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I only care about the helpful notifications, not the promotional ones

alexanderell.is

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Re: I only care about the helpful notifications, not the promotional ones

#201

Post by efreak »

robocat wrote: post #148
Larrikin wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

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

Re: I only care about the helpful notifications, not the promotional ones

#202

Post by logifail »

DoctorDabadedoo wrote: post #107
kmonsen wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the draw of premium? Cannot see anything there that would be more then marginal useful for me.

You're able to directly message people that are not your friends and see who saw your profile (no matter their privacy configuration, I believe). For me that's about it. Useful if you are job hunting, but nothing to go crazy over. Honestly, the only thing keeping me on LinkedIn is FOMO of that spectacular job that a recruiter might reach out about, but reality is that this doesn't happen at all for positions worth th…

> You're able to directly message people that are not your friends and see who saw your profile (no matter their privacy configuration, I believe)

Haha. Sorry, but if someone really wants to see your LinkedIn profile and wants to remain anonymous, then I doubt any "premium" subscription is going to help.

Re: I only care about the helpful notifications, not the promotional ones

#203

Post by pwpw »

microflash wrote: post #96
jerieljan wrote: post #65

I highly recommend installing Buzzkill for those on Android. In addition to built-in per-channel settings, Buzzkill allows you to create rules to auto-dismiss or do certain actions depending on the title or description of the notification, using basic matching or regex. It also gives you a nicer view of notification history, with more days and scrubbing across time if you ever want to revisit past notifications. http…

Buzzkill is a godsent and should be an OS feature. Setting rules on notifications, automated actions and a history has reduced the deluge of useless distractions for me. The app is proprietary and closed source though; it also uses Accessibility access. This might be a turn off for some threat models.

I would love to help on building an open source alternative. Any clue on where to get started with documentation?

Re: I only care about the helpful notifications, not the promotional ones

#204

Post by kbos87 »

This is literally what drove me away from Facebook, completely. Their constant “redesigning” of notification and privacy settings was a veiled effort to force whatever notifications in front of me. There are certain notifications I want from you Facebook, but you made a grave miscalculation when you thought I’d put up with everything else you threw at me. So here I am, a Facebook user since 2007(?) who pretty much walked away in 2019 and has barely been back.

Re: I only care about the helpful notifications, not the promotional ones

#205

Post by mattlondon »

dguo wrote: post #23

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…

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.

Re: I only care about the helpful notifications, not the promotional ones

#206

Post by dmkii »

scarface74 wrote: post #174
anticristi wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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/

That has absolutely nothing to do with notifications and pop ups.

You’re right, but only if the company wouldn’t track whether you’ve seen or even received that message. So yes, general or even contextual messages would be allowed, but “You haven’t seen X in 9 days” would imply processing personal data for marketing purposes.

Re: I only care about the helpful notifications, not the promotional ones

#207

Post by aendruk »

ComputerGuru wrote: post #162
dguo wrote: post #23

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…

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.

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.

Re: I only care about the helpful notifications, not the promotional ones

#209

Post by Sausagemancer »

My Bluetooth Blood-pressure cuff does this. Useful notification: Reminding me to measure my blood pressure twice per day, giving me a notification that I can tap to begin a measurement.

Not useful notifications: Telling me that I have a "new insight available", which when tapped takes me to a prompt to "upgrade to a new premium feature.

I guess if you need to upsell me on a service after I've spent >$200 for your device I can use a different reminders app and be slightly inconvenienced twice a day.

Re: I only care about the helpful notifications, not the promotional ones

#210

Post by cuu508 »

scarface74 wrote: post #175
cuu508 wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

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

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.

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