Thread

Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy

822 points · 601 comments · MC995

AnonC · 1790088825 · focus · HN ↗
I doubt John Ternus will change direction anytime soon, since it will look like he’s reversing the plethora of eyesore ads that Tim Cook added over his tenure.
But the Apple with ads is not the Apple that had some taste and discernment in the past. For a long time I’ve visited the App Store’s app update page directly (tap and hold on App Store icon to see the context menu option). Anytime I inadvertently go to the App Store home page or the few times I search, it’s an ad filled disaster!
From this article
> repeatedly attempting to prod customers towards even more of the company’s products might seem cheap, even distasteful.
From a recent post by John Gruber:
> Steve Jobs in 2011: 'We Build Products That We Want for Ourselves, Too, and We Just Don't Want Ads' [1]
Looks like Tim Cook, John Ternus and Eddy Cue really enjoy being swamped with ads in their products. Will there soon be a time when Apple executives start carrying some other brand’s devices with them to avoid having a rotten experience?
[1]: We don’t want ads <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/28/jobs-we-dont-want-ads" rel="nofollow">https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/28/jobs-we-dont-wa...
1. rapind · 1790089281 · focus · HN ↗
  Imagine spending $2k on a phone only to be presented with ads. Quick way to lose your luxury and loyal customers IMO.
  On the flip side, imagine having another product made for people who can afford $2k phones... Well you'd probably pay a lot to advertise to that market.
  I think trying to balance between these 2 is going to be tough, and your luxury market could evaporate if a significant competitor came along. And by competitor, we're probably just talking about AI in your pocket or on your face that replaces the traditional phone interface. I also think it's a real slippery slope to short term profits once you start taking ad revenue.
  1. cousinbryce · 1790089721 · focus · HN ↗
    Where would the luxury market go? Asking for a friend
    rapind · 1790090404 · focus · HN ↗
    In general, no where yet. I do think the smart phone interface (iOS) could become at least somewhat obsolete soon. As we move more towards a primarily inference interface it will open up the field to more competitors (less moat). That's just my opinion though. Be interesting, as usual, to see what comes out of China in the next few years.
    [deleted] · 1790090814 · focus · HN ↗
    [deleted]
    Cider9986 · 1790092059 · focus · HN ↗
    GrapheneOS with FOSS apps is a premium experience but not where non - technical users will go currently because of the setup. Once setup it's very premium.
    Motorola really seems to be going for a luxury look [1] and there will be Motorola devices with GrapheneOS installed out of the box.
    [1] <a href="https://nitter.miningtcup.me/Moto/status/2102040650606891119#m" rel="nofollow">https://nitter.miningtcup.me/Moto/status/2102040650606891119...
    <a href="https://nitter.miningtcup.me/Moto/status/2100933254249627806#m" rel="nofollow">https://nitter.miningtcup.me/Moto/status/2100933254249627806...
    Pantone and some sound partnership.
    readthenotes1 · 1790093419 · focus · HN ↗
    Just about everybody with money uses contactless payment and it doesn't look like that works with graphene so I'm not sure I would call it premium except for privacy.
    Likewise, no Android Auto
    Cider9986 · 1790093601 · focus · HN ↗
    [delayed]
    klardotsh · 1790093895 · focus · HN ↗
    Funny enough, the only part of Apple Pay I use with any frequency is the browser/app integration part, basically as a much more convenient alternative to PayPal sometimes.
    IRL I do use it on occasion but everything I use it for, I could just fall back to the contactless chips in my physical plastic CCs - just like I did for all those years on a deGoogled Android phone with no Google Wallet support. The unique value add of Apple Pay in the physical world is nearly zero to me, other than acting as a market force that made US point of sale systems finally catch up to Canada years late and offer tap to pay.
    4chandaily · 1790095340 · focus · HN ↗
    No android auto? What are you basing this on? I ask because I am responding from grapheneos while connected to android auto, and I am concerned I am in the wrong universe again.
    readthenotes1 · 1790205095 · focus · HN ↗
    I guess I shouldn't believe what I read. I and when certainly wouldn't buy phone that doesn't do Android auto... Glad to hear it works!
    4chandaily · 1790254823 · focus · HN ↗
    It does. You do have to install it (GrapheneOS provides a Play Store Sandbox to install google apps to) intentionally, it is not installed by default. Perhaps that tripped up the author of the misinformation you came across?
    In any case, it is a fantastic OS with many of the annoyances of Android removed. (Scoped file permissions are fantastic, for example) If you are on the fence, I'd suggest giving it a shot. Replacing a phone OS might seem scary, but it is really pretty similar to use.
    drnick1 · 1790095495 · focus · HN ↗
    > Just about everybody with money uses contactless payment
    Cash is much better for privacy. The government, banking system, and countless intermediaries should not know how I spend my money.
    So the lack of contactless payment on GrapheneOS may be inconvenient, but is it consistent with a privacy stance.
    Cider9986 · 1790096699 · focus · HN ↗
    [delayed]
    al_borland · 1790095460 · focus · HN ↗
    From what I've seen of GrapheneOS, it's not a luxury product, it's a product for tinkerers, who don't mind finicky granular configs. If I'm paying a premium, I expect sensible, privacy respecting, defaults that I can use out of the box. Not constant fumbles until everything is "setup".
    Cider9986 · 1790096802 · focus · HN ↗
    [delayed]
    microtonal · 1790102288 · focus · HN ↗
    I think you have a wrong idea about GrapheneOS. You install the sandboxed Play Store/Services through their app store and then it's pretty much the same as any other Android phone. Except that it doesn't get in your face with preinstalled crap (Google, Apple, or Samsung). On the GrapheneOS forums there are a lot of non-technical people that install GrapheneOS and don't have many issues. The primary annoyance is Google's abuse of their monopoly with Play Integrity.
    I would say it often feels more like a luxury product than an iPhone or Google-certified Android phone because it's not full of cheesy stuff.
    armadyl · 1790095960 · focus · HN ↗
    As someone who has daily driven both side by side as much as I love GOS, AOSP / Android absolutely does not feel premium compared to iOS. Both the UI and UX are rough compared to the polish of iOS. And the FOSS apps on Android are extremely subpar in terms of feel compared to iOS (off the top of my head look at how bad the Fossify Contacts app is compared to Google Contacts) but that’s the trade-off.
    I also don’t think there will be Motorola devices with GOS out of the box, they’re just meeting the requirements to be able install it.
    Cider9986 · 1790096883 · focus · HN ↗
    [delayed]
    armadyl · 1790097397 · focus · HN ↗
    Oh damn nice. Guess we’ll also see later today too since the Signature should be revealed at the snapdragon summit
    Cider9986 · 1790125578 · focus · HN ↗
    [delayed]
    cyberax · 1790097345 · focus · HN ↗
    iOS? "Polish"?
    Even AOSP is head-and-shoulders better than iOS.
    armadyl · 1790097444 · focus · HN ↗
    It is subjective, to me AOSP just feels extremely rough and undercooked in a lot of places
    cyberax · 1790101622 · focus · HN ↗
    Try disabling animations in AOSP and see how it feels. You won't be able to go to the painfully slow iOS afterwards.
    Melatonic · 1790117287 · focus · HN ↗
    Seriously - first thing I do in any Android device in developer options
    cyberax · 1790122303 · focus · HN ↗
    You don't even need developer settings for that, there's an official option in the accessibility settings.
    duskdozer · 1790158015 · focus · HN ↗
    When I see "polish" they're usually referring to the opposite of things like this. They seem to like sluggish UI as long as it's "smooth" (not "fast") and has flashy animations.
    microtonal · 1790102682 · focus · HN ↗
    Both the UI and UX are rough compared to the polish of iOS.
    Sorry, but no.
    I also have an iPhone for $REASONS. Both my prior iPhone Air and my new iPhone 18 Pro still frequently stutters. Even scrolling some settings screens (which are very simple), I can often see frames getting dropped. Apple apps like the App Store are one huge frame-dropfest (even if you let it preload all assets).
    My P10P with GrapheneOS, which only has a midrange SoC by modern standards (don't believe what Google tells you) and it is buttery smooth.
    iOS got even more terrible with Liquid Glass, so many things are badly readable, even with the slider set to completely opaque in iOS 27.
    iOS used to be premium compared to Android. But Apple enshittified iOS over the last few years. Even most Apple pundits agree.

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