If you notice that Adjust installs are much lower than Apple Ads Tap-Through Installs (shown as Downloads in SplitMetrics Acquire), causing your Install Rate (Tap-Through) to fall below 63%, and you’re seeing the same pattern in both your SplitMetrics and Adjust dashboards, this article will help you understand why this may happen and what you can do to improve accuracy.
💡 Reminder. Install Rate (Tap-Through) is calculated as Installs / Downloads (Tap-Through) × 100%.
❗Important. If you notice differences between Adjust and SplitMetrics, this is a separate scenario. For guidance on understanding and addressing those discrepancies, please refer to 📖 our dedicated article on comparing Adjust and SplitMetrics data.
We’ll guide you through the key Adjust settings to review and show you how to configure them based on best practices. By following these steps, you'll help ensure your data reflects reality and gain a clearer understanding of your true Install Rate.
1. Install Click-Through Attribution Window
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 after tapping an ad. Each MMP has its own lookback settings, and in Adjust, the default click-through window is set to 7 days.
Because Adjust’s default window is shorter than Apple Ads’, it gives less time to match installs back to your Apple Ads taps. To stay aligned with Apple Ads and ensure more installs are attributed correctly, it’s recommended to set the Attribution Window in Adjust to 30 days.
To update this setting in Adjust:
Go to AppView > All apps and select your app.
Open Attribution settings.
In the New users: attribution section, click Edit.
Change the Attribution window to 30 days and save your changes.
💡Tip. To apply a custom window for Apple Ads only, open Campaign Lab → Partners → Apple → Edit settings. Turn off the Use app-level settings option, then set the Attribution Window to 30 days just for Apple Ads.
2. Reattribution Settings
To get a complete view of your campaign performance and compare it properly with Apple Ads, you should enable reattribution tracking in Adjust.
💡Note. In Adjust, a reattribution occurs when a device that previously installed the app re-engages through a new source and matches the configured inactivity and reattribution window. To find out more about reattributions, check out 📖 this article.
By default, Adjust applies a 7-day reattribution window and a 7-day inactivity period. Apple Ads, however, attributes installs for up to 30 days after a tap, and it does not use an inactivity rule. This means shorter windows and inactivity rules in Adjust can prevent some Apple Ads–driven installs from being counted.
To align Adjust with Apple Ads and make sure all eligible installs are captured, it is recommended to:
Extend the reattribution window to 30 days, and
Set the inactivity period to 0 days, so Adjust doesn’t block reattributions Apple Ads would credit.
How to enable and configure reattributions in Adjust:
Go to AppView → All apps and select your app.
Open Attribution settings.
Scroll to Existing users: reattribution and click Edit.
Turn on the Reattribution toggle.
Set the Reattribution window to 30 days.
Set the Inactivity period to 0 days.
Save your changes.
Once reattribution tracking is enabled, the Installs metric in SplitMetrics Acquire will include both new installs and reattributions recorded by Adjust. This helps your Install Rate (Tap-Through) reflect the full scope of installs driven by Apple Ads.
💡 Tip. If you want to apply these settings and enable reattributions for Apple Ads only, open Campaign Lab → Partners → Apple → Edit settings. Turn off the Use app-level settings option, enable the Reattribution toggle, and set the Reattribution window to 30 days and Inactivity period to 0 days specifically for Apple Ads.
3. Redownload Settings
In Adjust, redownloads refer to the first session that is recorded after a user deletes your app from their device and then installs it again.
To help minimize discrepancies with Apple Ads attribution, configure your redownload settings as follows:
Go to AppView → All apps and select your app.
Open Attribution settings.
Scroll to the Redownload settings section.
Select Edit and configure the following:
Set the Redownload exclusion window to 1 month
Set the Redownload inactivity period to 1 day
Select Save to apply the changes.
4. Untimed Clicks Priority Settings
Adjust lowers the priority of Apple Ads “untimed engagements” (standard payloads) by default, which can cause some Apple Ads installs to be credited to other sources and lead to discrepancies. To improve accuracy, set Adjust to Keep untimed engagements at their original priority.
How to configure it:
Go to Campaign Lab → Partners.
Search for Apple and open the Apple partner integration.
Click Edit Settings for the relevant app.
Find the Untimed Clicks Priority section.
Select Keep untimed engagements at their original priority.
Save your changes.
5. SDK Settings
To ensure Adjust receives the most accurate data from Apple Ads, it’s recommended to add the AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework and implement the Popup, then Initialize approach in your app. This allows Adjust to receive the detailed Apple payload for users who authorize ATT, including the engagement timestamp, which helps improve attribution accuracy.
💡 Note. Users who do not authorize ATT will still be attributed using the standard payload, so no data will be lost for iOS 14.3+ users.
For more details on this setup, see 📖 Launch the ATT pop-up and initialize the SDK article.
Checking your Adjust settings is key to ensuring that Apple Ads installs are attributed accurately in SplitMetrics Acquire. Configuring the click-through attribution window, reattribution, redownload, and inactivity settings, untimed clicks priority, and SDK properly helps minimize discrepancies and provides a more reliable view of your true Install Rate (Tap-Through).