diff --git a/Mixpanel/AutomaticEvents.m b/Mixpanel/AutomaticEvents.m
index 702951a3d..0e9a306cc 100644
--- a/Mixpanel/AutomaticEvents.m
+++ b/Mixpanel/AutomaticEvents.m
@@ -25,7 +25,9 @@ + (void)setAppStartTime:(NSTimeInterval)appStartTime { _appStartTime = appStartT
 
 __attribute__((constructor))
 static void initialize_appStartTime() {
-    AutomaticEvents.appStartTime = [[NSDate date] timeIntervalSince1970];
+    if (AutomaticEvents.appStartTime == 0) {
+        AutomaticEvents.appStartTime = [[NSDate date] timeIntervalSince1970];
+    }
 }
 
 - (instancetype)init
@@ -67,8 +69,8 @@ - (void)initializeEvents:(MixpanelPeople *)peopleInstance {
     }
 
     [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self
-                                             selector:@selector(appEnteredBackground:)
-                                                 name:UIApplicationDidEnterBackgroundNotification
+                                             selector:@selector(appWillResignActive:)
+                                                 name:UIApplicationWillResignActiveNotification
                                                object:nil];
 
     [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self
@@ -97,7 +99,7 @@ - (void)initializeEvents:(MixpanelPeople *)peopleInstance {
 
 }
 
-- (void)appEnteredBackground:(NSNotification *)notification {
+- (void)appWillResignActive:(NSNotification *)notification {
     sessionLength = [[NSDate date] timeIntervalSince1970] - sessionStartTime;
     if (sessionLength > (double)(self.minimumSessionDuration / 1000)) {
         NSMutableDictionary *properties = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc]
diff --git a/Mixpanel/MPNetwork.m b/Mixpanel/MPNetwork.m
index 0493c5d7b..48432be86 100644
--- a/Mixpanel/MPNetwork.m
+++ b/Mixpanel/MPNetwork.m
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #import "MPNetworkPrivate.h"
 #import "MPLogger.h"
 #import "Mixpanel.h"
+#import "MixpanelPrivate.h"
 #if !TARGET_OS_OSX
 #import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
 #endif
@@ -45,7 +46,32 @@ - (instancetype)initWithServerURL:(NSURL *)serverURL mixpanel:(Mixpanel *)mixpan
 
 #pragma mark - Flush
 - (void)flushEventQueue:(NSMutableArray *)events {
+    NSMutableArray *automaticEventsQueue;
+    @synchronized (self.mixpanel) {
+        automaticEventsQueue = [self orderAutomaticEvents:events];
+    }
     [self flushQueue:events endpoint:MPNetworkEndpointTrack];
+    @synchronized (self.mixpanel) {
+        if (automaticEventsQueue) {
+            [events addObjectsFromArray:automaticEventsQueue];
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+- (NSMutableArray *)orderAutomaticEvents:(NSMutableArray *)events {
+    if (!self.mixpanel.automaticEventsEnabled || !self.mixpanel.automaticEventsEnabled.boolValue) {
+        NSMutableArray *discardedItems = [NSMutableArray array];
+        for (NSDictionary *e in events) {
+            if ([e[@"event"] hasPrefix:@"MP: "]) {
+                [discardedItems addObject:e];
+            }
+        }
+        [events removeObjectsInArray:discardedItems];
+        if (!self.mixpanel.automaticEventsEnabled) {
+            return discardedItems;
+        }
+    }
+    return nil;
 }
 
 - (void)flushPeopleQueue:(NSMutableArray *)people {
diff --git a/Mixpanel/Mixpanel.m b/Mixpanel/Mixpanel.m
index 8fb7f1f41..3c2e82c31 100755
--- a/Mixpanel/Mixpanel.m
+++ b/Mixpanel/Mixpanel.m
@@ -128,13 +128,15 @@ - (instancetype)initWithToken:(NSString *)apiToken launchOptions:(NSDictionary *
         
         self.network = [[MPNetwork alloc] initWithServerURL:[NSURL URLWithString:self.serverURL] mixpanel:self];
         self.people = [[MixpanelPeople alloc] initWithMixpanel:self];
-#if !MIXPANEL_NO_AUTOMATIC_EVENTS_SUPPORT
-        self.automaticEvents = [[AutomaticEvents alloc] init];
-        self.automaticEvents.delegate = self;
-        [self.automaticEvents initializeEvents:self.people];
-#endif
         [self setUpListeners];
         [self unarchive];
+#if !MIXPANEL_NO_AUTOMATIC_EVENTS_SUPPORT
+        if (!self.automaticEventsEnabled || [self.automaticEventsEnabled boolValue]) {
+            self.automaticEvents = [[AutomaticEvents alloc] init];
+            self.automaticEvents.delegate = self;
+            [self.automaticEvents initializeEvents:self.people];
+        }
+#endif
 #if !MIXPANEL_NO_NOTIFICATION_AB_TEST_SUPPORT
         [self executeCachedVariants];
         [self executeCachedEventBindings];
@@ -712,6 +714,7 @@ - (void)archiveProperties
     [p setValue:self.people.unidentifiedQueue forKey:@"peopleUnidentifiedQueue"];
     [p setValue:self.shownNotifications forKey:@"shownNotifications"];
     [p setValue:self.timedEvents forKey:@"timedEvents"];
+    [p setValue:self.automaticEventsEnabled forKey:@"automaticEvents"];
     MPLogInfo(@"%@ archiving properties data to %@: %@", self, filePath, p);
     if (![self archiveObject:p withFilePath:filePath]) {
         MPLogError(@"%@ unable to archive properties data", self);
@@ -824,6 +827,7 @@ - (void)unarchiveProperties
         self.variants = properties[@"variants"] ?: [NSSet set];
         self.eventBindings = properties[@"event_bindings"] ?: [NSSet set];
         self.timedEvents = properties[@"timedEvents"] ?: [NSMutableDictionary dictionary];
+        self.automaticEventsEnabled = properties[@"automaticEvents"];
     }
 }
 
@@ -1415,6 +1419,14 @@ - (void)checkForDecideResponseWithCompletion:(void (^)(NSArray *notifications, N
                     MPLogError(@"%@ variants check response format error: %@", self, object);
                 }
 
+                id rawAutomaticEvents = object[@"automatic_events"];
+                if ([rawAutomaticEvents isKindOfClass:[NSNumber class]]) {
+                    if (!self.automaticEventsEnabled || [self.automaticEventsEnabled boolValue] != [rawAutomaticEvents boolValue]) {
+                        self.automaticEventsEnabled = rawAutomaticEvents;
+                        [self archiveProperties];
+                    }
+                }
+
                 // Variants that are already running (may or may not have been marked as finished).
                 NSSet *runningVariants = [NSSet setWithSet:[self.variants objectsPassingTest:^BOOL(MPVariant *var, BOOL *stop) { return var.running; }]];
                 // Variants that are marked as finished, (may or may not be running still).
diff --git a/Mixpanel/MixpanelPrivate.h b/Mixpanel/MixpanelPrivate.h
index dd350b319..dfad50c45 100644
--- a/Mixpanel/MixpanelPrivate.h
+++ b/Mixpanel/MixpanelPrivate.h
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@
 @property (nonatomic, strong) NSMutableDictionary *timedEvents;
 
 @property (nonatomic) BOOL decideResponseCached;
-
+@property (nonatomic, strong) NSNumber *automaticEventsEnabled;
 @property (nonatomic, strong) NSArray *notifications;
 @property (nonatomic, strong) id currentlyShowingNotification;
 @property (nonatomic, strong) NSMutableSet *shownNotifications;