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Automations in Apple Ads Manager

Automation rules in Adapty Ads Manager automatically adjust your bids based on full-funnel performance — from installs to trials, subscriptions, and revenue. Set your target CPA/ROAS once, and let the system scale profitable keywords and cut waste on underperformers.

With automation rules, you can respond to performance changes instantly without manual intervention. Define rules based on metrics like spend, conversions, ROAS, impressions, and CPA, then schedule them to run at your preferred frequency.

What automations can do:

  • Adjust bids for keywords
  • Work across selected campaign groups, apps, campaigns, or ad groups
  • Use metrics like Spend, Installs, Trials, Subscriptions, Revenue, ROAS, CPA, etc.
  • Run on a schedule or on demand
note

Rules change only bids. They don’t pause campaigns, edit budgets or keywords.

Create rules​

You can create automation rules either from templates or manually from scratch.

From templates​

Adapty provides ready-to-use templates that cover common optimization scenarios.

Common templates include:

  • Cut waste on non-converting keywords – decrease bids where Spend > X and Installs / Trials = 0.
  • Scale winning keywords – increase bids where ROAS > target or CPA < target.

To create a rule from a template:

  1. Go to Automations from the sidebar menu. Click Templates.
  2. Choose from the available templates and click Next.
  3. Review and customize the pre-filled settings:
    • Rule name: Automatically populated with the template name and current date (e.g., "Boost Low-Visibility Keywords - [2025-11-12]")
    • Apply to: Select campaign groups, apps, campaigns, or ad groups where the rule should apply
    • Conditions: If needed, modify pre-configured conditions from the template
    • Action: If needed, modify the pre-set bid increase rate
    • Schedule: Set how often the rule should run
  4. Click Save to activate the rule.

Manually​

To create a custom rule from scratch:

  1. Go to Automations from the sidebar menu and click Create rule.

  2. Enter a descriptive Rule name to identify the rule's purpose.

  3. In the Apply to section, select campaign groups, apps, campaigns, or ad groups where the rule should apply.

  4. Click Add condition to add criteria and select a metric from the list.

    Metrics for conditions are calculated for the selected time range in your account currency. Data is updated near real-time, so rules always use fresh performance.

  5. Set the time period (e.g., Previous 3 days, Previous 7 days), choose the comparison operator, and enter the threshold value that would trigger the rule.

  6. If needed, add more conditions with the And or Or operator. Click Add condition and select an operator on the left.

  7. Define the Action:

    • Choose the action type: Increase by, Decrease by, or Set to.
    • Select whether you want to adjust the bid by absolute or relative value by switching between $ and %. Percentage changes are applied to the current bid at the time when the rule runs.
    • Optionally, toggle and enter Upper bid limit to set a maximum bid cap. Use Upper bid limit as a safety guard to avoid accidentally overbidding if the rule runs many times in a row.

  8. Set the Schedule:

    • Choose frequency: Every day, Every 2 days, Every week, etc.
    • Select the time (all times are shown in UTC)

    Rules run at the scheduled time in UTC. Execution usually finishes within a few minutes; after that you’ll see changes in Logs and in the main dashboard.

  9. Click Save to create the rule.

Explore logs​

The Logs tab provides a complete history of all rule executions, helping you track performance and troubleshoot issues.

To view logs, go to Automations from the sidebar menu and switch to the Logs tab. Here, you can:

  • Review the table with the following information:

    • Rule name: The name of the automation rule
    • Created at: Date and time when the rule ran
    • Description: Summary of the action taken, conditions applied, and targets (e.g., "Decrease bid by 25%, IF Spend (previous 3 days) > $20 AND Installs (previous 3 days) is 0, Applied to: Keywords in 3 campaigns")
    • Status: Execution status (Success, Ran with errors, Failed)

  • Export detailed information about the rule execution as CSV by clicking the download icon next to it. You’ll see all affected keywords and previous and new bids.

  • Filter the table entries by the rule name

Review logs regularly to ensure your rules are working as expected and to identify any errors that need attention.

If you don't see the latest updates, click Refresh table to force-pull them.

You can also track rule execution timing in the Automations tab using the Date last run and Date next run columns, which show when each rule last executed and when it's scheduled to run next.

Launch & pause rules​

To launch or pause a rule, toggle the switch next to it on or off in the Status column in the rule list.

This allows you to temporarily disable rules during specific campaign periods or while making adjustments without deleting the rule configuration.

note

When a rule is enabled, it can override your manual bid changes the next time it runs if the conditions are met. If you want to temporarily rely only on manual management, pause the rule instead of deleting it.

Run rules right away​

While rules run automatically on their schedule, you can manually trigger them immediately:

  1. Click the three dots next to the rule.
  2. Select Run rule right now.

The rule will run immediately, applying the configured action to all matching keywords or campaigns. This is especially useful after making structural changes (adding new keywords or campaigns) when you want to bring them in line with your bid strategy immediately.

Duplicate rules​

Save time when creating similar rules by duplicating existing ones:

  1. Click the three dots next to the rule.
  2. Select Duplicate.
  3. Edit the duplicated rule to adjust any settings as needed and click Save.

Delete rules​

To remove a rule you no longer need:

  1. Click the three dots next to the rule.
  2. Select Delete and confirm deletion.

Note that deleting a rule is permanent. If you think you might need the rule later, consider pausing it instead.

Best practices​

  • Start with narrower scopes. Apply new rules to a few campaigns or ad groups first to validate behavior.
  • Use short lookback windows for fast-moving markets. For active campaigns, 3–7 previous days usually works better than 30 days.
  • Combine spend + conversions. Avoid rules based on a single metric; use Spend + Installs/Trials/ROAS together.
  • Always set bid caps. Upper bid limit helps avoid runaway bids on very strong signals.