# Where do your iOS app downloads come from?

> Which post, site or newsletter sent your iOS app's downloads? How to make App Store campaign links, where to read them, and why the numbers come up short.

URL: https://launchindieapps.com/blog/app-store-campaign-links
By Rashem, published 2026-11-03
Updated: 2026-11-03

## Short answer

Give every place you post its own App Store campaign link. App Store Connect makes them under Analytics, Acquisition, Campaigns: your App Store link plus a provider token and a campaign name. A day later, Analytics shows page views and first-time downloads for each one, once at least five people have downloaded through it.

Launch week ends with one number in App Store Connect. Downloads went up on Tuesday.

Was it the Reddit post? The directory? The friend who shared it? The graph doesn't say.

Campaign links answer that, as long as you know where they stop. Apple rebuilt Analytics in App Store Connect [in March 2026](https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=hh6v4b55), so this is how they work now.

## What can App Store Connect tell you about where downloads come from?

More than most makers think, and less than they hope. Here's what each part answers:

| Your question | Where to look | What it won't tell you |
|---|---|---|
| Did people find me in the App Store or outside it? | Analytics, Acquisition, Sources | Which post or site sent the outside ones |
| Which app sent them, such as Reddit or X? | Sources, App referrer | Which post or which subreddit |
| Which website sent them? | Sources, Web referrer | Taps from Chrome on iOS, which count as the Chrome app |
| Which post, listing or newsletter sent them? | A campaign link per place | Anyone who downloaded more than 24 hours after tapping |
| Did they keep using the app? | The same campaign, with usage metrics | People who don't share usage data with developers |

The first three rows cost nothing to set up. Apple sorts every download into a [source type](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/acquisition/acquisition):

- **App Store search** and **App Store browse.** People who found you inside the App Store, ads in search results included.
- **App referrer.** A tap on a link inside another app, such as Reddit, X or Messages.
- **Web referrer.** A tap on a link on a website in Safari. If the link went through redirects, the last address in the chain gets the credit.

So you can see "Reddit". You can't see which of your three Reddit posts it was. And Apple shows referrers and campaigns [only above a minimum amount of data](https://developer.apple.com/app-store-connect/analytics/), so a small launch may see nothing in those rows at all.

That gap is what campaign links are for.

## What is a campaign link?

Your App Store link with three extra parameters. This is Apple's own example:

`https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id123456789?pt=123456&ct=test1234&mt=8`

- **pt is your provider token.** It [identifies your developer account](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/acquisition/campaign-links/), not an ad network, and it's the same on every campaign link you make.
- **ct is the campaign token.** The name you give the campaign, up to 30 characters.
- **mt is the media type.** Leave it as Apple makes it.

Someone who taps it lands on your normal product page, in their own country's store. Nothing on the page changes. Only the counting does.

## Why can't you make a campaign link before launch?

Because Apple won't let you yet. The add button next to Campaigns [appears only once your app has analytics data](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/acquisition/campaign-links/). Apple says to check back after the app has been live and getting downloads for at least 24 hours.

You can't get around it by typing a provider token yourself, either. It comes with your first campaign link.

For a first app, that rules out the usual advice to have every link ready weeks ahead. Two things work instead:

- **Release quietly first.** Set the version to [release manually](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/manage-your-apps-availability/select-an-app-store-version-release-option/), release it a few days before you tell anyone, and ask a few friends or testers to download it. Once the button appears, make your links. Then announce.
- **Start with your second place.** Post in the first place with a plain App Store link and use campaign links from day two.

I'd pick the quiet release. Your launch day is the day you tell people, and nobody can tell the version went live three days earlier.

## How do you make a campaign link?

Once the button is there, it takes a minute ([Apple's steps](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/acquisition/campaign-links/)):

1. In App Store Connect, open Apps and select your app.
2. Click the Analytics tab.
3. In the Acquisition section, click Campaigns.
4. Click the add button (+) next to Campaigns.
5. Type a campaign name. That name becomes the ct token.
6. Copy the link.

After the first one, Apple's advice is to keep the same provider token and change only the campaign token. So once you know your pt, the next links are just a new name at the end.

## What should you call your campaigns?

One name per place, and a new one each time you post there again. Pick names you'll still understand in a month:

| Where you post | Campaign name |
|---|---|
| Your launch post on X | x-launch |
| A reply under someone else's thread on X | x-reply-nov |
| A post in r/iosapps | reddit-iosapps |
| A second post there, after an update | reddit-iosapps-v2 |
| Product Hunt | producthunt |
| A directory listing | dir-name-of-site |
| A newsletter that features you | news-name-issue-12 |
| The download button on your own site | site-button |

Keep each name within 30 characters, with no space at the start or end. And keep a note of what each one means. Apple doesn't ask, and in six weeks you won't remember what "test2" was.

## Where do you read campaign numbers?

In the Analytics tab, click Metrics in the sidebar, then Add Filter, then Campaign, and pick one from the menu. Apple tracks [impressions, product page views, downloads, usage, sales and subscriptions](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/acquisition/campaign-links/) for each campaign.

In launch week, three of them matter ([Apple's definitions](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/reference/metrics-definitions)):

- **Product page views.** People who opened your page from that link.
- **First-time downloads.** People who got the app for the first time. Judge each place by this one.
- **Redownloads.** People who had the app before. Mostly noise in launch week.

New campaigns show up [at least 24 hours after their launch](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/acquisition/campaign-links/). Check the next morning, not the next hour.

## Why does App Store Connect show less than you expected?

Because campaign data is built to protect privacy, and it leaves people out on purpose:

- **Five is the floor.** Each metric shows only if it reaches [at least 5 in the date range you picked](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/acquisition/campaign-links/), and a campaign appears once five people have downloaded through it for the first time. If you see "not enough data", widen the date range.
- **24 hours to decide.** A first download counts for the campaign only if it happens within 24 hours of tapping the link. Someone who taps on Monday and downloads on Friday doesn't count for it.
- **The last link wins.** Someone who taps two of your campaign links gives the credit to the most recent one.
- **Usage needs consent.** Sessions and other usage numbers come only from people who [agreed to share their diagnostics and usage information](https://developer.apple.com/app-store-connect/analytics/) with developers.
- **Promo codes have no source.** A download through a promo code or gift card [shows as Unavailable](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/acquisition/acquisition). That includes the codes you [send to writers](https://launchindieapps.com/blog/ios-app-press-kit).
- **Redownloads start over.** When someone deletes the app and downloads it again from the App Store, the new download gets the new source.

So read campaign numbers as a floor, and as a comparison between places. Not as a total.

## What do your launch week numbers mean?

Put each place in a row, then look at the pattern rather than the size:

| What you see | What it usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Page views, almost no first-time downloads | The post worked; the product page didn't convince | Fix the first screenshot and the first line of the description |
| First-time downloads close to page views | The people there were already looking for an app like yours | Post there again after your next update |
| Nothing at all for a campaign | Fewer than 5 first-time downloads, or less than a day has passed | Wait a day, then widen the date range |
| A jump under App referrer or Web referrer, not under your campaign | Someone shared a plain App Store link | Find where it came from and say thanks |
| Downloads but almost no sessions later | Either few people share usage data, or they didn't come back | Look at retention before blaming the place |

Then look at time. Say one place took ten minutes and brought six first-time downloads, and another took a whole day for twenty. With nine more places to try, the first one won. That's why [free places to promote an iOS app](https://launchindieapps.com/blog/free-places-to-promote-ios-app) are worth a campaign link each: a month later you know which ones earned a second post.

## Can you use campaign links on your own website?

Yes, and you should. Put one on every "Download on the App Store" button on your site, with a name like site-button. If your site shows a Smart App Banner in Safari, Apple says to [add your campaign and provider tokens](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/acquisition/campaign-links/) to it too.

The same goes for anything you post: your [X launch post](https://launchindieapps.com/blog/x-launch-post-for-ios-app), [your Reddit posts](https://launchindieapps.com/blog/post-ios-app-on-reddit), your email signature. A plain App Store link anywhere is a download you can't place.

## When is a custom product page better than a campaign link?

When a place needs a different pitch, not just a different count.

A custom product page has its own screenshots, promotional text and address, and Apple now lets you publish [up to 70 of them](https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=gf6mgrs6) per app. Each one gets [its own metrics](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/create-custom-product-pages/configure-multiple-product-page-versions) after five first-time downloads, under Acquisition, [Product Pages](https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/acquisition/custom-product-pages).

For launch week, campaign links are enough. Later, when one place keeps sending people, give it its own page, with screenshots that answer the question those people keep asking. The [30-day launch plan](https://launchindieapps.com/blog/ios-app-approved-now-what) puts that in week three.

## Where Launch Indie Apps fits

On [Launch Indie Apps](https://launchindieapps.com/blog/what-is-launch-indie-apps), a listing's Launch Reports at day 7 and day 30 count the step before the download: views of your listing, clicks to the App Store, and where those visitors came from. A click isn't a download, and we never call it one. For downloads, App Store Connect is the only honest source, and campaign links are how you read it.

## Do this today

Open App Store Connect, go to your app's Analytics tab and look for Campaigns under Acquisition. If the add button is there, make links for the next two places you'll post and write down what each name means. If it isn't, plan a quiet release a few days before your launch day.

## A note from Rashem

Our Launch Reports stop at the App Store click, because that's as far as a website can honestly see. Campaign links are how you see the rest. If the Campaigns button still hasn't appeared a week after your release, write to me at hello@launchindieapps.com and we'll work out why.

## Questions

**How do I track where my iOS app downloads come from?** App Store Connect sorts downloads by source under Analytics, Acquisition, Sources: App Store search, App Store browse, app referrers and web referrers. To see which post or site sent them, give each place its own campaign link and filter Analytics by campaign.

**Why can't I create a campaign link in App Store Connect?** The add button next to Campaigns appears only once your app has analytics data. Apple says to check again after the app has been live and getting downloads for at least 24 hours.

**Why does App Store Connect analytics say there isn't enough data?** Campaigns, app referrers and web referrers need a minimum amount of data before Apple shows them. For campaigns, each metric needs at least 5 in the date range you picked, so a wider date range often fixes it.

**What do pt and ct mean in an App Store link?** pt is your provider token, which identifies your developer account and stays the same on every campaign link. ct is the campaign token, the name you gave the campaign, up to 30 characters.

## Sources

- Campaign links, Apple Developer: https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/acquisition/campaign-links/ (checked 2026-11-03)
- Acquisition, Apple Developer: https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/acquisition/acquisition (checked 2026-11-03)
- Metric definitions, Apple Developer: https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/reference/metrics-definitions (checked 2026-11-03)
- App Analytics, Apple Developer: https://developer.apple.com/app-store-connect/analytics/ (checked 2026-11-03)
- New In-App Purchase and subscription data now available in Analytics, Apple Developer News: https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=hh6v4b55 (checked 2026-11-03)
- Select an App Store version release option, Apple Developer: https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/manage-your-apps-availability/select-an-app-store-version-release-option/ (checked 2026-11-03)
- Enhancements to help you submit and market your apps and games, Apple Developer News: https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=gf6mgrs6 (checked 2026-11-03)
- Configure multiple product page versions, Apple Developer: https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/create-custom-product-pages/configure-multiple-product-page-versions (checked 2026-11-03)
- Custom Product Pages (Analytics), Apple Developer: https://developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect-analytics/acquisition/custom-product-pages (checked 2026-11-03)