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

busymom0

I am a small developer on iOS and the App Store Search ads are super frustrating. When users search for my exact app name, apple shoves 2 full screen ads on top of the search results. Sometimes, it's 1 search results sandwiched in between 2 ads which makes the user miss it because they scrolled past the ads. Often these ads are entirely unrelated to what user is searching for. And small developers are being discouraged when big companies are spending millions in ads to rank above them. Also, most of the times, the ads are for apps I will never download. I constantly see ads for the Temu app which I will never use. Yet, there's no "don't show this ad again" button.

fedeb95

I have been a long time Android fan because of the tinkering you could do more easily than Apple. Then I started appreciating some of the design decisions behind especially iPhone, and it's been almost 7 years of iPhone usage. Recently I am starting to question some of the design decisions. Most native apps are bloated with functionalities, most of the time useless. Ads pop up everywhere, even before persistence; iCloud and backups are clearly designed to make you pay, the free space is useless. I am not that sure my next phone will be an iPhone. I have tried a recent Mac, and the system isn't intuitive at all. The first time I used GNOME, it was a breeze. Not the same with the MacBook system.

butlike

It's a little disingenuous that I can't toggle notifications for Settings.app off in the Notifications section of Settings.

clcaev

What are the free software alternative phones/tablets and how do we concentrate our support so at least one of them is successful?

tamimio

This is not new, I remember seeing those for the whole year (till potential Apple care promotion expires) when you buy a new phone years ago, and yes, they stay for weeks or longer.

rjh29

That's not a new thing. I bought my first apple product (an iPad) last year and the free trials and nagging to set up iCloud cause the Settings app to have a red dot all of the time.

bm3719

My flip phone is a completely ad-free experience. I would recommend it for just that reason (among many, many other benefits). With no channel for ads in your life, when you step into public spaces, you realize how much of our linguistic and visual spectrums are polluted by ads. The ad is always the same message too: "Buy this!" it screams as loud as it can, often trying to do so over the noise floor of other ads. Remove ads from your life and behold the vistas of thought that open up, those previously drowned out by mindless noise.

hmokiguess

The one I have is also lying to me, it says: "Activate iCloud Storage - An iCloud storage upgrade is ready to be used with your Apple Account "account@icloud.com". Continue" I then click "Continue" and it's an upsell decoy, pay to upgrade. I'm sorry but that message to me reads like I have been granted an upgrade not that I have been blessed with the opportunity to spend my money on more juice. Really disappointed at this one, I like and use Apple, but this is off brand and has a really bad taste.

californical

Yep, after being a huge Apple Maps advocate for years to family and friends, I have quit it completely after I got a pop up introducing new ads. Mostly just using CoMaps now, or Google Maps if I need to look up business hours or get traffic info. If Apple has ads too then I might as well just use Google for that stuff since at least it’s probably more correct…

kqp

Relatedly, Apple finally kicked me off the quick update bandwagon with macOS/iOS 26, and I was surprised to learn that no, Apple does not let you just say no to updates. You get a permanent red badge that you can only dismiss by fully turning off system notifications, you get nagged literally thousands of times, and if any of those times you don’t repeat your rejection quickly enough, it overrides your non-consent and updates. That’s all with updates turned off. HN comment sections had led me to believe that consensual updates are a pro of Apple over Windows and an example of Apple’s class, but they don’t exist, the actual software is everything people lambast Windows for.

AnonC

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 https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/28/jobs-we-dont-wa...

spottedmarley

What are you talking about? Apple users love ads. Dial it up a notch, force users to only watch ads. They'll pay twice as much.

0gs

the quotes around the word ads are pretty infuriating.

herpdyderp

Is this a bigger problem on iOS 27? Should I continue to stay on 18?

karmakurtisaani

It's just ao insane that a company that's sitting on a massive pile of cash and has been wildly profitable for decades still needs to do this. I suppose the valuation requires more growth, and they're out of good ideas.

xutopia

I find it ironic that I am attempting to read an article that says what it says while 80% of the screen is ads and asking me to register to their notifications.

teekert

I went to Apple to de-Google, 5 years in and I just went to GrapheneOS to de-Apple (and re-Google just a bit too much for comfort but ok). The Appstore is a cesspool, and now these "ads". Why does it always happen? I bought Hue Lighting some years ago. It was all lean and nice, and now when open the app I almost always get an ad for some new light they want to sell me. So dirty, so cheap. Is it all just a race to the bottom? I just avoid the app and use Home Assistant now (when there is no button, because I also avoid using my Phone to control the house). I'm on my Linux laptop now, being productive. It's so clean. Really still love it as much as ever, thanx for staying the same, and clean, and respecting me. I forgive you the horrible battery time ;)

colonwqbang

The article then ends by displaying an ad for Apple products.

fzeindl

I really don’t get this. Apple is trying to sell you 2 or 3 addons that are really beneficial and great products that make sense. I don’t need them, I don’t buy them. But I really appreciate there being a button at a place that logically makes sense and that gives you the opportunity to make more out of your device. AFAIK you can click them away. It’s not as if there are intrusive popups or as if they are trying to sell you blackmarket ware.

pixl97

Wow, I've joked twice in the past two days about Apple becoming Microsoft and it's completely true. 1. Can't turn off Siri easily, turns itself back on. 2. Apple search not things it should obviously being able to find, just like Windows search. 3. Ads in the operating system like Windows 10+