[dguo]

My rule is: if I get a single notification that I find useless, I'll immediately disable that notification channel (I'm on Android; I'm not sure if iOS has a concept of channel-specific settings) for that app. Even if the channel can include useful notifications, as the article discusses.

If the app doesn't bother to categorize its notifications into channels at all, I turn off its notifications entirely, and I won't turn it back on.

If something is important enough, I can always manually check on it. My attention is too valuable to me to waste it on useless notifications.

I do want more control over my notifications in general. I use Google Apps Script to automatically process/triage my email, and I want to do something similar with notifications. I can probably do so using Tasker, but I haven't gotten around to it.

[izacus]

> My rule is: if I get a single notification that I find useless, I'll immediately disable that notification channel (I'm on Android; I'm not sure if iOS has a concept of channel-specific settings) for that app. Even if the channel can include useful notifications, as the article discusses.

Well, the developers have started fighting against that by not splitting notifications into channels anymore. Now you just get "General" channel were basic functionality and spam can't be separated.

The modern world of user abuse is great.

[throw1230]

One strike and you're out rule works perfectly fine for me.

If they think they can abuse my attention with stuff like this, I immediately uninstall and go on with my life.

[gpt5]

I've been struggling with the Uber app and Uber Eats who has been sending me ads which I found no way to disable.

My problem is that I do want notifications for when my driver has arrived.

[bonniemuffin]

I deleted the Uber app and stopped using their service specifically because there was no way to turn off only their spammy marketing push notifications, and I didn't want to turn off all push and miss a ride, so there was no way for me to meaningfully use their service. It's ok, I have other options to get a ride.

[coryk135]

I found a way to disable marketing notifications but it was buried in their menus. Settings > Privacy > Notifications. Definitely shouldn't be under privacy, that makes no sense.

[interactivecode]

It does make sense when privacy violating tactics are powering the notifications.

Come on uber your hidden agenda is showing!

[wutbrodo]

Are you in iOS? I see a pretty detailed breakdown of notification categories that I can disable.

[bonniemuffin]

I had previously failed to find the Notification settings under Privacy that another commenter pointed me to--I think these solve my problem. If you found even more granular settings, please let me know where you're setting them.

A few months ago, I swear I went through every single setting in the app and failed to find anything like this, so maybe they've since updated their settings page?

[reflexco]

That's exactly why I stopped using Uber. It was annoying to not get notification when drivers arrive, but there's no way I'm giving them free access to make my pocket vibrate all day long.

[benmanns]

If you turn off notifications they will use text messages to contact you. I’ve never gotten a spam text message from them, which makes some sense as they’re more regulated than push notifications.

[HWR_14]

Texts are more expensive than push notifications. I don't actually think they're more expensive.

[abacadaba]

same rule, and also why uber eats got uninstalled

[Angostura]

> I do want notifications for when my driver has arrived.

They can ring my doorbell or phone me.

[gpvos]

You could stop using Uber and Uber Eats.

[LadyCailin]

You could also be a hermit and live in the woods. Thats not really the point though. For paid services, I think it’s entirely reasonable to say that you don’t want to see ads.

[jazzyjackson]

I mean I went with "own a car and pick up food myself" instead of the whole hermitage thing, but to each their own

there have always been ads when I go to the movies, and in the magazines I pay good money for. nothing about paying for a product should give you an expectation of ad free, that's a very slim niche of a business model where they pummel you with ads until you subscribe a la spotify and youtube, but its not the norm at all

[wbsss4412]

Giving up on a product that only provides marginal value is hardly the same thing as becoming a hermit.

Uber eats isn’t integral to operating in modern society by a long stretch.

The hermit argument is trotted out far too often, it’s one thing if we are talking about something like a smart phone, but just because something is new or techy, doesn’t mean you are a Luddite for not using it.

[bee_rider]

It is reasonable to say you don't want ads. Unfortunately Uber has decided to say "too bad, what are you going to do about it?"

[criddell]

I wonder if you could write a Shortcut that, after an Uber ride is booked, notifications are enabled and once the ride ends, they are disabled again?

[dvtrn]

I just tried, unless I’m missing an update, Uber Eats doesn’t even show up under the Apps that I can select from to build a shortcut for.

[innocenat]

Uber Eat does different channel for notification though. Mine is set exactly as you described.

[gruez]

It's an option on android but not ios.

[novok]

Go to account -> settings -> privacy -> notifications and you can turn off all the marketing notifications on iOS too for Uber / Uber Eats.

[QuarterReptile]

Unblock notifications only when you need them

[hombre_fatal]

Too bad it’s so annoying to toggle. It should be in the long press option menu or something.

[aembleton]

On android - go to settings > apps > uber > notifications

Disable 'all promotions and recommendations'

[j-bos]

I found it helpful to force stop the app whenever I'm not actively using it.

[wardedVibe]

Try switching to lyft maybe?

[ericmay]

If Lyft doesn’t do the same thing they eventually will.

[fragmede]

Hopefully by then more advanced notification controls will exist.

[bee_rider]

Maybe being less annoying can be part of their value proposition.

[jbverschoor]

And no way to report to apple.. it’s against policy/guidelines

[pers0n]

They make billions off the apps and have yet to implement something like that

[NaturalPhallacy]

That's like the whole point of this article....

[JumpCrisscross]

> I immediately uninstall and go on with my life

This is sort of like the customer at the gate yelling that they will never fly that airline again. If you’re lost, you’re a sunk cost. Companies should observe those signing off. But more to measure attachment than to make changes to accommodate. (I turn most notifications off.)

[xwdv]

Have fun not knowing when or where your food is when you order it.

[distances]

I usually simply uninstall the app on the first clearly spammy notification. Why wouldn't I? It immediately sours the app image.

If it's borderline I will first try silencing the channel like the parent commenter.

[izacus]

Those rules only work until you're required to have such app installed to do, for example, credit card payments.

[tgsovlerkhgsel]

Which can be solved by finding a competitor with less abusive practices.

[teddyh]

Not in a monopoly or oligopoly, which is the common case in markets with high barriers to entry.

[bee_rider]

If this a hypothetical? I can't think of any monopolies that I need to do business with that only do business through an app.

[JumpCrisscross]

> Which can be solved by finding a competitor with less abusive practices

For those with infinite time or for whom this is a single issue, yes. For the rest of us, disabling notifications isn’t too hard.

[fxtentacle]

Where i live, GDPR and related laws make it illegal to mix advertising permissions with functional permissions. So that's never going to happen.

[izacus]

I've spent plenty of time working on GDPR compliance in EU and I can directly tell you there's nothing in GDPR that would say anything like that.

GDPR talks about data collection and says nothing about having your own business spam you with advertisement (as long as they don't collect data outside their GDPR restrictions).

[anticristi]

> Consent is presumed not to be freely given if it does not allow separate consent to be given to different personal data processing operations despite it being appropriate in the individual case [...]

https://gdpr-info.eu/recitals/no-43/

[josephcsible]

If Apple or Google really cared about their users, this is the kind of thing they'd ban, not third-party payment processors.

[Gigachad]

This is a fight that OS makers need to be in on. Apple added the concept of time critical notifications. It is or should be a tos violation if an app falsely labels spam as time critical.

[makeitdouble]

I've seen that in a few apps, but worse case scenario you just lose some useful notifications. If it's not a critical app (e.g. my bank), that's a fine trade-off for me.

[wodenokoto]

My bank mixes ads and notifications. I get things like "Get 20% discount on this supermarket when shopping with your bank visa card this month"

[Too]

You also get some apps with 20+ channels, adding lots of needless mental burden just to understand exactly what you are disabling.

[dismalpedigree]

I doubt it is a decision a developer arrived at. More likely some arm twisting by a short sighted and kpi driven product manager.

[dredmorbius]

That's a good enough reason to nuke the app for me.

[xahrepap]

I follow the same rule. But I will also then go one star review it.

I will also one-star review any app that prompts me to review it by first asking me if I like it (sneaky sneaky!)

[faeriechangling]

Lol I do this too. If I see an "are you enjoying our app" banner I will immediately click yes, follow the link to the store, and then immediately 1 star. Even if I enjoy the app and use it daily.

Companies that attempt to filter out negative feedback can pound sand.

[sadamhus]

Why? If you like it, why not give it a good rating and review if you’re going to take the time. For ratings apps can only present them officially like once or twice a year on apps. So once you rate it, then nothing should bug you again. What’s wrong with companies attempting to get positive feedback from those who like the app. The people who don’t like it, or when there’s one little thing wrong, go out of their way to one start it anyway (like if they have popups that ask you if you like the app even though it addresses the problem you have and that’s why you downloaded it). And if it is free, well, then going out of your way to one star it is a real bummer for that dev trying to make something of value for free and grow via star ratings and having you detract from that. (Unless they are free and collecting and selling all your data - at that point, and if they did this in a shady way although that’s hard to do because of disclosures - I could see giving a low rating review.) just seems overly critical in my opinion but maybe efforts like yours will change dev behavior overall.

[faeriechangling]

I expect a company to roll over and show its neck if it wants me to give it a good review, none of this “we’ll have separate processes for positive and negative feedback” nonsense. I don’t want to put the developers who DON’T engage in such ploys to be put at a disadvantage, and intuitively I know that they are put at a disadvantage unless people act in the way that I act. That ends up rewarding cowardice instead of bravery and transparency.

[karmakaze]

I'll go one step farther and uninstall it if I haven't used it recently or often.

[weego]

I'll go that one step further and cast my phone into a shallow grave, having salted the earth it's buried in so that nothing may grow there again.

[dredmorbius]

I blew up a planet once.

[bryanrasmussen]

I'll go that one step further and build a time machine and go back in time and kill myself before I have a chance to even install the app.

[earleybird]

"luxury" - sorry, wrong skit

[hdjjhhvvhga]

I'll go one step further and try to bash it whenever I have a chance [0].

[0] Yes Free Now I'm talking about you.

[Phlogistique]

For some reason I had never thought of doing that.

Thanks, I will do so from now on!

[stjohnswarts]

Oh yeah I definitely do that with the "rate our app" if I've not so much as done more than open it up lol

[Kiro]

That sounds harsh. I kindly ask if they want to leave a review to support me in my app. What's wrong with that? Haven't received any complaints and I got a lot of nice reviews I presume I wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

[thewebcount]

What’s wrong with that? It’s fucking irritating. It’s not my job to do marketing for them, and frankly I resent constantly being asked for feedback on every interaction. I bought a lightbulb. Please rate it! I bought toilet paper. Please rate it! It’s like being around a really insecure person who’s constantly trying to win your favor. Just be a good person and it will happen, but try to do it and you make it way worse.

[Kiro]

I provide a free game with no monetization and if they play more than an hour I ask if they would like to rate it. That's the only payment I get beyond donations. How is that unreasonable and worth giving me a 1 star for?

[xahrepap]

There are a few patterns here I didn’t dive into in my original comment above.

1. I don’t use a lot of apps. I prefer web for most things. It turns out the apps I do download are from bigger companies (YouTube, Netflix). It’s annoying to be nagged by these companies. I already pay them $x/mo and now they’re asking more from me? Please leave me alone.

2. Many apps are first asking if I like it THEN prompt me to review if I say yes. It is my understanding that this is against the rules for the Apple App Store. If it’s not it should be. That’s shady behavior. It’s so common that I’ve been conditioned to not even believe that the first prompt is even real. I feel like I’m literally being Phished for reviews here. I don’t like it.

So yes, I’m to the point where I assume all nag-ware is employing some manipulative dark pattern and I default to 1-star review. Yes I will one star review some apps that don’t deserve it. But at this point those developers are playing in the same sandbox as all the bullies and I can’t tell them apart anymore. I have to protect myself. I don’t have the mental energy to try and distinguish between the good guys and bad guys anymore.

It is my opinion that Indie developers need to find a better way to market themselves. The water has been poisoned on reviews.

Sorry if you disagree with me. But that’s where I’m at now.

[thewebcount]

> 1. I don’t use a lot of apps. I prefer web for most things. It turns out the apps I do download are from bigger companies (YouTube, Netflix).

I think you're just lucky. Or maybe my friends and I are just cursed. I get asked to rate everything. My doctor's office sends me an email to rate them on the web after every single visit. If I go in for a follow-up a week later, I get 2 emails asking for ratings - one for the initial visit and one for the follow-up. My dog's vet asks for a rating. I get a pizza delivered, they want a rating. It's too much. I definitely never rate an app that asks me to for the reasons you've said. It's all very scammy and I'm conditioned now. Sucks for the honest guys, but c'est la vie.

[Kiro]

Well, out of hundreds of reviews I haven't received a single 1-star yet. I think you're exaggerating that the whole ecosystem of reviews has been poisoned. Maybe it's my specific audience but most reviews are great and sincere.

Fwiw, I'm not asking if they like it first. I ask them to write an honest review if they want, and that it helps support the game.

I'm just surprised this small thing is controversial considering how hard I've worked on being transparent and avoid dark patterns.

[gnicholas]

I have a similar rule, but sometimes it's really hard to figure out (1) whether the app distinguishes between different types of notifications, and (2) where the setting is to turn off the new nuisance notification type.

IME, Lyft and Uber are the worst. For Lyft, their notification preferences are buried under "Privacy: Choose what data you share with us". Not the first place anyone would look!

[lrem]

That's why Android has the system-wide pane for those. No space for (most of) dark patterns. And if someone goes out of their way to "accidentally" mess with that system (oops, this promotion went into the navigation category, silly me), they deserve to go all out silenced.

[mynameisvlad]

That’s entirely developer decided. Most are starting to recombine channels to get around the feature.

[lolinder]

The parent clearly knows that, hence their second point: "And if someone goes out of their way to "accidentally" mess with that system (oops, this promotion went into the navigation category, silly me), they deserve to go all out silenced."

[mynameisvlad]

Accidentally or intentionally misclassifying notifications is not the same thing as getting rid of the categories entirely.

[stjohnswarts]

Lots of apps make you opt out, but it really isn't that hard to find. Most apps on my phone don't even get the right to notify me. I prefer pull rather than push as far as notices go, unless they're critical like from my bank/CC/gf :)

[cuu508]

On Android, long-press a notification, then tap on a gear icon. You will see a list of notification categories for that app.

[scarface74]

You’re assuming that the developer makes such a distinction when they send you a notification

[cuu508]

From grandparent comment:

> If the app doesn't bother to categorize its notifications into channels at all, I turn off its notifications entirely, and I won't turn it back on.

[mattlondon]

I do this too.

If it is a commercial company (e.g. Starbucks from the article) then I sometimes make a point to act innocent and contact their support people to ask why I am not getting order update notifications after "turning off the ads" or whatever. Hopefully the message will get through.

[ComputerGuru]

This is also my policy - except:

Uber just sent me a notification to celebrate pride month with Uber (by booking a car??). I don’t see how to turn off these promotional notifications but I need my Uber notifications so I’m aware when my driver is outside. I’m still not sure if I should block all Uber notifications.

[davidjfelix]

Spoiler - they probably know and don't want to destroy their reliable spam channel. I turn them off and either keep the app open when I've ordered a car, or temporarily turn them back on while ubering and turn them back off when I get a trash notification. This definitely strikes me as one of those comments you see on HN that is wildly impractical at scale, but it's what I do.

[shostack]

Which is why strict app store policy enforcement is the only way to really end this.

[SheinhardtWigCo]

That won't happen. This is the most significant advantage the app stores have over PWAs.

[zwegner]

You can choose to get text messages instead for ride notifications. I do that and don't get any spam from them.

Still get the stupid "try 1 month free trial" popups whenever I book a ride though, can't see how to turn those off.

[aendruk]

Gig Car Share used to do this. I patiently responded to each incident with a support request politely asking them to stop the abuse. After a few months of 1:1 mapping from spam incident to customer support issue it eventually stopped.

[eastbound]

I do the same on the Nespresso site with the “Hey, I’m clippy, do you need help with your order?” covering the “Order” button. I systematically click on it and ask them to order by order. Then they explain how to close the chat, and I click on the next page, the chat opens, I ask them again to go away because I can’t focus while the icon is bouncing in my page.

They don’t answer me anymore.

As in: A corporate employee leaves a chat aside because it’s too annoying.

[KennyBlanken]

None of those chat agents connect to a real human until the AI has figured out that you have a need to talk to a human. You're not accomplishing much, if anything.

[aendruk]

Maybe so for the above example, but I too make a point of replying to “Can I help you with anything?” popups with an active “No” and am often connected with what passes for a real human.

[Ar-Curunir]

It’s under the “privacy” in account settings. I just disabled marketing notifications

[ComputerGuru]

What a place to hide them!

[SAI_Peregrinus]

I just uninstall such apps until I need them. But I rarely use Uber/Lyft/etc, so it's no hassle to reinstall once or twice a year.

[SnowHill9902]

Wow that’s cool, did you celebrate? (Block unless you are actively waiting for a car.)

[justsomehnguy]

> by booking a car??

by hooking a car, of course

*agressive eyebrow movements*

[natly]

My rule is: Disable notifications immediately regardless, if I find myself wishing I had gotten a ping instead of opening the app to check, I turn it on (which never happens, it's off for everything).

[nomilk]

Useless notifications is a super dangerous game to play, since one lame "McDonalds has 25% off" *cough: Uber Eats* results in notifications being turned off and poorer outcomes for all parties from that moment on.

[lozenge]

They are relying on 90% of people not knowing how to get to the notification settings. It's not dangerous, it's A/B tested...

[abacadaba]

guess im in the 10% of customers they lost. i know how to change settings but still easier to uninstall.

[resters]

Yes. Especially since the most useless ones seem to come when I’m driving.

[Larrikin]

I've found that apps that properly set up channels on Android where your can easily block promotional notifications, don't abuse their notifications, and ones that don't put all their notifications through a couple different channels making it impossible to turn off only the ones you don't want. Amazon and Uber are examples of apps that abuse this.

[robocat]

I install Uber when I need to use it, then deinstall it after pickup. If I forget to deinstall it, Uber kindly send me a notification reminder (random text with with a percent symbol within it), to remind me to deinstall it.

[efreak]

at least on Android there's no need to completely uninstall it. you can disable the app with force stop; this should allow it to get updates, but shouldn't allow it to run again until you open it manually

[jdbernard]

Only if your phone manufacturer installs it as part of the base image. I'm on Android and, Uber doesn't come pre-installed, and when I remove it, it's completely gone.

[efreak]

force stop should prevent the app from running or receiving notifications/gcm messages until either you reboot or open it.

I think you're thinking of the _disable_ button on preinstalled apps. this button is only available on preinstalled apps (it switches to an uninstall button for others) however the functionality is still there if you turn on adb. The relevant command is `pm disable --user ## package.name`. You can check your user number with `pm list users`, `dumpsys user|fgrep 'UserInfo{'` or a couple other ways; the package name is in the play store URL.

[abruzzi]

this is exactly what I do for most apps-install to use, remove after use. For Uber its easy since I only use Uber when I'm traveling in a country where I don't speak the language (Uber makes hailing rides in a foriegn country easy, though we used Yandex in Russia since Uber wasn't as common.) In some cases, I keep the app, but completely silence it.

[aaaaaaaaata]

This assumes they don't do anything mefarious on first install.

m.uber.com

[wardedVibe]

Definitely stealing this idea, thanks

[hdjjhhvvhga]

I just turned them off altogether. It turned out I can do well without them. If Uber is telling me the driver will be there in 4 minutes, I check my phone in ca. 4 minutes, it's not a big deal. On the other hand, getting a notification I haven't asked for is unacceptable as it steals my time. App creators think it is innocuous, but I have dozens of apps on my phone, and won't tolerate any user-hostile choices.

[sonicggg]

I use a similar system for Slack notifications. Got an unwanted @here call? Mute channel entirely.

[stormbrew]

> I'm on Android; I'm not sure if iOS has a concept of channel-specific settings

Sadly iOS doesn't really have this in the same way :(

[stjohnswarts]

Some apps like uber/lyft have a setting for app critical notices vs what amounts to ads tho

[scarface74]

iOS has “Time Sensitive Notifications” that can be enabled separately for Uber in settings while other notifications are turned off. I’ll see if it works.

[2OEH8eoCRo0]

That's my rule as well. I disable all notifications that are not an actual human that is trying to get in touch with me.

[stjohnswarts]

Even from your bank and credit cards?

[2OEH8eoCRo0]

Notifications? Yes. That leaves USPS and email.

[zbrozek]

I disable all notifications from an app at first strike.

[furyofantares]

I used to do it roughly like this, then I noticed how much more pleasant my wife's experience is. She just has them all turned off.

[mrweasel]

By default I never allow notification. If I start to notice that it would have been helpful to get a notification from an app, I will see if that's something that can be enabled.

[duxup]

Same, I don’t have time to dork with notifications I don’t need.

Once I get a bad notification I have no faith in an apps willingness to do what I want.

[SpacePortKnight]

Lately I've been disabling notifications for almost all apps including Uber and food delivery apps. I can always open up the app to check the status when I want to. The only spam I've left on my phone is now the needless SMS.

[mikecoles]

You are more kind than I am. After one spam notification, a one star review is left and the app is removed.

[why-el]

This is what my strategy is more or less, but for emails. If a startup sends me a "Welcome to X", I treat it as "Don't forget to unsubscribe from X".

[version_five]

This is a good idea. I almost always get caught by this. Last week I had to make Notion account for something, immediately started getting daily spam from them. It's the same everywhere, they think signing up is somehow a license to spam. It has the opposite effect, it destroys any good will towards the company.

Slack is another big offender. Every time you sign up to a new channel you're back on a spam list for some reason. I don't know who is coaching these people, but like notifications, it's a big reason why I often just don't bother signing up for stuff