Facebook Inc. said today that it will start rolling out a new function for iPhone and iPad in which users will be asked to allow the company to track their activity in order to improve their ad experience.

The move comes before Apple Inc.’s spring update which has rankled Facebook somewhat. In that update, users will be given the option to have their activity tracked. That has caused a rift between the two tech giants, with Facebook saying it will hurt small businesses. The company went as far as to take out full-page ads in major news outlets, stating, “We’re standing up to Apple for small businesses everywhere.”

Last week, Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg reiterated those sentiments, calling Apple one of its biggest competitors and blasting the company for anticompetitive behavior. The next day, Apple CEO Tim Cook fired back, talking about data exploitation and misleading business models. He didn’t mention Facebook, but it was obvious which company he was alluding to.

In a blog post today, Facebook talked about how it will start showing users a prompt of its own. Users of iOS devices will still see Apple’s prompt, but they’ll also see one from Facebook. It will explain to users why personalized ads will create a better experience for them and ask them if that’s an experience they want.

“If you accept the prompts for Facebook and Instagram, the ads you see on those apps won’t change,” said Facebook. “If you decline, you will still see ads, but they will be less relevant to you. Agreeing to these prompts doesn’t result in Facebook collecting new types of data. It just means that we can continue to give people better experiences.”

Facebook repeated what it said all along, that it believes small businesses will suffer if people opt out of tracking. It said that free apps will be forced to switch to a subscription-based business model, “meaning Apple will profit and many free services will have to start charging or exit the market.” The company also blasted Apple for “not playing by their own rules,” stating that its own personalized ad platform isn’t subject to the changes in the update.

Photo: iphonedigital/Flickr