If you notice that AppsFlyer Installs are much lower than Apple Ads Tap-Through Installs (shown as Downloads in SplitMetrics Acquire), causing your Install Rate (Tap-Through) to drop below 70%, and you see this difference in both your SplitMetrics and AppsFlyer dashboards, this article is here to help you understand why this happens and what you can do about it.

We’ll walk you through the key AppsFlyer settings to review and explain how to adjust them according to best practices. Following these steps will help ensure your data is accurate and give you a clear picture of your true Install Rate.

Apple Ads uses a fixed 30-day click-through window, which means a user can be attributed to Apple Ads if they install the app within 30 days of clicking an ad. Each MMP has its own settings for click lookback, and in AppsFlyer, the default is 7 days. You can check this in your Apple Ads integration by going to Collaborate > Active Integrations.

Since AppsFlyer’s default click-through window is shorter than Apple Ads, it allows less time to attribute installs. To align with Apple Ads and give enough time for accurate attribution, it is recommended to set the Install Click-Through Lookback Window to 30 days for this media source.

AppsFlyer does not track re-attributions by default. To get a full and accurate view of your campaign performance and compare it correctly with Apple Ads, re-attribution tracking needs to be enabled. For more details on how re-attributions work, see 📖 this article.

When re-attribution is enabled, the Installs metric in SplitMetrics Acquire will include both new installs and any reattributed reinstalls from the tracker. This ensures that the Install Rate is calculated correctly and with greater precision.
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To enable re-attribution in AppsFlyer, navigate the Apple Ads partner integration settings and turn on the Reinstall attribution toggle. Once activated, reattributed reinstalls will be properly counted in your reporting.

To help ensure that more installs are correctly credited to Apple Ads, the Inactivity Period setting in AppsFlyer should be disabled.
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Because Apple Ads doesn’t apply an inactivity rule, having this option enabled in AppsFlyer can cause some re-attributions to be skipped, which may result in fewer installs being counted for Apple Ads.
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To avoid discrepancies between the two platforms, make sure the Inactivity Window (shown as Ignore active users for retargeting) is turned off in the Apple Ads integration settings in AppsFlyer.

Some SDK configurations can also affect whether installs are correctly attributed to Apple Ads. If these settings are not implemented properly, AppsFlyer may not receive the data required to match the install to an Apple Ads tap.

To avoid missing installs, ask your developers to review the following:

These checks help ensure that AppsFlyer receives the data required for proper attribution to Apple Ads. For more details, you can refer to the relevant 📖 AppsFlyer Help Center article.

It’s important to regularly review your AppsFlyer settings to ensure that installs are being attributed correctly. Proper configuration of click-through lookback, re-attribution, inactivity window, and SDK settings helps minimize discrepancies between Apple Ads and AppsFlyer.