Apple confirms iOS 27.2 EU tracking changes as beta cycle begins

Apple has published its first version-specific developer policy for iOS 27.2 and iPadOS 27.2. Beginning with those releases, developers distributing apps in the European Union can use an alternative App Tracking Transparency system prompt. Apple says the underlying rule is unchanged: apps still need permission before tracking users across other companies' apps and websites or sharing data with data brokers.

The rollout differs inside the EU. Developers can choose between the existing and alternative prompt in most member states, but apps distributed in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and Romania can use only the alternative version because of local legal requirements. That makes the change directly relevant to European release testing rather than a cosmetic global redesign.

Apple says the alternative prompt changes formatting and language and can include an optional Additional Information button. Developers can use that button to surface more detail about how data will be linked across companies and, where needed, provide more granular consent controls for requirements such as GDPR or ePrivacy. Apple still requires the user to grant ATT permission before an app can access the advertising identifier or carry out the tracking described by the prompt.

A second change affects timing. In the EU, an app can show the ATT system prompt again one year after the user's previous choice, whether that choice was accept or reject. Re-prompting is blocked when the user has disabled the device-level setting that allows apps to request tracking, which Apple is renaming in the EU to Allow Apps to Request to Link Your Activity Across Companies.

Independent Apple publications also report that iOS 27.2, iPadOS 27.2, macOS 27.2 and companion developer betas are now available, with iOS 27.2 beta 1 identified as build 24B5084k. The same beta exposes the redesigned Health app Apple announced on 9 September, including Apple Intelligence-powered Insights and a Longevity area for longer-term health trends.

Apple's ATT documentation now closes an important gap in the earlier beta story by directly naming iOS 27.2 and iPadOS 27.2 and specifying behaviour tied to those versions. The availability and build-number details still come from independent beta reporting, but the release itself now has primary-source version-specific documentation.

Developers with advertising, analytics or attribution flows now have concrete 27.2 behaviour to test in Europe, including the alternative prompt, the optional information layer and the one-year re-prompt path. Teams distributing in the five countries where the alternative prompt is mandatory will need to account for that difference alongside their existing ATT purpose strings and consent-management flows.

The update also reinforces that 27.2 is becoming the broad post-iOS-27 development branch while 27.1 remains associated with the iPhone Duo software path. Apple still has not explained that version-number split, published a final 27.2 release date or shown how the revised prompt will affect user consent rates in practice. Those remain open questions even though the ATT policy itself is now confirmed.