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Push notifications are the bane of my existence, and I’m sure many of you feel the same way. Now, Apple will allow app developers to make them even more terrible, by giving them the ability to deliver ads through push notifications. Existence is pain.
The new functionality was first discovered by 9to5Mac and is part of Apple’s updated App Store review guidelines. The Verge also notes that this follows “a couple incidents over the past two years in which Apple bent its own rules by sending out push notifications that read a lot like ads.” One of these incidents included Apple using push notifications to promote Apple Music. Gross.
This update to Apple’s App Store guidelines is not all bad. For one, apps will only push ads, sales, and more if users have “explicitly opted in to receive them.” There also has to be an option for users to opt-out of them.
It’s not all bad, however
While iPhone ads through push notifications seem pretty gross on the surface, there are some situations where the new guidelines will be beneficial for users. Now, under the new rules, iPhone apps can notify users of sales and coupons. Granted, this could easily be abused by apps, but they run the risk of having all their ad-like notifications blocked by the user if they do that.
Surely, some app developers will find ways to abuse these new rules, but as long as users have a way to easily block them, it should keep things from getting out of hand.
What do you think? Are you ok with this update to how apps can push notifications on the iPhone? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.
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