App recognises the tags and pops up with this, talks to a server notifying of a new install, for the campaign, with the users unique id, server gives credit

In reality there is no credit, but I thought this was a good way to illustrate. So ignore any security concerns you might have with this!

Any advice appreciated!

Answer 1

The short answer is, not possible. Apple does not provide an api for you to do this. There are companies which can attribute an app installation from a served ad or url but I am not aware of any which provide an api for you to get that info within the app, they usually just have a web portal where you can see how many people clicked on an ad and how many people installed from those clicks.

If you post what you are actually trying to accomplish with this information in the app, maybe someone can help you come up with a better solution.

Answer 2

What I was looking for can be achieved via Smart App Banners

https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/AppleApplications/Reference/SafariWebContent/PromotingAppswithAppBanners/PromotingAppswithAppBanners.html