Google, finally, pushed the button to update its iOS apps after Apple’s privacy label rules. The introduction of privacy labels in iOS 14.3 has been a controversial issue for some developers. In December last year, the company decided to pause updates to its apps until it was ready to adapt to the new rules. Now, Gmail and other major apps have just been updated in the App Store, ending nearly three months of silence.
Google updates Gmail, Podcasts, and Meet iOS apps
Google apps have just issued their updates including patches for Gmail, Podcasts, and Meet. It is possible to see how they use user data thanks to privacy labels. For example, Gmail is using:
- Identifiers.
- Location.
- Purchase history.
- Search history.
- Contacts.
- Photos and videos.
And it uses them for various purposes, such as third-party advertising, data analytics, product customization, and app functionality. YouTube was the first app to update itself with privacy labels, but it was more of an exception for the Google subsidiary.
Some of the most notable absences at the moment are Chrome, Google Photos, and Google Home. Along with YouTube or Gmail, these are some of the company’s most used and popular services. With the incorporation of this latest batch, it is a matter of a few days or weeks before the rest return to their usual cycle: two updates per month.
With iOS 14.3, Apple introduced the privacy labels, an element inspired by food nutrition labels. At a glance, a user understands and sees which kind of data is used in an app for what purposes. It’s a way to bring transparency to aspects of our digital lives that until now were obscured in complicated user agreements.
