Over the past few days, some iPhone users have said the "Allow Apps to Request to Track" toggle in the Settings app is suddenly grayed out on their devices. The issue was highlighted by @iDeviceHelpus on X, and in a post on Reddit.
Apple's fine print below the grayed-out toggle says "this setting cannot be changed because a profile is restricting it, or because your Apple ID is being managed, does not meet the minimum age requirements, or is missing age information." However, many affected users say none of these reasons actually apply to them.
While some affected users said the issue began after they updated their iPhones to iOS 17.5, released earlier this week, others said they are also impacted on older software versions, including iOS 17.4.1, iOS 17.4, and iOS 16.6. The root cause of the problem is unclear. We have reached out to Apple for comment.
With multiple iOS versions affected, and some users saying the problem eventually resolved itself, it is likely this is a server-side issue.
Located in the Settings app under Privacy & Security → Tracking, the "Allow Apps to Request to Track" setting normally allows apps to ask to track your activity across other apps and websites when it is turned on. When the setting is turned off, all new app tracking requests are automatically denied. The setting is part of Apple's App Tracking Transparency feature, introduced with iOS 14.5 around three years ago.
Update: Apple says it has fixed an issue that may have briefly disabled the "Allow Apps to Request to Track" setting for some iPhone users on iOS 14 and above. All affected users will see their previously-selected settings be restored over the next few days. Users who were impacted by the bug were defaulted to the most privacy-preserving state.
