Definitions

• SKAN measurement window: Relevant for SKAN 4+. There are 3 time periods (windows) during which user post-install activity is measured:
  • Window 1: 1-2 days
  • Window 2: 3-7 days
  • Window 3: 8-35 days
  • The 3 windows measure 3 different, non-overlapping, post-install time periods. Meaning, window 2 measures days 3-7 post-install, not days 0-7.
• Activity Window: Relevant for SKAN 3 and below. Has a set duration, default of 24 hours, starting with the first app open. If you're using SKAN 4+, but user devices or ad networks don't support SKAN 4 yet, the Activity Window is 48 hours.
• Conversion Value (CV): The measure of user quality reported in the postbacks sent by iOS at the end of the SKAN 4 windows or, for SKAN 3 and below, at the end of the Activity Window. The AppsFlyer SDK sets the CVs for you. However, if you want to set the CV use Decode to upload your CV mapping file.
  • For SKAN 4+, there are both fine and coarse conversion values.
    
• Conversion-value capacity: The number of CVs required to map your setting. The more components and measurement elements you select, the more conversion-value capacity is required. Each range or setting element selected consumes conversion-value capacity. (And each additional setting unit included in a single component consumes it exponentially!) Examples of maximized CV usage.
• Single Source of Truth (SSOT): Mechanism to flag if the user was attributed by SKAN and another attribution matching method. The flag is used to eliminate duplicate install data in SKAN raw data and to calculate true performance metrics.
• Measurement components:
  
  • Revenue: Measures revenue generated
  • In-app event: Measure conversion (number of unique users performing an event),
    engagement (number of times an event was performed), or both.
  • Funnel: Measures the occurrence of in-app events based on a list of sequential events in a funnel. A user performing any event in the funnel is regarded as having performed all the events preceding that event.
  • Priority: A component that contains revenue, in-app event, or both.
  • Predict: Uses advanced machine learning algorithms to provide accurate, LTV-based predictions of campaign success. Predicted user-level KPIs (including predicted revenue and retention) are encoded and transmitted to SKAN as a single conversion value, which SKAN then reports as a postback, along with the campaign ID and attribution source. 

Principles

• Admin only: Only an admin can save Conversion Studio settings. Account users can view the settings. 
• At any given time, only one mode is active. 
• For a given mode, AppsFlyer maps the combinations defined by your settings to CVs. You can view and download the mapping table. 
• In the app, AppsFlyer sets the CV after each measurable user action using the measurement mode active when a user launches the app for the first time. 
• iOS considers Apple crowd anonymity before populating the CV in the postback.
• User actions occurring after the end of a window are disregarded.
• SKAN dashboard and reports:

  • The SKAN dashboard layout and metrics depend on the mode and configuration. 

  • The layout updates daily based on the mode active at midnight UTC. Expect the updated layout to be available by 05:00 UTC. 

  • In SKAN 4, Custom and Decode, organic data for in-app events and overall revenue aren't available. 

S2S principles

Measurable actions can be reported by server-to-server (S2S) API. Consider the following per mode: 

• SKAN 4 and Custom: S2S is always on.
• Decode: S2S isn't suited to S2S and isn't available. AppsFlyer doesn't set the CV in this mode.
• Revenue, conversion, and engagement modes: You must turn on S2S event recording before sending events.

In SKAN 4, you use different measurement components like revenue, in-app events, priority, and Single Source of Truth, to determine what is measured during each of the three measurement windows. Together the components create your SKAN 4 measurement mode.

If you’re upgrading to SKAN 4 from a previous SKAN mode, your current schema mapping is carried over for the window 1 fine configuration. AppsFlyer automatically maps the coarse values for you for windows 1-3.

To manually set SKAN 4, experiment with different options. As you make changes, the Conversion-value capacity summary updates. Optimize your settings to capture the data most valuable to you without exceeding the capacity. See Conversion value capacity calculation.

Note: If you’re upgrading to SKAN 4 from a previous SKAN mode, your current schema mapping is carried over for fine measurements and AppsFlyer automatically maps the coarse values for you. And if you’re new to SKAN, AppsFlyer provides an initial default mapping.

To manually set conversion values in Conversion Studio using SKAN 4 mode:

1. In the AppsFlyer dashboard, go to Configurations > SKAN Conversion Studio.
2. Click options (⋮) to display the options menu and make sure SKAN measurement is turned on. Note! If off, the SDK does not call iOS SKAN functions like registerAppForAdNetworkAttribution, updateConversionValue.
3. Select the SKAN 4.0 measurement mode.
4. Click Continue.
   The settings for Window 1 (1-2 days) fine CV opens.
5. [Optional] Turn on Single Source of Truth (SSOT).
   The SSOT mechanism flags (and deduplicates) installs reported by more than one attribution matching method. Learn more
   
6. Click + Add measurement to add different measurement components.
   The following sections detail the setting options and components. Use them as guides as you experiment with the different SKAN measurement settings:
   • Revenue
   • In-app event
   • Funnel
   • Priority
   • Predict
7. Click Coarse and repeat Steps 6-7 to set the Window 1 (1-2 days) coarse CV.
   Note:
   • Only Revenue and In-app event measurement components are available.
   • Low CV must be a user session to ensure the postback is sent.
8. [Optional] Turn on Lock window and set the condition (either time or coarse conversion value) for locking the SKAN window earlier than the default. Learn more
9. Click Window 2 (3-7 days) and repeat Steps 6-8 to set the window 2 CV.
   Note:
   • Only Revenue and In-app event measurement components are available.
   • [Recommended] Low CV should be a user session.
10. Click Window 3 (8-35 days) and repeat Steps 6-8 to set the window 3 CV.
    Note: 
    • Only Revenue and In-app event measurement components are available.
    • [Recommended] Low CV should be a user session.
11. Click Save.
12. Verify that your partner in-app event postback mappings map the events you have configured.

In Custom, you use different measurement components like revenue, in-app events, priority, and Single Source of Truth, to determine what is measured and set an activity window to determine for how long and at what intervals measurement occurs. Together, the components create your Custom measurement mode. 

To set Custom, experiment with different options. As you make changes, the Conversion-value capacity summary updates. Optimize your settings to capture the data most valuable to you without exceeding the capacity. See Conversion value capacity calculation.

To manually set conversion values in Conversion Studio using Custom mode:

1. In the AppsFlyer dashboard, go to Configurations > SKAN Conversion Studio.
2. Click options (⋮) to display the options menu and make sure SKAN measurement is turned on. Note! If off, the SDK does not call iOS SKAN functions like registerAppForAdNetworkAttribution, updateConversionValue.
3. Select the Custom measurement mode.
4. Click Continue.
   
5. [Optional] Turn on Single Source of Truth (SSOT).
   The SSOT mechanism flags (and deduplicates) installs reported by more than one attribution matching method. Learn more
   
6. Click + Add measurement to add different measurement components.
   The following sections detail the setting options and components. Use them as guides as you experiment with the different SKAN measurement settings:
   • Revenue
   • In-app event
   • Funnel
   • Priority
   • Predict
7. Set the Activity window duration (12 hours-63 days) during which you want to measure user activity.
   The default Activity timer allows you to set the window to 24-72 hours. And the default Interval setting lets you set 12 or 24 hours. Use Custom window to extend the activity window to up to 63 days and set longer intervals.
8. Click Save.
9. Verify that your partner in-app event postback mappings map the events you have configured.

Using fixed modes, you can measure user value using one of the following measurements:

• • Revenue
  • Conversion
  • Engagement

As you make changes to the mode settings, the Conversion-value capacity summary updates. Optimize your settings to capture the data most valuable to you without exceeding the capacity. See Conversion value capacity calculation.

Note!

• Fixed mode measurement is for a 24-hour activity window starting with the first app open. 
• If you want to send events using S2S, you must explicitly enable SKAN S2S

To manually set conversion values in Conversion Studio using a fixed mode:

1. In the AppsFlyer dashboard, go to Configurations > SKAN Conversion Studio.
2. Click options (⋮) to display the options menu and:
   • Make sure SKAN measurement is turned on. Note! If off, the SDK does not call iOS SKAN functions like registerAppForAdNetworkAttribution, updateConversionValue.
   • [Optional] Enable sending events by S2S. Available if the selected mode is revenue, conversion, or engagement.
3. Select a fixed measurement mode.
4. Follow the information and instructions in the table that follows for your selected fixed measurement mode.
5. Click Save.
6. Verify that your partner in-app event postback mappings map the events you have configured.

Fixed mode measurement

Create your own CV-to-event mapping and set the CV in the app yourself. Use this option if you can't integrate the AppsFlyer SDK into your app.

To use Decode:

1. In the AppsFlyer dashboard, go to Configurations > SKAN Conversion Studio.
2. Click options (⋮) to display the options menu and:
   • Make sure SKAN measurement is turned on. Note! If off, the SDK does not call iOS SKAN functions like registerAppForAdNetworkAttribution, updateConversionValue.
   • Upload your Decode mapping file.
3. Click Save.
4. Verify that your partner in-app event postback mappings map the events you have configured.

Use the priority measurement component, part of Custom mode, to rank user action journeys in the app based on your business logic so that high priority measurements override low priority ones. This enables you to choose what to measure in each step of the conversion funnel. 

Each priority (maximum 63) can contain revenue, in-app event, or both. When a user performs events in the app, AppsFlyer determines which priority fits the actions performed by the users and sets the CV accordingly.

For ease of understanding, let's compare using Custom with and without the priority component. Without priority, AppsFlyer maps all possible measurement combinations to CVs. Whereas with priority only measurement combinations explicitly set by you are mapped to CVs. 

Priority is best explained in the detailed example in this article. 

Priority principles 

• You can set 1-63 priorities. The number available depends on your activity window and Single Source of Truth settings.
• Priority 1 always has the highest priority. The priority with the biggest number has the lowest priority.
• A priority consists of revenue or in-app event, or both components. A given priority can contain multiple in-app events and revenue streams. 
• Funnel isn't available in priority. However, set multiple in-app events in a priority to measure user conversion in a funnel.
• To use the priority measurement component, you can't have other components, such as in-app events or revenue configured.

To set measurement using priority:

1. In AppsFlyer, go to SKAN Conversion Studio.
2. Select Custom, click Continue. 
3. If necessary, click Delete, to remove the current settings. 
4. Click + Add measurement. Select Priority. 
   Priority 1 displays.
   

   

5. Select a measurement component from:
   • Revenue
   • In-app event
6. Complete the fields according to the user interface.
   • Consider that a priority can consist of revenue, in-app event, or both. 
   • Range values of event occurrences and revenue must be of ascending (increasing) order and be continuous. For example, the following ranges increase and are continuous: 1-5, 5-8, 8-10, and so on. A given range can be used more than once (repeated) if the second time it's used is part of a unique combination and is the same range as the last priority with a range. For example, 1-5, 1-5 + add to cart.
7. Click Validate.
   The Priority is valid message displays. If this isn't the case, correct your priority before you continue.
8. Do one of the following:
   • To add a priority, click + Add priority. The existing priority 1 is shifted down and becomes priority 2. Complete the priority settings as previously described. 
   • To delete a priority, click … > Delete.
   • To change the priority level, click Options (⋮), and select either Change order or Make lowest priority.
   • To duplicate a priority, click Options (⋮), and select Duplicate.
   • Click Save, to complete setting priorities. 

Note: Lock window is only relevant for SKAN 4 and above.

Note:

• Activity window is only relevant for SKAN 3 and below (meaning Custom and fixed modes).
• If you're using SKAN 4+, but user devices or ad networks don't support SKAN 4 yet, the Activity Window is 48 hours. 

• View the events mapped to a CV by selecting the CV. The mapped events display below the table.
• Download the CV mapping table as a CSV file. Click Download mapping file.
• Get the CV mapping using the SKAN CV schema API for advertisers. 

CSV mapping file columns

As previously explained, the maximum number of available conversion values is 64. The following formula calculates how many of the available conversion values are used by the mode.

(activity time duration in hours / interval size in hours) * 
(number of revenue ranges + 1 ) * 
(number of in-app event ranges + 1 ) * 
(number of steps in a funnel + 1)

Adjust the formula to include all measurement components

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Example 4

In a shopping app, the advertiser wants to focus measurement on the:

• Actions of non-paying users
• Revenue of paying users

By doing so, the advertiser uses CVs to more precisely record revenue. These measurement requirements translate to a set of measurement priorities as set out in the table that follows. 

Consider:

• The highest priority is always 1. Note! Priority numbers don't directly map to CVs. CV mappings display in the user interface.
• The maximum number of priorities is 63. The actual number available depends on the activity window and if Single Source of Truth is on.
• Each priority consists of either a revenue range or in-app event occurrences range, or both. 
• Range values: The lower value of the bound isn't included in the range but the higher bound value is included. For example, the range $5-$10 doesn't include the value 5 but does include the value 10. 

Measurement priorities setting example

The table that follows contains user journey scenarios. Each scenario contains the list of actions performed by the user during their journey and the priority determined by AppsFlyer.

In the table:

• Multiple actions are separated using >
• The value in brackets (), is the priority determined by AppsFlyer set after the user completes the action. Using the priority AppsFlyer update the CV in the app. 

User journey scenarios

Example A: Revenue measurement

Example B: Conversion measurement

Example C: Engagement measurement

If you have many apps for which you want similar SKAN conversion value configurations, it may be time-consuming and challenging to design the schema for each app separately in the Conversion Studio UI. To save time and effort, you can configure your SKAN schema in the UI once, and then use the SKAN Conversion Studio API to use that same schema in multiple apps. Note: The API only supports schemas configured in the UI using SKAN 4 or custom measurement modes (and within these modes, the Predict measurement component isn't supported.

To use the SKAN Conversion Studio API:

1. Get the API token. An admin needs to retrieve the token.
2. Give your developer the API token to be used in the authentication header.
3. Give your developers the app IDs of:
   • The app for which the SKAN schema is configured in the UI (meaning the app from which you want to copy the SKAN schema).
   • All the apps that you want to have the same schema.
4. Tell your developer to follow their SKAN Conversion Studio API instructions in the developer hub.

Note:

• The API can be used to copy the schema to one app per API call. However, your developer can then create a script to copy the required schema to multiple apps.
• SKAN Conversion Studio API isn't available for agencies.

Consider: 

• Once you start using SKAN 4 measurement mode, you can't change back to an earlier mode.
• When you make settings change, they begin to take effect from 00:00 AM UTC and a transition period begins. During this period we decode the conversion value using the most recently selected settings. However, a postback arriving now relates to an install that occurred sometime in the past.
• The number of installs reported is not related to the settings change and is accurate.

To turn off SKAdNetwork measurement:

1. In AppsFlyer, go to Configuration > SKAN Conversion Studio.
2. Click ⋮ .
3. Turn off SKAdNetwork measurement. 
   Among other things, the SDK stops calling SKAN functions like registerAppForAdNetworkAttribution, updateConversionValue.
4. Click Save changes.

Both the SDK and server-to-server API (S2S) can send in-app events to AppsFlyer servers. 

The S2S flow is as follows:

• An event occurs related to the user in the advertiser's servers. The app may be open or closed at this time. 
• Advertiser servers report the event to AppsFlyer by S2S.
• AppsFlyer calculates the updated conversion value and then: 
  • If the app is open on the user device: the SDK is notified of the updated value. The SDK updates the iOS conversion value on the device.
  • If the app isn't open on the user device: the server waits until the app is opened to notify the SDK of the conversion value. This must occur before the expiry of the Activity Window. If notification fails, the event is disregarded.

SDK version required

• Adopt the latest SDK version in the app. Note! No additional action is required by the developer. 

To implement in-app event sending by server-to-server API:

1. Do one of the following:
   • If your selected mode is SKAN 4 or Custom:
     • No settings changes are required. 
   • If your selected mode is revenue, conversion, or engagement:
     1. In AppsFlyer, go to Configuration > SKAN Conversion Studio.
     2. Click options (⋮).
     3. Turn on Record in-app events sent by server-to-server API.
2. Send events by S2S. 

Limitation

• If you implement user anonymization for a given user then you can't send events by S2S for that user. 

If you have the Revenue or Engagement measurement mode set up, Single Source of Truth (SSOT, which deduplicates and accurately reports iOS data), isn't supported. Learn more about SSOT

To enable SSOT when you have Revenue or Engagement mode set up:

1. In AppsFlyer, go to Configuration > SKAN Conversion Studio.
2. Scroll down to your active measurement mode. 
3. Click + Add Single Source of Truth.
   • The Single Source of Truth toggle is automatically turned on.
   • Your fixed mode measurement ranges are minimally changed, to allow SSOT some conversion value space.
4. Click Save.