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My feature request for iOS: Allow me to disable notifications from an app unless I have opened it within the last X hours. I’d set it to a couple hours. My fo

My feature request for iOS: Allow me to disable notifications from an app unless I have opened it within the last X hours. I’d set it to a couple hours. My food apps could then tell me the order is ready, but can’t spam me with “Special Offers For You” days later. Maybe I can do this with an automation?

ubermonkey 3y ago
I'd LOVE this. I also want something else that I wonder if I could dummy up myself. I want to change certain phone behaviors based on whether or not a given Bluetooth device is connected. My use case is "when I'm on my motorcycle, connected to headset audio, I want (a) the phone to read me texts and (b) to turn on navigation audio." I do not want either of these things UNLESS I'm on the motorcycle with the Cardo turned on.
- acosmism 3y ago
  it might be possible to get this together using apple's "shortcuts" app
  - ubermonkey 3y ago
    No hooks for what I want there, sadly.
piva00 3y ago
Seconding that I'd love this. At the same time, has App Store's guidelines/rules changed to allow spammy ads notifications? It used to be 100% disallowed and I worked for a company that got an app denied because of it until changed, nowadays it seems to just be completely common. I fucking hate it.
- Tepix 3y ago
  I think there should be a spam complaint button for notifications. I used to have the "KaufDa" app on my smartphone but they would send me spam notifications in addition the useful ones and when contacting support they would feign ignorance.
- MaxikCZ 3y ago
  Whats the problem of simply uninstalling the app once it does that?
  - daveoc64 3y ago
    Some apps provide genuinely useful notifications (like shipping updates), but also send spammy notifications that are just ads.
  - cirrus3 3y ago
    Because then you'd have no apps left for food delivery or rides, to name a few categories.
  - drewg123 3y ago
    I used to uninstall food delivery apps when not using them, but found that just killing their ability to notify me was equally effective without the hassle of re-signing in every time I needed to use them.
- yreg 3y ago
  Yeah, Apple should properly write/enforce App Store rules on this. Make marketing notification a separate permission if necessary and be strict about it. After all, topics like this are why we succumb to their curation and App Store monopoly instead of using more open devices.
  - cqqxo4zV46cp 3y ago
    Apple with its current incentives will never do this. I’m sure they know quite well which % of their services revenue comes from enticing push notifications from casino games. But with all that said, don’t kid yourself with any thoughts that the “we” in your sentence refers to anything more than a practically immaterially small contingent of nerds. Poll 100 people off the street and for the vast majority of them, a more “open” mobile platform is—at best—some nebulous advantage of owning an Android phone that some dweeby family member ranted to them about. In reality, they are reality not directly making use of any of that “openness”, instead just using a worse, malware-infested iPhone alternative.
    - basch 3y ago
      An ad for the product itself is very different than an app sending a third party app as a notification. They absolutely need to enforce the latter as not ok.
    - yreg 3y ago
      Making marketing notifications a separate permission doesn't really nerf the casino games much. And I believe the "we" refers to far more people than you describe. It's ultimately a question of UX.
  - latexr 3y ago
    They had rules for this. But apps like Uber never followed them and Apple never enforced it. Then Apple itself started doing it. Then they revised the rule to allow it.
- thebestmoshe 3y ago
  This guideline has been revised in 2020. > Apple updated its App Store guidelines today with a change to its traditionally strict restrictions around push notifications. Apple has long banned apps from using notifications for “advertising, promotions, or direct marketing purposes,” but that changes today. Apps can now send marketing notifications when “customers have explicitly opted in to receive them.” Users must also be able to opt out of receiving the ads. > The change 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. Since other companies’ apps could be banned or have their push notification privileges revoked for that behavior, the moves were criticized as another example of Apple getting away with special treatment because it controls the platform. https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/4/21165087/ios-apple-push-notification-advertising-marketing-now-allowed-app-store https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/4/21165087/ios-apple-push-no...
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    And yet, I’m constantly getting advertisements from Uber and Instacart
    - ephemeral-life 3y ago
      I bet Uber and instacart have proof of you 'explicitly' opting in /s. The world we live in is such a joke.
  - basch 3y ago
    Did they change it back? Reading the guidelines themselves... 2.5.16 Widgets, extensions, and notifications should be related to the content and functionality of your app. 2.5.18 Display advertising should be limited to your main app binary, and should not be included in extensions, App Clips, widgets, notifications, keyboards, watchOS apps, etc.
- basch 3y ago
  I just got an AD (one with four proper nouns I didn't recognize, an offer to win a $15 reward, and free movies for a year, all in one sentence!) as a notification from Sports Engine, the app (owned by NBC!) you use to check your kids sports schedule. This is an app the association pays to use.
fennecfoxy 3y ago
Or just fix the root problem so that the notification is just a notification and not a way to harvest data, I guess.

ubermonkey 3y ago

I'd LOVE this. I also want something else that I wonder if I could dummy up myself. I want to change certain phone behaviors based on whether or not a given Bluetooth device is connected. My use case is "when I'm on my motorcycle, connected to headset audio, I want (a) the phone to read me texts and (b) to turn on navigation audio." I do not want either of these things UNLESS I'm on the motorcycle with the Cardo turned on.

acosmism 3y ago
it might be possible to get this together using apple's "shortcuts" app
- ubermonkey 3y ago
  No hooks for what I want there, sadly.

piva00 3y ago

Seconding that I'd love this. At the same time, has App Store's guidelines/rules changed to allow spammy ads notifications? It used to be 100% disallowed and I worked for a company that got an app denied because of it until changed, nowadays it seems to just be completely common. I fucking hate it.

Tepix 3y ago
I think there should be a spam complaint button for notifications. I used to have the "KaufDa" app on my smartphone but they would send me spam notifications in addition the useful ones and when contacting support they would feign ignorance.
MaxikCZ 3y ago
Whats the problem of simply uninstalling the app once it does that?
- daveoc64 3y ago
  Some apps provide genuinely useful notifications (like shipping updates), but also send spammy notifications that are just ads.
- cirrus3 3y ago
  Because then you'd have no apps left for food delivery or rides, to name a few categories.
- drewg123 3y ago
  I used to uninstall food delivery apps when not using them, but found that just killing their ability to notify me was equally effective without the hassle of re-signing in every time I needed to use them.
yreg 3y ago
Yeah, Apple should properly write/enforce App Store rules on this. Make marketing notification a separate permission if necessary and be strict about it. After all, topics like this are why we succumb to their curation and App Store monopoly instead of using more open devices.
- cqqxo4zV46cp 3y ago
  Apple with its current incentives will never do this. I’m sure they know quite well which % of their services revenue comes from enticing push notifications from casino games. But with all that said, don’t kid yourself with any thoughts that the “we” in your sentence refers to anything more than a practically immaterially small contingent of nerds. Poll 100 people off the street and for the vast majority of them, a more “open” mobile platform is—at best—some nebulous advantage of owning an Android phone that some dweeby family member ranted to them about. In reality, they are reality not directly making use of any of that “openness”, instead just using a worse, malware-infested iPhone alternative.
  - basch 3y ago
    An ad for the product itself is very different than an app sending a third party app as a notification. They absolutely need to enforce the latter as not ok.
  - yreg 3y ago
    Making marketing notifications a separate permission doesn't really nerf the casino games much. And I believe the "we" refers to far more people than you describe. It's ultimately a question of UX.
- latexr 3y ago
  They had rules for this. But apps like Uber never followed them and Apple never enforced it. Then Apple itself started doing it. Then they revised the rule to allow it.
thebestmoshe 3y ago
This guideline has been revised in 2020. > Apple updated its App Store guidelines today with a change to its traditionally strict restrictions around push notifications. Apple has long banned apps from using notifications for “advertising, promotions, or direct marketing purposes,” but that changes today. Apps can now send marketing notifications when “customers have explicitly opted in to receive them.” Users must also be able to opt out of receiving the ads. > The change 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. Since other companies’ apps could be banned or have their push notification privileges revoked for that behavior, the moves were criticized as another example of Apple getting away with special treatment because it controls the platform. https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/4/21165087/ios-apple-push-notification-advertising-marketing-now-allowed-app-store https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/4/21165087/ios-apple-push-no...
- scarface_74 3y ago
  And yet, I’m constantly getting advertisements from Uber and Instacart
  - ephemeral-life 3y ago
    I bet Uber and instacart have proof of you 'explicitly' opting in /s. The world we live in is such a joke.
- basch 3y ago
  Did they change it back? Reading the guidelines themselves... 2.5.16 Widgets, extensions, and notifications should be related to the content and functionality of your app. 2.5.18 Display advertising should be limited to your main app binary, and should not be included in extensions, App Clips, widgets, notifications, keyboards, watchOS apps, etc.
basch 3y ago
I just got an AD (one with four proper nouns I didn't recognize, an offer to win a $15 reward, and free movies for a year, all in one sentence!) as a notification from Sports Engine, the app (owned by NBC!) you use to check your kids sports schedule. This is an app the association pays to use.

fennecfoxy 3y ago

Or just fix the root problem so that the notification is just a notification and not a way to harvest data, I guess.