[ErrorNoBrain]

I prefer having as few apps as possible

so using the web is my go-to

i dont have reddit, on my phone for example.

Also, all those app icons are just "advertisement" every time you look at your phone screen... i dont need that.

if you REQUIRE me to use an app, then i'm only using it if i absolutely have to. (there's almost always an alternative)

[xxr]

>app icons are just "advertisement"

You wouldn't believe the volume of actual advertisements that show up as push notifications on my wife's phone

[AaronAPU]

These things only exist because some people just allow it. They allow it and occasionally buy something, enabling the entire hellhole we now all live in.

[RamblingCTO]

These things exist because companies and the people working there are predatory assholes. Let's not make the victims to be the villains and get off your high horse. Most people don't even know how.

[userbinator]

At least relatively recent versions of Android let you turn off notifications per-app:

https://support.google.com/android/answer/9079661?hl=en

[flkiwi]

Which is nice, but when the offender is, say, a security device that sends event notification but ALSO sends marketing spam, with no granular control over types of notifications, it's not a great situation.

[thomasfortes]

Android has granular control over notifications, which is great because some apps that I need send a lot of marketing notifications that I don't care about but I cannot get rid of essential notifications.

Not all apps do it and some push all notifications through a single channel (and some manufacturers hide the granularity options in advanced settings, I'm looking at you Samsung) but at least it exists.

[flkiwi]

iOS is the same, though I’ve found that the truly granular control depends on the vendor exposing the control in the app. Scummy companies—most of them—make notifications all or nothing.

It’s not JUST marketing either. I don’t want to be interrupted with a reminder to check my lint filter. I do that literally every time I change the laundry. But I can’t disable that pointless alert without disabling ALL alerts (and you can rightly question whether any alerts from a dryer have value, but that’s a different discussion).

[ajsnigrutin]

Even better, apps have to ask you for permission to even show notifications!

Game? Doesn't need notfications, deny, done!

[Mengkudulangsat]

These are so infuriating they should be illegal.

Especially when they come from apps you can't delete like your bannking app.

[frollogaston]

At least Apple has a rule against push spam, which they toe the line on but it's still a lot less bad than it could be.

[xxr]

Does it work the way CAN-SPAM is supposed to work (marketing can be unsubscribed from with rules about what constitutes "transactional" messages)?

[frollogaston]

Kinda

"""Push Notifications must not be required for the app to function, and should not be used to send sensitive personal or confidential information. Push Notifications should not be used for promotions or direct marketing purposes unless customers have explicitly opted in to receive them via consent language displayed in your app’s UI, and you provide a method in your app for a user to opt out from receiving such messages. Abuse of these services may result in revocation of your privileges."""

[sdf4j]

not having a way to divide notification channels, transactional vs promotional, make it worse than android.

[frollogaston]

Explicitly promotional push isn't allowed on iPhone to begin with. Only exception is if the user enables it via some setting inside your app, separate from the regular permission dialog, which is really unlikely.

Of course you can just pass off promotional stuff as not promotional, but same on Android, and you have to be sly about it.

[BobaFloutist]

>Only exception is if the user enables it via some setting inside your app

Or if Apple has a movie they really really want to promote

[paulddraper]

Hasn’t seemed to work…

[BrtByte]

Totally with you on this. Every extra app feels like mental clutter

[nikodunk]

I also hate obligatory mobile apps, especially when they’re linked to hardware: At the battery company I work for - pilaenergy - we’re aware that our hardware may well outlive our software, so we’re providing a mobile app that’s accessible over an WiFi access point or over your local WiFi, as well as the traditional mobile apps. This way - the software comes bundled with the hardware and can’t be sunset. Something that has long been an issue with IoT products.