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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

#251

Post by pndy »

ajkjk wrote: post #26

I always relish in uninstalling apps when this happens but I hope they have stats somewhere that show: "oh, we sent this annoying marketing notification and an uninstall happens", and I hope some analyst is finding that pattern in their data and telling people about it. But I have to assume the answer is, 'probably not', given that nothing seems to change.

Well, you can always leave a review of an app if it does pukes such marketing notification, after you uninstall

I tend to sort apps reviews by worst and look what people don't like about - that gives more information than mindless praising and chaffy purchased reviews.

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

#252

Post by bonniemuffin »

gpt5 wrote: post #155
throw1230 wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

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.

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

#253

Post by lmm »

bee_rider wrote: post #235
LadyCailin wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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?"

As my friend says about salary, it's only a negotiation if you're prepared to walk away.

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

#254

Post by JonChesterfield »

bee_rider wrote: post #240
teddyh wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

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.

My bank's android app has more control over my account than any other way of interacting with them, including going into branches and posting forms. That's not strictly a monopoly but I'm on my fifth bank and they've all been similarly rubbish.

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

#255

Post by adrianmonk »

On Android, they tried to improve this by adding notification channels[1] (aka categories). Channels are mandatory, and users can turn each channel on/off in system settings.

The problem is few apps assign meaningful or useful channels. Instead:

(1) Some apps use the dark UI pattern of putting important notifications and junk/spam notifications together in one channel. They use the ones you do want as leverage to make you see the ones you don't want.

(2) With some apps, they just don't make an effort. For example, the JustWatch app has two channels: "Default" and "Miscellaneous". The KAYAK app has two channels; one is called "Offers & promotions", and the other is also called "Offers & promotions".

(3) Defining useful, meaningful channels is actually a bit of a UI challenge. Some apps try but don't divide things up in a useful way. The Meetup app has a ton of channels, including 12 at the top level and 3 for each Meetup group that you're a member of. They made an effort, and it helps some, but it's a bit overwhelming.

---

[1] https://developer.android.com/training/notify-user/channels

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

#257

Post by Angostura »

gpt5 wrote: post #155
throw1230 wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

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

They can ring my doorbell or phone me.

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

#259

Post by version_five »

why-el wrote: post #146
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 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".

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

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

#260

Post by gruez »

novok wrote: post #250
gruez wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's an option on android but not ios.

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

That turns it off for the whole app, not only marketing stuff.
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