Uninstall attribution for mobile and web devices
How uninstalls or opt-outs are registered in the platform
An uninstall is when an end-user removes or deletes a mobile app, disables push notifications for a mobile app or website, or otherwise becomes unreachable for a mobile- or web-push notification. This is also known as deletion or unregistering.
It is not possible for Xtremepush to actively monitor when an end-user disables push notifications, however this information is gathered in response to sending a new push notification to the device. If the end-user's device is no longer available to receive the push notification, this is reported back to Xtremepush by the third-party gateway, for example Apple Push Notification service (APNs) or Google Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM).
When Xtremepush receives this information when sending a push notification, it marks the send to that device as failed with the message "Application is uninstalled", and sets the device to unaddressable.
Uninstall attribution delay
Apple Push Notification service will not immediately feedback the app uninstall response to a push notification (Safari, iOS). This may not be reported until a number of additional push notifications have been sent to the device, and may take several days, or longer if pushes are sent infrequently.
This is part of a wider initiative by Apple to protect user privacy by delaying the reporting of app install or uninstall. The period of time is deliberately unspecified by Apple and will vary.
No action is required, or possible. Uninstall metrics will be accurate over time, but there will be some push notifications which appear to be sent successfully even though the device is no longer reachable.
Update March 2021
Xtremepush is moving all projects to using the new HTTP/2-based Apple Push Notification service (APNs) provider API, as the previous binary protocol is not supported beyond 31 March 2021.
No action is required, this will be handled transparently by Xtremepush. Note that you may experience uninstall attribution delay for push notifications sent using Apple's new protocol.
Updated over 3 years ago