What Did iOS 14.5 Change for Meta Ads?

Meta’s update to its post “Speaking Up for Small Businesses”, dated 26 April 2021, says that from that day Apple would require apps that engage in what it calls “tracking” to ask permission. That covers using information from other companies’ apps and websites to personalize or measure ads. Meta says the change limited its ad targeting and measurement. This entry reports Meta’s account, not Apple’s.

What did Apple require, according to Meta?

Meta’s post carries these dated entries:

• 16 December 2020: Meta describes an Apple iOS 14 policy, enforced through AppTrackingTransparency, and says it has “no choice” but to show Apple’s prompt.
• 1 February 2021: Meta says it will show Apple’s prompt and its own screen alongside it, to explain personalized ads.
• 26 April 2021: Meta says Apple “will require” the permission prompt starting that day. Meta’s own screen tells people they are seeing Apple’s prompt because of Apple’s requirements for iOS 14.5.
• 30 June 2021: Meta begins testing in-feed notifications about personalized ads.

Meta wrote that if people decline, “you will still see ads, but they will be less relevant to you.” If you advertise to iPhone users, read Meta’s reporting caveat further down before you compare numbers.

What did Meta predict in December 2020?

Meta’s post says small business advertisers saw a cut of over 60% of their sales, on average, for every dollar they spent when they could not use their own data to find customers on Facebook. It also says that without personalized ads powered by their own data, small businesses could see a cut of over 60% of website sales from ads. The footnote says the comparison covered over 25,000 global campaigns that optimized for purchases on advertisers’ websites in 2019. That is Meta’s own analysis.

The same post says Meta did not expect “a full loss of personalization but rather a move in that direction over the longer term.” Treat the 60% figure as Meta’s finding from 2019 campaigns, not a measure of your account.

What do Meta’s annual reports say?

Meta’s annual reports to the SEC describe the same change:

• 2020 report: Apple announced changes for iOS 14 that “will reduce our and other iOS developers’ ability to target and measure advertising”, which Meta expected to reduce marketer budgets.
• 2022 report: Meta believes lower advertising demand was primarily driven by a tougher economy and by limits on ad targeting and measurement from changes to iOS and the regulatory environment.
• 2025 report: Meta says its advertising revenue “has been negatively impacted by marketer reaction to targeting and measurement challenges associated with iOS changes beginning in 2021.”

Meta still names the iOS changes in its 2025 report.

What did Meta change in its tools in response?

Meta’s help pages describe Aggregated Event Measurement (AEM), a protocol for measuring web and app events from people using iOS 14 and later devices. Meta says it helps recover limited measurement of website conversions from iOS 14.5 and later devices. Meta’s key-concepts page also says Apple’s policy prohibits some data collection and sharing unless people give permission, so “ads personalization and performance reporting may be limited for both app and web conversion events.”

Meta’s AEM page lists these changes for website conversion campaigns, for accounts that have access:

• You no longer need to prioritize 8 conversion events per domain, or turn on value sets for value optimization.
• The Aggregated Event Measurement tab in Events Manager has been removed.
• You are not required to verify your domain for event configuration purposes.
• You do not need to select a conversion domain when you create a campaign.

For mobile apps, Meta’s key-concepts page says Apple’s SKAdNetwork API limits apps to 63 events.

What should you check today?

• Audience sizes. Meta’s iOS 14.5 help page says app activity, website and app connections custom audiences may shrink as more devices update. Its suggested alternatives are a broad audience or targeting expansion.
• Event setup. Check that your pixel and Conversions API events arrive. Meta notes that events sent through the Conversions API may also be processed under AEM limits.
• Reporting expectations. Compare Meta’s numbers with your store or analytics data. Do not assume they will match for iPhone traffic.

FAQ

Did iOS 14.5 stop Meta ads working on iPhones?

Meta’s posts do not say that. Its December 2020 post expected a move toward less personalization over the longer term, and its help pages say personalization and reporting “may be limited”. To see what changed for you, compare your own results in Ads Manager before and after.

Do I still need to set up Aggregated Event Measurement for my website?

Meta’s current help page says there are no steps you need to take for website events to be processed through AEM. The Events Manager tab for it was removed. Mobile app campaigns have separate eligibility checks, so read the app section of Meta’s page if you promote an app.

Does the Conversions API get around the iOS 14.5 limits?

Meta’s help page says events sent through the Conversions API may also be processed in accordance with AEM limits. So it is not described as a workaround for the iOS prompt. It is still the way to send server-side events to Meta.