Go search for something on your phone. There's a bar with "Siri Suggestions" right up top showing apps you should install (exactly the same as this Windows screenshot).
Open any first-party app on the OS (News, Stocks, Maps, Books, Fitness, Wallet and more) and every surface has ads.
Go to the App Store and search for something. The top results are always ads. Go to an app page and you will see more suggested apps at the bottom. Most of the store is sponsored content.
I have yet to go a few weeks without getting an unsolicited push notification asking me to subscribe to Apple Music, Apple One, Apple TV, Apple News, Fitness+, iCloud.
The freaking settings app has ads for Apple services.
The two companies are the same, the only real difference being that Apple users have blinders on.
I turn Siri off because it's just not useful for me, so I don't see the Siri Suggestions. But I hate how it badgers me about setting Siri up in the Settings app every update. I have to turn it on and then off to get rid of the banner.
I think there are location based suggestions -- but (like you) I've only seen them for apps I already have installed. When in the app switcher, I believe I saw Home Depot app suggested while I was at a Home Depot. I thought that was neat, rather than intrusive.
I'm not entirely sure I get the outrage about app ads in the App Store. I also don't get mad at the existence of end-caps, signs and promotions at the grocery story, either, though. It's a store. But, I'd be infuriated if distracting ads were added to the Dock or Finder, or I had to read past randomly placed ads in menus necessary for every day operation.
It might be how I use my phone. I don’t install many apps, don’t use the weird search shit, and generally just use it for communication and navigation.
Open any first-party app on the OS (News, Stocks, Maps, Books, Fitness, Wallet and more) and every surface has ads.
Go to the App Store and search for something. The top results are always ads. Go to an app page and you will see more suggested apps at the bottom. Most of the store is sponsored content.
I have yet to go a few weeks without getting an unsolicited push notification asking me to subscribe to Apple Music, Apple One, Apple TV, Apple News, Fitness+, iCloud.
The freaking settings app has ads for Apple services.
The two companies are the same, the only real difference being that Apple users have blinders on.