
How to Stop Advertising Notifications from the Google Photo App - sink
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/photos/qwJMmOiAvZY;context-place=forum/photos
======
dingo_bat
> The reason why I bought a Pixel from Google directly is because I do not
> like the adware and bloatware that comes pre-installed on phones from other
> carriers.

Bloatware mandated by google on all android phones:

1\. Google+

2\. Google Duo

3\. Google hangout

4\. Gmail

5\. Google play music

6\. Google play games

7\. Google play movies

8\. Google play newsstand

9\. Google drive

10\. Google sheets

11\. Google chrome

12\. Google maps

13\. Google assistant

14\. Google app

15\. Google photos

16\. Youtube

Seems like the author made a decision diametrically opposite to his desire. I
literally use 4 of these 16 pre-installed apps. Keep in mind that these are
non-removable too. You can disable them, but they will forever sit in the
flash storage you paid for.

~~~
daxfohl
It's surreal to me that Microsoft faced years of legal repercussions worldwide
for including a browser in their OS.

~~~
LeoPanthera
Microsoft had a monopoly. Google does not.

~~~
JetSpiegel
So both Apple and Google control the market, and each uses the "not a
monopoly" excuse because of the other company.

There's no practical difference.

~~~
tehwebguy
Many (or most?) bundled iOS apps can be removed [https://support.apple.com/en-
au/HT204221](https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT204221)

~~~
Nullabillity
> Removing built-in iOS apps doesn't free up storage space on your device.

So it does the same as disabling them on Android.

~~~
lumisota
The linked article was for iOS 10. iOS 11 deletes the apps properly:
[https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208094](https://support.apple.com/en-
us/HT208094)

------
ironjunkie
Why does it feel like every choice for a phone is a losing choice nowadays:

\- "Pure" Android from Google (Pixels and co): You end up being controlled by
Google and enclosed in their ecosystem. They manage and decide the ToS for
everything and you have very little say about it (as this issue proves).

\- "Modified" Android from other manufacturers: Full of bloatwares and
basically unusable after 6 months

\- iPhone: Closed source and managed by Apple. Not a lot of technical options
to customize if you don't like the default behavior (An issue I have with
every Apple product).

For a non technical person, as a comment said above the iPhone is the best
ethical solution. You get what you pay for and there are no shenanigans.

As a technical user however, I feel it is kind of sad to own an iPhone as I
like to go deep and being able to modify a lot of settings and behaviors. I
simply don't like the overly opinionated way iOS or MacOS handles the user
(Which again would be fine for 99% of normal users).

~~~
ryukafalz
For a technical person, you have another choice: LineageOS (optionally with
microG, which is what I use). It's nearly-stock Android without the Google
apps, and with a few extra features. (Privacy Guard is very nice.)

microG lets you use apps that depend on Play Services without actually having
Play Services - it's not complete but most of the common APIs are there.

There are other ROMs, but LineageOS (formerly CyanogenMod) is the only one I
personally have experience with.

~~~
benjaminjackman
Just curious how is performance and how old is the phone you are using with
it? My biggest issue with android phones, even the google flagship ones is
they just fall apart after 18 months both physically and with software
overwhelming them to the point of extreme lags in every interaction with the
device. Does the same dividend exist here as on desktop where it’s pretty
expected to be able to run a 10 year old pc by running Linux on it without
much issue?

~~~
coward83847
I personally use Lineage on a Samsung Galaxy S5 and love it. It's far better
than the stock roms. It offers access to newer OS versions (currently Nougat)
and quicker access to security patches. Better battery life, a cleaner less
bloated experience, and options for tweaking settings to your liking. There
are some downsides though. Mainly reduced camera performance.

------
lobster_johnson
There are so many apps that abuse notifications. I often find that I have to
turn a new app's notifications off after installing it.

For example, the Kindle app (on iOS) keeps bugging me about random things that
are basically ads for Kindle. The Etsy app does the same. I recently installed
the AliExpress app, and it started sending me notifications daily about deals
("Still looking for wigs? Look what we found, just for you!" \-- just because
I was entertaining myself the other day by browsing through all the crazy crap
that AliExpress sells, it now thinks I want a wig).

Apple (and Google, presumably) really should penalize app creators for abusing
notifications.

~~~
paulie_a
I find myself clicking terribly targeted ads just to screw the metrics and
waste the advertiser's money.

Targeted ads are a joke in 2017.

Notification abuse is honestly worse. It is mostly stupid notifications that
were clearly not written by someone with any advertising experience.

~~~
SomeStupidPoint
Targeted ads are basically homeopathic medicine in a different market:

They take a small group of people with money who don't care about the shit you
sell and honestly resent seeing your beef jerky ad when trying to buy a couch,
dilute it with a bunch of people who once Googled "beef jerky" to figure out
that one brand or make a funny meme so as to neutralize statistical qualities
about the cohort you might not like, and pretend it'll do something for your
business besides act like a sinkhole for your money.

But I've slowly come to think most business statistics are deeply flawed, but
now we're trapped using them because there was an upward slope to the cliff
and people are dumb. Even if you point out that their flawed number models
caused their businesses to collapse over and over for no reason but poor
optimization, most people just hear "made money for a while".

C'est la vie.

------
semperdark
I also received this notification. I have an S8, not a Pixel.

This is the kind of marketing spam done by crapware apps. Should we also
expect this from Google now? I've come across too many nontechnical user's
phones with hundreds of spam push notifications to have any patience for this
crap.

~~~
hahla
I don't know when this trend started but I noticed I started getting texts
from facebook as well about 6 months ago. I haven't been on the platform for
over 3 years and never specifically remember authorizing them to text me.

~~~
jostmey
Same here!

------
Hnrobert42
I really appreciate that his/her argument is cogent, compelling, and lacking
cynical sarcasm. I hope they are successful.

That said, this is one of the many reasons I have been moving out of the
Google ecosystem to paod services.

------
thisisit
Amazon sells phones "with offers and ads" for a discount on the MRP.

In comparison, this phone is sold at a premium and then displaying ads? It
seems Google wants to have it's cake and eat it too.

------
jwfxpr
There is, as of me writing this, only one reply to the original post in
support of its complaint — mine. Perhaps those willing to post comments here
should consider also posting them there.

------
Joakal
I've used a firewall on my phone:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.greyshirts...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.greyshirts.firewall)
The firewall is brilliant in that it sets up a 'VPN', that all connections
must go through. Bam, no more notifications from any shitty apps that got a
request from a marketer to annoy you. However, it won't help with the apps
that you have a love/hate relationship with (ie Viber).

You will be SHOCKED at how many apps insist on a connection to the internet
despite not apparently needing a connection. I even had apps I never use,
still try to call home!

On a sidenote, I love how the app also gives Wifi or Mobile Data option. ie,
prohibited updates unless over WiFi.

~~~
tjoff
Last updated 2014, doesn't support ipv6 so it is pretty much useless in most
countries?

Are there any decent no-root firewalls on android?

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guelo
I also got an ad for Duo in my Pixel's phone dialer

[http://i.cubeupload.com/7PGmMo.jpg](http://i.cubeupload.com/7PGmMo.jpg)

~~~
paulie_a
Will it ever be possible that Google develops one messaging and video app
instead of 9?

~~~
Judgmentality
You mean like Google Hangouts used to be, before they butchered it? I'm still
mad about that - it actually was the reason I bought my first iPhone. I no
longer have a messaging system that does everything on Android, so I switched
ecosystems for iMessage.

~~~
fermuch
Or how Google talk was before hangouts. With talk, at least, you could use any
XMPP client, and the web ui was wonderful for the time.

------
makecheck
I liked the Growl notification customizations on the Mac, where every possible
notification type for an app was listed. That’s how it should be; then you
know everything that the app can possibly send. You could make broad
preferences where desired, and granular settings as needed.

I hate that installing new apps enables every stupid notification by default,
seemingly only fixable by going 3 levels deep into every app’s settings and
disabling things. Designers talk about the importance of having good defaults,
and notifications have really, really stupid defaults coupled with bad UI for
fixing them.

~~~
tkazec
Android took a big step in this direction in Oreo, with a built-in central
manager of the permission and notification settings of every app on the system
:)

~~~
fermuch
Android 7 has that too, under the "permissions" setting for apps. It's a "I
don't want any notification" or "I want all of them". Are those settings in
oreo better?

~~~
habosa
Yes in Oreo every notification belongs to a named "channel" and you can
customize by channel. So for example saying yes to new messages and no to
promotions.

------
daxfohl
Been debating between the V30 and the Pixel 2 XL. If true, this report
destroys perhaps the primary reason for the Pixel.

~~~
mey
I have been looking around for my next phone, most likely android. The thing
I've come to realise is that I'm no longer able to buy an Android phone,
instead I am buying either a Google phone or Samsung phone. Even the "pure"
android experience is really a Google experience.

Since I will be in the market to replace my aging phone sooner rather than
later, the phones I've been eyeing are

HTC U11 Unlocked

Essential Phone

OnePlus 5T

Google Pixel 2 (not the XL to avoid screen issues, it's mfg'd by HTC and
similar to the HTC U11)

This list is US centric, etc.

I would consider the iPhone 8, but not the X personally.

~~~
trendia
OnePlus has spyware.

[https://betanews.com/2017/10/11/oneplus-
telemetry/](https://betanews.com/2017/10/11/oneplus-telemetry/)

~~~
tfigment
Just listened to interview on All About Android and their explanation sounded
plausible that it was done wrong and they will delete any collected data. I
just bought a 5T and did not hear about this so I'm interested. Sounded like
they are removing in OTA update. I'd probably have switched to iPhone if Apple
didn't lock development to their OS.

------
Odenwaelder
Buy an iPhone. ;-)

~~~
scarface74
This. I pay Apple money and they give me stuff. A very simple transaction. I
don't get spammed constantly, I don't have third party crapware on my phones
or computers and I don't have stickers all over my stuff that makes my
electronics look like a NASCAR car.

~~~
zaarn
Yes but I also have to necessarily buy into the Apple ecosystem and pay a lot
of money compared to Android, which I can just root and remove all this crap
more easily than on Apple devices.

I also don't really trust Apple to keep my data secure, I'm sure they have
plenty of security measures, but I feel safer putting my data on my own
servers via Nextcloud and stuff.

~~~
scarface74
_I also don 't really trust Apple to keep my data secure, I'm sure they have
plenty of security measures, but I feel safer putting my data on my own
servers via Nextcloud and stuff._

So why do you think that your servers using third party software is more
secure than Apple's? Have you personally audited every line of code in
NextClouds software or every line of code in Android for security
vulnerabilities?

~~~
zaarn
No, but I trust myself more than Apple. And I trust myself in who I choose to
trust, which is not Apple.

Have you personally audited every line of code in Nextcloud or every line of
code in an iPhone?

------
gizmodo59
A Google Bot will reply in that forum soon.

~~~
netsharc
"Please try this: reboot to recovery mode, and select 'clear cache'".

------
notatoad
Doesn't this sort of notification violate the Play Store ToS?

~~~
marksomnian
It doesn't violate the ToS when you write the ToS.

~~~
robin_reala
Not that I’ve read the Android ToS, but that’s presumably not true, unless
Google has a clause that says “none of this applies to us”.

~~~
ajnin
A ToS is a contract between a service provider and a user, Google doesn't need
to agree to that contract to use its own services, I don't even know if it
makes any sense legally. Of course ethically one would like the same rules to
apply to everyone.

~~~
Sylos
Is a violation with the Play Store ToS really necessary for Google to be
allowed to throw you out? Last year, they did a witchhunt on third-party
YouTube-apps capable of background playback on the basis of those supposedly
violating the YouTube ToS, not the Play Store ToS.

~~~
notatoad
the play store developer agreement says your app can't violate anybody else's
ToS. A violation of the youtube ToS is an implicit violation of the Play Store
ToS. Violating Facebook or Twitter's terms will get you kicked off the play
store too.

"4.4 Prohibited Actions. You agree that you will not engage in any activity
with Google Play, including the development or distribution of Products, that
interferes with, disrupts, damages, _or accesses in an unauthorized manner_
the devices, servers, networks, or other properties or _services of any third
party_ including, but not limited to, Android users, Google or any mobile
network operator."

[https://play.google.com/intl/ALL_us/about/developer-
distribu...](https://play.google.com/intl/ALL_us/about/developer-distribution-
agreement.html)

------
grahamburger
I mean, it's 'advertising' a new feature of the photos app ... I get the
frustration but it's not like it's a third party advertisement.

~~~
draugadrotten
What is relevant is that it is an advertisment, not that it is "third party"
or "second party". It is an ad. It wants your money.

~~~
grahamburger
Would it be considered an ad if instead it just said 'hey new thing now you
can create and print photo books right in the app!' without mentioning price?

~~~
paulie_a
Yes. Ads are distractions from things I care about. This sort of notification
is an attempt to make me care about something.

~~~
piyush_soni
The philosophical question that arises from here, now, is that if someone
really cared about that offer to be introduced through the app (like a new
feature notification), would it still be called an 'advertisement'? But then,
to know whether you "care about" this feature to be introduced in the app so
that it wouldn't be an advertisement, they'd need to track what you care about
and what you don't. But people have issues with tracking :). Not supporting or
opposing anything here, just thinking aloud.

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mey
Long press on the notification. Disable app notifications. Granted this is
blunt force and is a bandaid on the bigger problem.

Alternative is to Disable the preloaded app.

~~~
ohazi
He mentioned this in the letter as being overkill. He is asking for a
preference to disable the notifications that a reasonable person would
consider advertising, so that (e.g.) he can continue to get notifications
about friends photo albums.

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joosters
Is there a way to view this without having to sign in with a google account?
The page seems to mostly load before it redirects to a login...

~~~
wichert
Open it in an incognito/private window. For some reason that trick is
necessary for all Google Groups content as well.

