Push notification ads on iPhones are coming, but there’s a silver lining

If there’s one place I really, really don’t want to see ads, it’s the push notifications on my phone. 

But that’s exactly what’s happening on iOS. In its updated App Store review guidelines,  Apple has recently enabled app developers to use push notifications for marketing purposes (via 9to5Mac). 

There’s good news in there as well, though. Here’s the entire paragraph from the updated guidelines. 

“Push Notifications must not be required for the app to function, and should not be used to send sensitive personal or confidential information. Push Notifications should not be used for promotions or direct marketing purposes unless customers have explicitly opted in to receive them via consent language displayed in your app’s UI, and you provide a method in your app for a user to opt out from receiving such messages.”

This means you, the user, will not get ads in your push notifications unless you consent to them, and even if you do, you will be able to stop them from appearing. Phew. 

As The Verge pointed out, the change may have something to do with the fact that Apple actually broke its own rules before by sending push notifications which are essentially ads. So now the field is level for all developers, which is a good thing.  

Another notable change in the guidelines includes a stricter review process for dating and fortune-telling apps. And one that I really like is this one: Developers will no longer be able to prompt you to rate their app, which some apps do to the point that I consider it spam. 

Finally, Apple’s “Sign in with Apple” authentication service will have to be implemented by April 30, which is good if you’re aching for a privacy-oriented alternative to signing into various online services. Some apps area already offering Sign in with Apple, but on this date it will become mandatory for every app that allows users to sign in using other single sign-on systems, such as Google and Facebook.