Apple’s new service is worth experiencing for all iPhone users

If you feel empty one day, I would recommend you to pick up a Today at Apple course.

In just half an hour, when you devote yourself to specific creation, you can always take away a new "achievement" when you leave – your first small piece of code, your first iPad sketch, your first remixed song…

And full of enthusiasm (mostly unfulfilled) – "It doesn't seem to be difficult!" "I'll try a few more times when I go back!"

But this time, my aroused enthusiasm actually had a follow-up.

Recently, I went to Apple's new Today at Apple privacy class, and I got two "wows" at once.

The first "wow" is satisfaction.

Following the lecture of Creative Pro to set up the privacy preferences in the mobile phone step by step, I suddenly felt that "the whole iPhone is safe".

The second "wow" is confusion.

I found myself "wow, this is so ignorant of this".

After class, I started my own exploration of "privacy", and realized that after clicking "Request app not to track", it does not necessarily mean that you will not really share data with the app.

At the same time, I also found that people's attitude towards "data sharing" is not completely negative.

In the final analysis, the key lies in one of the most important qualities of the brand-creating trust.

if only give me a minute

Although "privacy" is not called "Apple's DNA" like "education", Apple's work on privacy has continued for many years and has penetrated into all aspects of the operating system.

To expand, Apple has written a "Personal Security Protection User Manual" with 80+ pages for privacy protection. Fortunately, after years of iterations, Apple has also added some "aggregate" settings to these functions.

So, if I had just a minute, I would suggest adjusting the following two areas first:

① Turn off "Allow apps to request tracking".

Path: Settings → Privacy and Security → Tracking → Allow App to request tracking (off)

That's right, this is the "master switch" of the ATT (App Tracking Transparency) function that Zuckerberg said will cause Meta to lose tens of billions of dollars in advertising revenue.

After the "Tracking" option is turned off, iOS will default that you do not agree to any app's "Allow App Request Tracking" request.

However, after turning off these requests, it does not mean that you will no longer share data with third-party apps.

It's just that these apps cannot collect data about you and share it with other apps or advertisers to paint a "more complete you" portrait.

In contrast, the giants with "one family" apps will not be affected so much, because when a user uses enough of their apps, the data is diverse enough, even if they do not cooperate with other companies, the membership account is used as the The portraits of the clues are also clear enough.

② Do a "safety check".

Path: Settings→Privacy and Security→Security Check→Manage Sharing and Access Permissions

The last setting is about the security of the data you generated on the third-party app, and this check is about the data security on your iOS native apps, such as memo, calendar, health, photos, etc.

Simply put, it depends on who you want to share this data with—it can be other Apple users, or a third-party app.

The first step of "Sharing with others" allows you to see whether you have shared the information in your native app with other users;

The second step "App Access Permissions" can check what information you have authorized for each third-party app;

In the above two steps, I really like that iOS provides two inspection ideas, one is based on the sharing object (user/app) as the inspection dimension, and the other is based on the shared data type (memo/calendar, etc.) Dimensions, users can choose according to their preferences.

The third step "Device" lists all the devices that your Apple ID has logged into. Scan to see if you have logged in to your Apple ID on any temporary device and forgot to log out;

Finally, if you feel that your Apple ID password/fingerprint/face information has been leaked, you can also reset it by the way, otherwise you can skip it directly.

Of course, in fact, all of the above can be completed in the system before the two major functions are launched, but the process will be more complicated.

The most meaningful part of these aggregated functions is not only to simplify the operation process, but to tell the user during the guidance process – "You should pay attention to these aspects, if you want to modify it, it is not troublesome to change it here."

Although not perfect, it is an improvement in user experience from "operational" to "better operation".

However, just a few years ago, privacy settings were often not squeezed into the "user experience".

Neglected User Experience

If you need their data, ask them. Every time.

Does this remind you of Apple's "App Tracking Transparency"?

However, this sentence did not come with the ATT function, but Jobs said it more than two decades ago.

At that time, Jobs had already emphasized that Apple is a company that attaches great importance to privacy.

They don't believe that all developers will consciously inform and ask users when collecting data-Apple has also been tricked.

A company called Flurry Analytics once broke the news that Apple is already working on a new iPhone.

How do they know?

It turns out that Flurry Analytics allows some developers to embed Flurry's software in their applications to secretly collect information such as devices and geographic locations.

Since then, Apple has decided to only allow apps to collect data specifically for advertising purposes, which was, after all, the only source of revenue for most apps at the time.

If Apple has always regarded "privacy" as part of the "user experience", many other companies have made it a part of "not letting the user experience".

Before the current trend came, many companies treated privacy more like a "need to deal with" thing – just be compliant, and then hide the switch that can be set in the most secret corner, no wonder many users don't understand.

There are also some developers who have the habit of excessively collecting data, which stems from a kind of "laziness" -whether it needs to be collected first or not, who knows if I will use it in the future? It will be troublesome to apply for another increase in the future.

But today, when both legislation and users pay more attention to data privacy, the direction of the wind has changed.

Apps cannot compulsorily collect non-essential information; users not only have the "right to register", but also the "right to cancel"… These are now protected by the "Personal Information Protection Law of the People's Republic of China" .

Some people even liken the "right to delete data" to the "right to return goods" of consumers in the digital age .

How to make users more happy when exercising these rights is a user experience issue that all product developers should consider.

At the same time, people are not completely negative about data sharing.

In 2022, a Boston Consulting Group report pointed out that when considering whether to share data with brands, consumers will care about several key information: "What data is collected?" "What is the purpose of the data?" What is the collection method? What benefits can I get?"

If the value in exchange for data sharing is appropriate, 90% of users are willing to share their data.

At the same time, when consumers trust a brand, they are more willing to share their data.

How to build trust with consumers?

Perhaps we can also learn a lot from Apple.

Let "privacy" become a "selling point", how does Apple build trust

As someone who struggles on a daily basis to not let my phone "suck" too much time, the iPhone's privacy features are a big selling point, meaning I don't have to spend a lot of time figuring out how to protect myself.

This impression begins with the famous “Apple vs. FBI” incident in 2016.

At the time, the FBI asked Apple to help unlock the shooter's iPhone, but Apple refused.

In the same year, Apple introduced the "differential privacy" technology at WWDC – by adding mathematical noise to the user's data, while optimizing the user experience through data analysis, it still protects user privacy, because even Apple itself cannot This data is traced back to a specific user identity.

Jane Horvath, Apple's former chief privacy officer, recalled in an interview that after joining Apple in 2011, she was impressed by the first meeting she attended:

When we were debating what data an engineer should be able to collect from a device, a colleague said to me, "We might be able to string that data with other data we collect and eventually be able to identify a specific person, and we I don’t want to be able to do that.”

Now, on the basis of daily data security management, Apple has also introduced several more "niche" functions.

The "Emergency Reset" under "Security Check" allows threatened users to quickly disconnect the settings originally shared with others and modify account security.

"Advanced Data Protection" applies end-to-end encryption to iCloud—in this case, even Apple doesn't have the key to your iCloud data.

Path: Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → Advanced Data Protection

In order to prevent the user from forgetting the password, and Apple does not know the password, which ultimately leads to the dilemma that the user himself cannot access the data, the user can set "Restore Contacts". These "recovery contacts" will not know the user's password, but can provide a "recovery key" to help the user recover the account.

In addition to technology, Apple has also come up with housekeeping skills since 2019-the advertising story method, using short and interesting commercials to promote the not-so-interesting "data security" theme.

In the past two years, Apple has incorporated a sense of humor in its privacy advertisements to the point where a friend holds a mobile phone and forces me to "have fun, watch it!".

Personify the companies that track your data as people who "follow" you

In addition to these "big moves", Apple is also good at building trust with "small interactions".

When the camera is turned on, a small green light will light up at the top of the screen; when the microphone is turned on, the light will become an orange dot; geographic location.

Sometimes the "annoying" authorization application pop-up window is also forming a sense of security.

These little reminders make me feel like my iPhone is always telling me what apps are doing.

Going back to the Today at Apple privacy lesson mentioned at the beginning, that is also a plus item for trust.

Because that means that we can now not only learn about these functions from Apple’s official website, but even sign up for a class, find a special person to introduce these “cold knowledge” to you on the spot, and ask the teacher one-on-one about the information storage that I know is not safe. How dangerous is the method.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai once wrote an editorial for the New York Times, discussing anonymously that Apple has made privacy a "luxury" and that only those who spend a lot of money on Apple devices can "enjoy privacy."

But it is undeniable that Apple's tough stance on privacy has also brought some good changes to the technology industry. At least Google has paid more attention to the privacy protection function of the system.

So, for those friends who have already given out the money to buy an iPhone, you can really go to a Today at Apple privacy class, or open the "Privacy and Security" in the settings when you are bored to explore and read. After all, this "luxury "It's all in hand, so there's no need to use it in vain.

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