3 ms·

Behavior like this is why my Galaxy S4 was my first and last Samsung phone. They had a pre-installed "Beaming Service" that couldn't be disabled that would ran

Behavior like this is why my Galaxy S4 was my first and last Samsung phone. They had a pre-installed "Beaming Service" that couldn't be disabled that would randomly show notification ads for unrelated software... at 3am waking me up on a work night. "Oh but Samsung has gotten so much better now"... Yeah, not going down that route again. I don't understand how a company like HTC or Samsung would think something like this was OK and not permanently lose them a paying customer.

ctdonath 11y ago
Years ago Belkin sold a router that would randomly replace web page requests with ads. I still won't buy so much as a cable from them - and I didn't have one of those routers either; bad publicity lingers. Now I'll add Samsung to the list. ETA: And HTC. And Microsoft. (But given I'm an Apple guy, them's easy choices at this point. Belkin wasn't quite so easy.)
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
RKearney 11y ago
> randomly show notification ads for unrelated software... at 3am waking me up on a work night. Sort of unrelated, but this reminded me of a time way back when. Back when AOL Instant Messenger was still widely used. I was awoken by a buzzing sound. I had 5.1 surround sound speakers at the time on my PC and this buzzing was going all over my room. Being 2-4AM on a school night, I'm tiredly trying to figure out what in the world is making this noise. Took me a bit, but I powered up my CRT monitor to find a "swat the fly with this flyswatter and win!" advertisement inside of AIM. It was from that point on that I made a conscious effort to eradicate all advertisements from any applications I use.
- pavel_lishin 11y ago
  I remember that. I think that was the same day I switched to Trillian and never looked back.
- freehunter 11y ago
  I did the same thing for a similar reason. For years now I've refused to use any ad-supported software that I didn't absolutely have to use. I pay money for whatever I use, but unfortunately sometimes the companies I pay still put ads into their product. I was a subscriber to the NYT online for far longer than I should have been, paying $15/mo to still see ads on their site and app. I paid for Hulu Plus for one month and canceled when I realized even when you pay you still see ads. "We only have good/relevant ads!" I don't care. I might trust you, but I still don't want to see your ads. Let me pay you to get rid of them. If you don't do that, I'll use an ad blocker. "But that's stealing content!" No it's not. You gave it to me whether I saw the ad or not. In the US, where I live, dollars are legal tender for any debt public or private. If I owe you a debt, either accept cash or block me. If I go to a free concert sponsored by Bud Light, you can't force me to drink your beer.
dublinben 11y ago
In most cases, you are not the customer of Samsung or HTC. They sell most of their phones to mobile carriers. It's these mobile carriers who are partially responsible for behavior like this, including crapware, and disabling tethering. When you buy a developer device, or another device directly from the manufacturer, this kind of thing doesn't happen.
- JohnTHaller 11y ago
  That's why I've got a Nexus 6 now.
- cillian64 11y ago
  This would be true if the ads came from something carrier-installed, but this ad was pushed by HTC Sense. This is HTC's fault, not the carriers.
jonlucc 11y ago
I think the majority of users have no idea that they can avoid those issues by switching phones. Also, it is probably rare enough that it doesn't come up at the end of their 2-year contract (or 5 years of having the same phone, if you're my parents).
nailer 11y ago
The Galaxy S3 had an unremovable Pizza Hut bookmark in the UK. Seriously.
wvenable 11y ago
This is why we need to have the ability and legal right to root and modify our hardware. My rooted Galaxy tablet has more software disabled then running on it. It's fantastic hardware and even some of Samsung UI customizations aren't terrible but the amount of useless software installed is incredible.
jgrowl 11y ago
I bought an S4 from a friend after I broke my nexus. I ended up ditching it within a month because it was loaded with so much crap. I also will never buy a samsung phone again because of this.
kej 11y ago
>I don't understand how a company like HTC or Samsung would think something like this was OK and not permanently lose them a paying customer. There's an old joke about two people in the forest who encounter a bear. One of them starts changing his hiking boots for running shoes, and the other asks "What are you doing? Even with those shoes, you'll never outrun a bear!" to which the first responds "I don't have to outrun the bear, I only have to outrun you." Likewise, HTC doesn't have to avoid permanently losing any customers, they just have to avoid losing more in customer sales than they make in advertisements.

ctdonath 11y ago

Years ago Belkin sold a router that would randomly replace web page requests with ads. I still won't buy so much as a cable from them - and I didn't have one of those routers either; bad publicity lingers. Now I'll add Samsung to the list. ETA: And HTC. And Microsoft. (But given I'm an Apple guy, them's easy choices at this point. Belkin wasn't quite so easy.)

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

RKearney 11y ago

> randomly show notification ads for unrelated software... at 3am waking me up on a work night. Sort of unrelated, but this reminded me of a time way back when. Back when AOL Instant Messenger was still widely used. I was awoken by a buzzing sound. I had 5.1 surround sound speakers at the time on my PC and this buzzing was going all over my room. Being 2-4AM on a school night, I'm tiredly trying to figure out what in the world is making this noise. Took me a bit, but I powered up my CRT monitor to find a "swat the fly with this flyswatter and win!" advertisement inside of AIM. It was from that point on that I made a conscious effort to eradicate all advertisements from any applications I use.

pavel_lishin 11y ago
I remember that. I think that was the same day I switched to Trillian and never looked back.
freehunter 11y ago
I did the same thing for a similar reason. For years now I've refused to use any ad-supported software that I didn't absolutely have to use. I pay money for whatever I use, but unfortunately sometimes the companies I pay still put ads into their product. I was a subscriber to the NYT online for far longer than I should have been, paying $15/mo to still see ads on their site and app. I paid for Hulu Plus for one month and canceled when I realized even when you pay you still see ads. "We only have good/relevant ads!" I don't care. I might trust you, but I still don't want to see your ads. Let me pay you to get rid of them. If you don't do that, I'll use an ad blocker. "But that's stealing content!" No it's not. You gave it to me whether I saw the ad or not. In the US, where I live, dollars are legal tender for any debt public or private. If I owe you a debt, either accept cash or block me. If I go to a free concert sponsored by Bud Light, you can't force me to drink your beer.

dublinben 11y ago

In most cases, you are not the customer of Samsung or HTC. They sell most of their phones to mobile carriers. It's these mobile carriers who are partially responsible for behavior like this, including crapware, and disabling tethering. When you buy a developer device, or another device directly from the manufacturer, this kind of thing doesn't happen.

JohnTHaller 11y ago
That's why I've got a Nexus 6 now.
cillian64 11y ago
This would be true if the ads came from something carrier-installed, but this ad was pushed by HTC Sense. This is HTC's fault, not the carriers.

jonlucc 11y ago

I think the majority of users have no idea that they can avoid those issues by switching phones. Also, it is probably rare enough that it doesn't come up at the end of their 2-year contract (or 5 years of having the same phone, if you're my parents).

nailer 11y ago

The Galaxy S3 had an unremovable Pizza Hut bookmark in the UK. Seriously.

wvenable 11y ago

This is why we need to have the ability and legal right to root and modify our hardware. My rooted Galaxy tablet has more software disabled then running on it. It's fantastic hardware and even some of Samsung UI customizations aren't terrible but the amount of useless software installed is incredible.

jgrowl 11y ago

I bought an S4 from a friend after I broke my nexus. I ended up ditching it within a month because it was loaded with so much crap. I also will never buy a samsung phone again because of this.

kej 11y ago

>I don't understand how a company like HTC or Samsung would think something like this was OK and not permanently lose them a paying customer. There's an old joke about two people in the forest who encounter a bear. One of them starts changing his hiking boots for running shoes, and the other asks "What are you doing? Even with those shoes, you'll never outrun a bear!" to which the first responds "I don't have to outrun the bear, I only have to outrun you." Likewise, HTC doesn't have to avoid permanently losing any customers, they just have to avoid losing more in customer sales than they make in advertisements.