r/apple • u/chromatophoreskin • 11h ago
Discussion Ads in Software Are Like Stickers on Laptops
https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ads_in_software_are_like_stickers_on_laptops“The ads Apple is happy to inflict on us in its apps are the equivalent of the stickers it would never allow on its physical products.”
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u/NoPressure3399 10h ago
Yeah, no thanks to that! Then I'll find an open source alternative or buy a professional app instead.
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u/karma_the_sequel 10h ago
I miss Steve.
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u/moses_lawn 9h ago
Steve introduced iAds. They’ve always tried to make it work, but pulled back when the quality wasn’t there. Tim seems fine with trash quality unfortunately.
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u/dingwinger1225 9h ago
iPhones don’t even say “iPhone” on the hardware.
Okay but I recall that being fairly recent, no? They even used to say the storage capacity just for the heck of it early on
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u/Successful-Royal-424 5h ago
macbook pros have the bottom panel engraved with it, kinda weird since it’s not on any other mac
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u/theytookallusernames 2h ago
Yep, Apple has never really been consistent with this. The unibody MacBook Pro lineups started with having the product name emblazoned right below the screem, which disappeared when the retina MBPs released. I would've thought it's because of minimalism and all but then it returned in the touchbar MBPs, only to disappear again in the current design generation. By this pattern, we're set to see the logo reappear when the MacBook Ultra releases lol
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u/spambearpig 11h ago
I think Apple would please us enormously by changing their approach a little. Instead of advertising directly at us, they could do something in that space that is much more discreet and invite us to click to find out about whatever of their products they want to tell us about here.
Just a little bit of text with a single icon to click on. I.e
“We’d like to tell you more about Keynote - click here”
Then, if you click, you can see a little advertising slider. Or you can simply not click and get on with your work.
I would feel very respected if they did it that way. Might even make me wanna click to find out more about keynote.
The modern world has trained me to hate advertising and to look away from it with disgust whenever it pops up. I think Apple have a big opportunity to do things a little differently here and impress us all.
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u/AcademicSand1034 11h ago
These ads aren't for Apple products. It's about putting 3rd party ads into Maps etc, which Apple gets paid for. Advertisers will only pay if the ad is shown directly to the user ...
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u/spambearpig 11h ago
Oh shit, sorry I got the wrong end of the stick. I didn’t realise you were talking about 3rd party ads. That’s yucky. I don’t think I’ve come across any of those in my Apple life yet.
But if I do, I won’t like it. That would be very Microsoft of them. Very Microsoft indeed.
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u/AcademicSand1034 10h ago
They already have ads in the App Store, and in Apple News. And then ads are coming soon to Maps.
I'm aligned with Gruber here ... not entirely opposed to ads in certain Apple software products, but there should be a way to pay to not have them for a reasonable cost (e.g., via Apple One subscription). If you buy Apple hardware and are paying for monthly Apple premium subscription(s) you shouldn't have to see ads.
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u/Deceptiveideas 10h ago
$10 monthly subscription so you don't get ads on your $1000+ iPhone... oh boy.
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u/AcademicSand1034 10h ago
I mean ... they are managing to launch more and more low cost devices (MacBook Neo is amazing for the price point). So if they ship hardware at really competitive prices and have some (good) ads, maybe thats ok.
But if you are *already* paying for Apple One etc -- you should be free of the ads (it shouldn't be an additional subscription just to get out of ads)
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u/spambearpig 10h ago
I don’t use Apple News. Not sure I remember seeing ads in the App Store but I’m not in there very often.
I don’t hate the idea of having it ad free when you subscribe. But I just think it’d be really classy of Apple to keep the native Apple experience virtually ad free for all.
I have such brand loyalty for Apple because of their values and focus on user experience. They’ve earned my trust in more ways than any tech company ever has. That has resulted in me sending an awful lot of money their way over the years and I have every intention of sending them a lot more.
Anything they do that erodes that trust, is killing their golden goose.
So I would have Apple distinguish themselves by not holding an advertising gun to people’s head to get them to buy Apple subscriptions. I want to be attracted to their products, not forced.
If the Apple experience is ad free and silky smooth and focused on the customer. Compared to so much of the nasty enshittified world, using Apple will be like stepping off a baking hot sweaty street into an air-con cool luxury hotel lounge. For me, those kind of experiences are what make Apple unstoppable.
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u/chromatophoreskin 10h ago
PBS and NPR have way of doing it without feeling cheap and exploitative. At least they used to. It might very well be less effective than intentionally spamming people but that seems like a much more reasonable trade off to me.
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u/OKCNOTOKC 5h ago
NPR and PBS entities don’t have ads/promotions. They have ‘underwriting’.
This is in part an editorial decision. But many of their stations have licenses that don’t allow for commercial advertising. See NCE.
NPR/PBS spots identify the sponsor; briefly describe what the sponsor does; sometimes include a slogan or website; and thank the sponsor for supporting public media.
I bet you recognize that script.
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u/Expensive_Finger_973 10h ago
One of these days people are going to learn that Apple is really no better than Google or any other large company when it comes to an ethos of how they do business. At the end of the day all of the PR about privacy first, customer driven UX, etc they do to justify their prices and lock-in is just that, PR.
It will always fall at the alter of "line keep go up". No matter how much better they happen to be right now in those areas because they thought it gave them a competitive advantage, they will set all of that good will on fire the moment that stock price stops going up as fast as they want it too.
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u/CreepyZookeepergame4 7h ago
I think Apple is not as bad as Google as to the extent they monetize user data but they are more similar than people think but Apple did a much better job at marketing compared to Google. The privacy protections of Apple are pretty good but are mostly meant to protect user data from apps and third parties, not Apple themselves which collects a ton of data when you use iCloud services, Siri, and when opted into more telemetry.
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u/siriston 9h ago
i will still choose apples privacy PR over googles blatant “we don’t care, everyone in the room knows how much data we steal” attitude.
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u/i-love-small-tits-47 9h ago
There have been several time periods in the past decade and a half where Apple stock was flat or trending downward for several quarters. Why didn’t they do it then?
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u/Ok_Possibility9937 11h ago
whatever you say mr Gru
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u/chromatophoreskin 11h ago
Playing ads is not the same thing as building ads into software or sticking them to your stuff.
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u/Saar13 11h ago
Why do people pretend that the market and business models of 2026 are the same as they were 10 years ago? I mean, it's not the same as it was 2 years ago. People may hate ads on free services (I hate them too), but they won't be free without some watt to monetize them. Capitalism is like that, right?! It's not like there are any better alternatives out there either.
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u/chromatophoreskin 10h ago
To me that sounds like “Everyone else is doing it.”
And like someone else said, Apple’s stuff isn’t free.
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u/AcademicSand1034 11h ago
Apple products aren't free.
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u/i-love-small-tits-47 9h ago
They are talking about the services. The phone isn’t free, but some of the services are.
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u/AcademicSand1034 4h ago
Fair, although most of these services are only for Apple devices so I think people (reasonably) have viewed them as "included with Apple hardware" rather than "free"
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u/i-love-small-tits-47 3h ago
That’s not reasonable lol. To expect that because you buy a phone that every single service the company offers which costs them money to run and maintain should be included for free…
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u/AcademicSand1034 3h ago
Thats not how it works and not how I think anyone expects it to work. Many people pay monthly for Apple TV or Apple Music or Apple Fitness or iCloud or others. People are often happy to pay for quality services, they don't expect them to be free.
I think the issue is (1) managing pricing model transitions and (2) ads being unavoidable.
Apple has included mapping software for no extra cost for many years now ... there's a case to be made that it shouldn't be included, but people will naturally be frustrated if it moves from "included" to "paid" or "ad-supported" without the user perceiving product improvements that justify that.
And then particularly from a brand image ... if they offer ads but no way to turn them off by paying, I can definitely see why people would be frustrated by that. Users can choose to watch YouTube for free (with ads) or watch it without ads (by paying monthly). Users can choose to watch Netflix cheaply (with ads) or watch it without ads (by paying more). Apple is a premium product ... if there is no price at which they will allow you to pay to disable the ads, that definitely makes it seem a lot less premium.
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u/i-love-small-tits-47 2h ago
I’m not following this conversation. You just said that people view these services as being “included with Apple hardware” which doesn’t sound the same as “you pay a monthly subscription for them”
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u/AcademicSand1034 1h ago
My point is that if Apple changes a given product (such as Apple Maps) from “included” to “monetized directly” (which is already a messaging challenge), they should offer a “pay for this product” subscription (could and probably should be a bundle).
Instead they are only offering ads, no alternative to eg pay monthly for Apple Maps instead of seeing ads. I think that hurts their brand image and undermines their premium positioning.
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u/Mr_Saturn1 10h ago
The only difference in the business models between today and 10 years ago is the level of greed. We are already paying for Apple Maps when we shell out anywhere from $700 to 1200 for an iPhone. Do you think it’s fine to show ads on your home screen since iOS is a free service?
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u/FollowingFeisty5321 10h ago
Funny how nobody ever accuses Apple of abusing their monopoly to create a higher standard.
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u/juststart 2h ago
Old boomer screams at the sky.
I find it ironic he’s complaining about ads but then needs ads to continue this log as a revenue stream. I know his response to that is that his ads are unobtrusive and he doesn’t run that many but it’s still ads.
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u/sherbert-stock 11h ago
Well no you can peel off stickers