5 ms·

They probably think that the section in the iCloud subscription settings about what the product costs and what it provides is "settings ads".

busymom0 5y ago
The iPhone shows “Apple arcade for free for 3 months” ad at the very top of the settings home page. Not iCloud. Here’s how it looks: https://i.imgur.com/64sP9yh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/64sP9yh.jpg
- oneplane 5y ago
  Never had that one, but from the docs you apparently can select it, say you do not want the free thing and it will never come back and also not be replaced with an ad for unrelated products. Edit: until you apparently log in on a new device and if it is new enough you get the same offer.
  - rekoil 5y ago
    > if it is new enough you get the same offer Still only once per account though. If you have a family setup it's actually only once per family even, I'd imagine it reverts back to once per account if you leave the family. So basically, if you don't like seeing it, activate it and then immediately cancel it, and it should never come back.
    - oneplane 5y ago
      Interesting, I haven't checked with the rest of the family, but would that also mean that the trial is family-scoped so that you can't all trial it individually?
      - rekoil 5y ago
        Indeed, because it applies to the family.
- rekoil 5y ago
  It's a very Apples to Oranges comparison to be honest. Settings is an app that you don't really need to open that much to begin with, and the "ads" they show are more like promotions that you can use only once on your account. It's a bait for sure, but it's at least a bit beneficial to users if they are ever interested in trying that service. Explorer is something Windows users interact with constantly, putting ads right next to the actual content view is SO different to ads in settings, at least to me. As others have mentioned this isn't the only ad Apple has tinkered with recently, I don't think they should be off the hook by any means, I just think Microsoft have been way more dubious recently.
  - stjohnswarts 5y ago
    Why can't the OS just be an OS though without ads anywhere? Clearly if you install firefox you want to use firefox, otherwise you'd switch back to safari.
    - oneplane 5y ago
      Because ads is the only way to make constant money from consumers if you don't sell hardware with the OS. That said, not all notifications are ads. Sometimes, a notification is just a well-intentioned notification that only a small portion of users take offence to. I bet that if they made a "Safari Rewards Points" program that would annoy the hell out of everyone.
- FearlessNebula 5y ago
  If you dismiss that it’ll never come back again. This goes for all their music, tv, etc. services. And this also goes for features like Siri and Apple Pay, if you opt out there’ll be a reminder in settings and if you decline it’ll never come back.
karaterobot 5y ago
MacOS shows me a notification when I'm running Firefox which says Try the new Safari Fast, energy-efficient, and with a beautiful new design That's an advertisement, right?
- oneplane 5y ago
  Is it? It's a nudge at best, which you can probably taxonomize as "advertising" but its for a thing you already have and users genuinely might not have noticed. Now, they had a different notification in the past for MobileMe that was truly an ad because you didn't have to be an existing customer for an upsell nor did it come with the OS by default (this was after iTools got rebranded by Apple), and it just wanted you to go to their website to look at the product and maybe buy it, download it and install it. (this was mostly the pre-iCloud-Drive backup solution that was itself a holdover from iTools) I think technically anything that points you to a place where money could be made is an advertisement, and even advertising mDNS devices on a local network is doing the "hey you, there is a thing over here"-thing. But there is a big difference between creating a universal spot in software to load arbitrary advertisements for new products vs. in-product purchase options (which obviously tend to lean more into the upsell category of ads than the nudge for mindshare category of ads). The whole 'try safari' thing is one I do actually see on new accounts, and sometimes on first startup with browsers, but IIRC once dismissed they don't come back again. Heck, it even is less persistent than the post-install highlights notification you got from major OS upgrades. Perhaps the Browser-notification is best compared with Microsoft's OneDrive notification in the Security settings where they suggest that using a free OneDrive account is the "One True Way" to stop ransomware.
  - karaterobot 5y ago
    I think the fact that you already have the app installed is not a mitigating factor, it actually makes it worse: I can't uninstall Safari. They put it on my computer, I chose not to use it, and now they're specifically targeting other applications they want me to switch away from. It's not only a new installation issue either; I've had this laptop for 7-8 months. It's only happened 4-5 times, and I assumed (without verifying) that I get it whenever Safari has updated. For what it's worth, I have turned off notifications from Safari; this is the OS itself saying "I see you're using another browser; have you thought about using ours instead?"

busymom0 5y ago

The iPhone shows “Apple arcade for free for 3 months” ad at the very top of the settings home page. Not iCloud. Here’s how it looks: https://i.imgur.com/64sP9yh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/64sP9yh.jpg

oneplane 5y ago
Never had that one, but from the docs you apparently can select it, say you do not want the free thing and it will never come back and also not be replaced with an ad for unrelated products. Edit: until you apparently log in on a new device and if it is new enough you get the same offer.
- rekoil 5y ago
  > if it is new enough you get the same offer Still only once per account though. If you have a family setup it's actually only once per family even, I'd imagine it reverts back to once per account if you leave the family. So basically, if you don't like seeing it, activate it and then immediately cancel it, and it should never come back.
  - oneplane 5y ago
    Interesting, I haven't checked with the rest of the family, but would that also mean that the trial is family-scoped so that you can't all trial it individually?
    - rekoil 5y ago
      Indeed, because it applies to the family.
rekoil 5y ago
It's a very Apples to Oranges comparison to be honest. Settings is an app that you don't really need to open that much to begin with, and the "ads" they show are more like promotions that you can use only once on your account. It's a bait for sure, but it's at least a bit beneficial to users if they are ever interested in trying that service. Explorer is something Windows users interact with constantly, putting ads right next to the actual content view is SO different to ads in settings, at least to me. As others have mentioned this isn't the only ad Apple has tinkered with recently, I don't think they should be off the hook by any means, I just think Microsoft have been way more dubious recently.
- stjohnswarts 5y ago
  Why can't the OS just be an OS though without ads anywhere? Clearly if you install firefox you want to use firefox, otherwise you'd switch back to safari.
  - oneplane 5y ago
    Because ads is the only way to make constant money from consumers if you don't sell hardware with the OS. That said, not all notifications are ads. Sometimes, a notification is just a well-intentioned notification that only a small portion of users take offence to. I bet that if they made a "Safari Rewards Points" program that would annoy the hell out of everyone.
FearlessNebula 5y ago
If you dismiss that it’ll never come back again. This goes for all their music, tv, etc. services. And this also goes for features like Siri and Apple Pay, if you opt out there’ll be a reminder in settings and if you decline it’ll never come back.

karaterobot 5y ago

MacOS shows me a notification when I'm running Firefox which says Try the new Safari Fast, energy-efficient, and with a beautiful new design That's an advertisement, right?

oneplane 5y ago
Is it? It's a nudge at best, which you can probably taxonomize as "advertising" but its for a thing you already have and users genuinely might not have noticed. Now, they had a different notification in the past for MobileMe that was truly an ad because you didn't have to be an existing customer for an upsell nor did it come with the OS by default (this was after iTools got rebranded by Apple), and it just wanted you to go to their website to look at the product and maybe buy it, download it and install it. (this was mostly the pre-iCloud-Drive backup solution that was itself a holdover from iTools) I think technically anything that points you to a place where money could be made is an advertisement, and even advertising mDNS devices on a local network is doing the "hey you, there is a thing over here"-thing. But there is a big difference between creating a universal spot in software to load arbitrary advertisements for new products vs. in-product purchase options (which obviously tend to lean more into the upsell category of ads than the nudge for mindshare category of ads). The whole 'try safari' thing is one I do actually see on new accounts, and sometimes on first startup with browsers, but IIRC once dismissed they don't come back again. Heck, it even is less persistent than the post-install highlights notification you got from major OS upgrades. Perhaps the Browser-notification is best compared with Microsoft's OneDrive notification in the Security settings where they suggest that using a free OneDrive account is the "One True Way" to stop ransomware.
- karaterobot 5y ago
  I think the fact that you already have the app installed is not a mitigating factor, it actually makes it worse: I can't uninstall Safari. They put it on my computer, I chose not to use it, and now they're specifically targeting other applications they want me to switch away from. It's not only a new installation issue either; I've had this laptop for 7-8 months. It's only happened 4-5 times, and I assumed (without verifying) that I get it whenever Safari has updated. For what it's worth, I have turned off notifications from Safari; this is the OS itself saying "I see you're using another browser; have you thought about using ours instead?"