Apple Pushes Users To Upgrade Their iPhones Via Pop-Up Ads In The App Store

Likely in hopes of boosting its holiday sales, Apple has surprised a number of iPhone owners by displaying unsolicited pop-up ads within the App Store application that promote the iPhone 6s. The ads are full-screen interstitials, and appear on iPhones that are older than the iPhone 6, according to reports. The ad’s text, meanwhile, reads “iPhone 6s Ridiculously Powerful.”

Below an image of several, multi-colored iPhones, users are offered two choices: “Learn More” or “Upgrade Now.”

In order to bypass the ad, users have to hit the “Skip” button at the top to return to the App Store.

The reaction to the ads, first spotted by the blog Cult of Mac, has not been pleasant so far. Most users who are sharing the ads on social media, or discussing the problem on Reddit, don’t seem to think that Apple should be leveraging its own App Store application to deliver ads – especially those that are promoting its own products.

There’s some irony here as well, given that Apple introduced ad blocking capabilities with the release of the iOS 9 operating system, which allows web users the ability to better control how much advertising they’re exposed to when using their mobile devices, plus block other content that slows down browsing. The move was heralded as another example of how Apple puts the user experience first.

Pushing pop-up ads, however, seems to contradict that earlier position.

It’s worth pointing out this is not the first time Apple has used the App Store app in this way. In the past, Apple experimented with using the App Store’s search interface to push its own, editorialized search results for specific queries. For example, a search for “Maps” for a time wouldn’t return Google Maps first, but instead pointed to Apple’s own collection of mapping apps. And a search for “Music,” also around the same time last year, didn’t immediately return a list of streaming apps, but instead showed an ad for iTunes radio.

In other words, Apple has already proven that it’s not above leveraging the App Store app’s reach in order to promote its products when it deems necessary. And for it to be again trying the same thing with regard to the iPhone hints that the previous efforts must have seen positive results.

That being said, the new ad is a bit more aggressive than the others. While you could argue that, before, users who were searching for things like “maps” or “music” were possibly interested in what Apple had to offer on those fronts, the newer ads are being pushed to those who have simple launched the App Store app. They may or may not actually be in the market for a new device.

It’s unclear at this time how many users are being shown these ads, or if they’re only appearing in certain regions or markets. If Apple offers more information about the ads, we’ll update.

Comments

The CC Aurora is actually pretty fun, as far as projectors go

I don’t review projectors. Projectors are boring. Even the good ones. They remind me of vacation slideshows and the film strips we had to watch in health class — neither of which I’m in a particular hurry to revisit in my adult life. That said, I’ve always harbored some germ of a notion that some day I might buy one, to compensate for being one of those weirdos without a TV set. There’s something undeniably appealing about a big screen TV you can break out during movie night and then stash back into the closest of your one-bedroom New York City apartment. XGIMI’s CC Aurora is the closest I’ve seen to fitting the bill — or, for that matter, being a projector that I could actually muster any reasonable amount of excitement about. From the looks of it, it’s kind of the perfect package for the apartment dweller: it’s compact, self-contained with a built-in speaker system and plays nicely with mobile devices. Clearly I’m not alone here, either. The product scored $170,000 on Indi...

How ad-free subscriptions could solve Facebook

At the core of Facebook’s “well-being” problem is that its business is directly coupled with total time spent on its apps. The more hours you pass on the social network, the more ads you see and click, the more money it earns. That puts its plan to make using Facebook healthier at odds with its finances, restricting how far it’s willing to go to protect us from the harms of over use. The advertising-supported model comes with some big benefits, though. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly said that “We will always keep Facebook a free service for everyone.” Ads lets Facebook remain free for those who don’t want to pay, and more importantly, for those around the world who couldn’t afford to. Ads pay for Facebook to keep the lights on, research and develop new technologies, and profit handsomely in a way that attracts top talent and further investment. More affluent users with more buying power in markets like the US, UK, and Canada command higher ad prices, effectively...

Intel announces the first 14 nanometre processor

At the Computex conference in Taipei, chipmaker Intel has revealed a fanless mobile PC reference design using the first of its next-generation 14nm "Broadwell" processors. The 2 in 1 pictured here is a 12.5" screen that is just 7.2 mm thick with keyboard detached and weighs 670 grams. The Surface Pro 3 – for comparison – is 9.1 mm thick and weighs 800 grams. It includes a media dock that provides additional cooling for a burst of performance. The next-generation chip is purpose-built for 2 in 1s and will hit the market later in 2014 . Called the Intel Core M, it will be the most energy-efficient Intel Core processor in the company's history with power usage cut by up to 45 percent, resulting in 60 percent less heat. The majority of designs based on this new chip are expected to be fanless, with up to 32 hours of battery life, offering both a lightning-fast tablet and razor-thin laptop. Intel is also delivering innovation and performance for the ...

Hundreds Of Apps Banned From App Store For Accessing Users’ Personal Information

Hundreds of iOS applications have been pulled out of the App Store, following a report from analytics service SourceDNA , which uncovered a group of applications that were extracting users’ personally identifiable information, including email addresses associated with their Apple IDs, devices and peripheral serial numbers, as well as a list of apps installed on their phone. The applications in question had been using an SDK from a Chinese advertising company called Youmi which was accessing this information by way of private APIs, the report found. Nearly all of the developers were located in China so, for now, this appears to be an isolated incident. However, the larger concern here has to do with how long this activity had been taking place – and what that means in terms of Apple’s App Store review process, given that it hadn’t caught this suspect activity until being alerted to it by a third party. According to SourceDNA, Yo...

Uber, Google and other tech employees form Coalition of Black Excellence

When black employee resource groups from a variety of tech companies come together, black magic happens. More specifically, black excellence happens. The Coalition of Black Excellence Week, spearheaded by Uber Litigation Counsel Angela Johnson in collaboration with black ERGs from over 40 tech companies like Facebook, Google, eBay, Lyft and Microsoft, kicks off this Monday in the San Francisco Yay (Bay) Area. The idea for CBE Week came in part from Johnson’s experiences living in Washington D.C., and being able to attend events put on by the Congressional Black Caucus, she told me at Uber’s headquarters this week. “When I moved out to the Bay Area, I really wished there were similar types of experiences for tech,” Johnson said. “And I thought if we could bring together different black ERGs, or diversity and inclusion committees, or people who were interested in some of the issues the black community is passionate about, a lot of positive change and impact could come from that....

Exciting Technology

Search This Blog