Apple now allows iOS developers to send ads using push notifications • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple now allows iOS developers to send ads using push notifications

#131

Post by jsjddbbwj » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 6:29 PM UTC

jedieaston wrote: post #129

rudolph9 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish there were more open source iOS apps. Recouping development costs is probably a big driving factor and provided I haven’t dabbled in building iOS apps in years I imagine the open source community driven scene hasn’t hasn’t changed much in the iOS community and turn costs remain high.

The problem is that sideloading is so difficult on iOS (you need a Mac, XCode, and then, after spending that $1k you realize that to keep the app on your phone for more than a couple days-one week, you have to pay Apple $99 per year) that people who would usually help open-source projects (where you use whatever tools you want and a free toolchain), have a much higher opportunity cost to getting involved with a iOS p…

Disabling the secure enclave is unnecessary. Voiding the warranty is obscene and illegal.

Re: Apple now allows iOS developers to send ads using push notifications

#132

Post by morpheuskafka » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 6:30 PM UTC

Razengan wrote: post #68

After Catalina's increase in ostentatious nagging for the supposed sake of security, something they made fun of Microsoft for during Windows Vista [0], I really hope there isn't some paradigm shift inside Apple to become just as bad regarding alerts and popups. [0] https://i.imgur.com/442C7Ij.jpg (slide from an ancient WWDC)

Catalina's security is significantly more useful that Vista's. Unlike accepting a UAC prompt, which was equivalent to running as root and often required for innocuous apps to function correctly, while allowing non-UAC approved apps to access and delete almost all of the logged-in user's own data and files, Catalina has a sandbox feature that protects untrusted apps from accessing even the own user's files/photos/contacts/etc, while almost no apps ever require root permissions

Re: Apple now allows iOS developers to send ads using push notifications

#133

Post by jsjddbbwj » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 6:32 PM UTC

Tepix wrote: post #23

As a consumer, i uninstall such apps. One example is the german „KaufDa“ app which was quite useful to me. I complained about the unwanted push messages and their support pretended to be dumb. I ended up uninstalling it. Only if consumers refuse to accept these annoyances it will stop.

You can disable notifications without uninstalling it.

Re: Apple now allows iOS developers to send ads using push notifications

#134

Post by samatman » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 6:54 PM UTC

jw1224 wrote: post #72

tcd wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's....Not beneficial, at least in terms of what is going on behind the scenes. 1: App knows your location - most likely is profiting from that 2: App can see how often you visit $place, all for the cost of a few 'sale' items. 3: More extensive profiling can possibly occur, depending on what data the OS allows you to access. As apposed to: 1: Walk to shop, no smartphone, see discounts inside shop. There's 0 reason…

Of course it's beneficial! Can you not put yourself in the shoes of a normal consumer and recognise that? They probably don't care if the app is tracking their location to tell how often they visit the shop. In exchange for this inconsequential sacrifice to their privacy they get easy and convenient discounts, tailored to them, when they go about their daily routine. I'm privacy-conscious and technologically literate…

Exactly. My mother is a dedicated coupon-clipper on a fixed income, and she would be delighted if a grocery store offered her a couple customized chances to save money every time she walked in.

Also, let's not ignore that the headline is backwards: Apps can send ads via notifications right now, what Apple has done is made it a separate permission, so that users can turn off ads and keep other notifications.

This is a strict improvement.

Re: Apple now allows iOS developers to send ads using push notifications

#135

Post by nojvek » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 7:34 PM UTC

clay_the_ripper wrote: post #130

bilbo0s wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what I'm assuming. Not only that, but now Apple is probably going to be very aggressive about kicking apps off the app store if they find even a single notification in the non add stream that they, in their sole estimation, consider to be an ad. This might be a trap feature. I could easily see it being used to allow apple a reason to get rid of you.

As a user, good! I hate the fact that there are certain apps that to use properly I have to have push notifications on or it severely restricts the functionality of the app (uber eats for example). Then they send promotional ads to me which I can’t turn off which is really annoying. I’m excited for Apple to enforce this policy. Yet another example of Apple being pro user.

Why should Apple be the police, they don’t even currently police their apps in a uniform way. So many apps violate the guidelines but are still in the AppStore.

I welcome the change but I’ve also seen Apple be a bully.

Re: Apple now allows iOS developers to send ads using push notifications

#136

Post by gentleman11 » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 8:42 PM UTC

Skip the dishes spams you with ad-like notifications, but you need notifications turned on for the app to be fully useful. I just uninstalled it. It’s incredibly rude. What’s next, YouTube sending me push notifications to buy Dominos

(they have been showing me dominos ads every time I go to the grocery store, even when I pay with cash and have location turned off)

Re: Apple now allows iOS developers to send ads using push notifications

#137

Post by david-cako » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 9:23 PM UTC

sanedigital wrote: post #3

Depending on how this is implemented, this could actually be a step in the right direction. Lots of apps already send "promotional" push notifications (including big names like Lyft and Uber). The only way to turn them off was to turn off all notifications, which meant missing actual important updates. If this change means being able to opt-out of one without losing the other, I'm all for it.

Probably also adjusts delivery priority and improves battery life.

Apple’s APIs are really good about exposing specific use-cases as separate functions and enums.

Re: Apple now allows iOS developers to send ads using push notifications

#138

Post by therealdrag0 » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 9:48 PM UTC

MrMember wrote: post #118

Tepix wrote: post #23

As a consumer, i uninstall such apps. One example is the german „KaufDa“ app which was quite useful to me. I complained about the unwanted push messages and their support pretended to be dumb. I ended up uninstalling it. Only if consumers refuse to accept these annoyances it will stop.

I was an Audible subscriber for 5+ years until they started sending ads through push notifications with no way to disable them (media controls are done through the notification system on Android so I didn't want to disable them at the OS level). I canceled my subscription and told them why.

I don't remember every having notifications so I went looking. Found them all disabled: https://imgur.com/QKdDIqz

Re: Apple now allows iOS developers to send ads using push notifications

#139

Post by therealdrag0 » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 9:50 PM UTC

robszumski wrote: post #103

bad_user wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What apps do you use? I'm an iPhone user, I have a lot of apps on it, I receive a lot of notifications and I get no promotional notifications. I hope the " almost entirely useless " line was hyperbole :)

Lyft is the abuser on my phone. I'm close to removing all notifications for it, but they are kind of an important part of using the product...

Yep this is the biggest annoyance for me too.

Re: Apple now allows iOS developers to send ads using push notifications

#140

Post by MrMember » Fri, Mar 06, 2020, 10:57 PM UTC

therealdrag0 wrote: post #138

MrMember wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was an Audible subscriber for 5+ years until they started sending ads through push notifications with no way to disable them (media controls are done through the notification system on Android so I didn't want to disable them at the OS level). I canceled my subscription and told them why.

I don't remember every having notifications so I went looking. Found them all disabled: https://imgur.com/QKdDIqz

I had all of the notification options disabled in the app and I was still getting them. I even submitted a support request thinking it was maybe a bug but the response I got back was that it wasn't possible to disable the notifications I was getting.