# SKAdNetwork vs affiliate attribution for iOS subscriptions

> SKAdNetwork measures ad campaigns in aggregate. Affiliate attribution credits a specific partner for a specific subscription. Neither one replaces the other.

Published: 2026-07-20 · Last reviewed: 2026-07-20

## They answer different questions

SKAdNetwork is Apple's privacy-preserving framework for attributing installs to ad campaigns. It reports aggregated, delayed conversions with no user-level or device-level detail. That is exactly what an ad network needs and exactly what an affiliate program cannot use, because a commission has to name a single partner and a single conversion.

Affiliate attribution needs per-conversion, per-affiliate precision: this subscription, this affiliate, this amount, minus refunds. SKAdNetwork deliberately withholds that granularity to protect privacy.

## What each is good for

Use SKAdNetwork when you are buying paid install campaigns and want privacy-safe, campaign-level measurement. Use affiliate attribution when you are paying named partners a commission on the subscriptions they drive.

- SKAdNetwork: aggregated ad-campaign measurement, timing noise, no per-user detail.
- Affiliate attribution: deterministic per-conversion credit via the StoreKit 2 appAccountToken.
- SKAdNetwork cannot pay a specific affiliate. Affiliate attribution is not an ad-network measurement tool.

## How the affiliate path stays precise

Attribloom sets a per-referral appAccountToken on the purchase and confirms it through App Store Server Notifications v2. That is a deterministic value your own app sets, not an aggregated postback, which is why it can credit one affiliate for one subscription and reverse the commission on a refund. The two systems can run side by side: one measures your ad spend, the other pays your partners.

## Frequently asked

### Can SKAdNetwork credit an affiliate for a subscription?

Not at the level a commission needs. SKAdNetwork reports aggregated install data for ad campaigns, without the per-conversion, per-affiliate detail required to pay a specific affiliate.

### Do I have to choose one?

No. They solve different problems and can run together: SKAdNetwork for privacy-safe ad-campaign measurement, affiliate attribution for per-partner commission.

## Primary sources

- [Apple: SKAdNetwork](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/storekit/skadnetwork) · checked 2026-07-20
- [Apple: appAccountToken](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appstoreservernotifications/appaccounttoken) · checked 2026-07-20

## Next steps

- [Why iOS affiliate installs are invisible to web tools](/learn/why-ios-affiliate-installs-are-invisible)
- [SKAdNetwork glossary entry](/wiki/skadnetwork)