How Adjust setup captures Apple Ads credit

Connect the partner link first#

Create the Apple Ads partner connection inside Adjust before touching code, so spend attribution has somewhere to land. The connection defines which accounts, campaigns and identifiers Adjust will join to postbacks.

Follow the Adjust Apple Ads measurement guide for the exact permission and account sequence. Place the step in context with the Apple Ads hub measurement map so new team members see the whole pipeline.

Audit the connection quarterly and after every account change. Broken links fail silently and starve ROAS of spend.

Switch on both frameworks#

Enable SKAdNetwork and AdAttributionKit measurement together in Adjust, backed by a current SDK in the app. Dual running covers the full OS base while migration proceeds at your users pace rather than at headline pace.

Confirm SDK support first, then toggle server side, then verify both streams with test cohorts. Behaviour notes in our AdAttributionKit guide and our SKAdNetwork guide set expectations for what each stream reports.

Label the dual running window in every dashboard. Unlabelled transitions breed false performance stories.

Map callbacks to one schema#

Map Adjust callbacks to your single conversion value schema and to the revenue events finance recognises. Callbacks are the contract between product behaviour and marketing numbers, so write them down and own them.

Design the schema with our conversion values guide and mirror it exactly in Adjust, checking ranges against the Adjust SKAdNetwork setup reference. Keep partner integration notes handy for the shared concepts.

Freeze callback mapping outside release windows. Mid quarter edits rewrite history that analysts are still reading.

Verify with test cohorts#

Push scripted test cohorts through the full path and confirm raw postbacks match dashboard rows before launch. Fire values, background the app, let delays elapse and check the exact integers land where expected.

Include re-download scenarios where your base justifies it, since winback credit behaves differently across frameworks. Our postback windows guide sets the waiting times so testers do not file false alarms.

Only production traffic the team has watched end to end should carry budget. Unwatched plumbing carries risk.

Reconcile beside the console#

Reconcile Adjust installs against Apple Ads console installs weekly with null shares annotated. Steady small gaps are normal; steps and cliffs are SDK versions, mapping drift or broken cost joins asking for attention.

Use our reconciliation guide for the table and our null rates guide for reading suppression correctly. Compare notes with the AppsFlyer setup if you run dual partners during migration.

Raise tickets with raw evidence after two unexplained cycles. Precision in, fixes out.

Maintain the boring parts#

Quarterly maintenance keeps Adjust honest: SDK currency, connection audits, callback reviews and release re-verification. None of it is glamorous and all of it prevents the slow rot that ends in rebuilt history.

Log changes, name an owner and re-run sandbox cohorts after each app release. If the routines keep slipping, talk to folkfox and we will fold measurement care into campaign management.

Boring maintenance funds exciting budgets. That is the whole pitch.

Frequently asked questions#