Samsung advertising new phone in my notifications

Jeena@jemmy.jeena.net to Mildly Infuriating@lemmy.world – 855 points –

Not sure if it is like that because I'm in Korea, but on my Samsung S9 Samsung is injecting ads for their new S24 in my notifications. I've had the phone for 5 years and this is the first time I see ads in my phone notifications, unbelievable.

179

That’s really good anti-advertising.

Pretty much. How to guarantee I will never buy your brand ever again. Not that I would ever buy a Samsung anyway. Or anything preloaded with Facebook for that matter.

I think you haven't seen how notification bar of a typical android user over 40 looks like. It's usually 3 meters of random application bloat, music/movie/audiobook ads and three different weather widgets.

Digital hygiene is something only a very small percentage of users follow, so such ad might as well work while surrounded by 5 other ads

Samsung pushed an app in an update that plastered ads for charities all over my lock screen. Disabled that shit and my next phone isn't going to be a Samsung.

Disabled that shit and my next phone isn’t going to be a Samsung.

You won't be able to disable that sort of things in most other phones, though. It's not like China crap won't push ads and Samsung has second best Android support after Fairphone.

4 more...
4 more...

I like Android but man Samsung's version has always sucked

And they wonder why they can't compete with the iPhone

And they wonder why they can’t compete with the iPhone

Samsung is ahead of Apple in almost every market.

Their hardware has been, with few exceptions, very nice. It's sad to see they're embracing the enshittification with such gusto on the software side... I mean, it was always bloated, even when they made BREW phones, but this is a whole nuther level.

They've also embraced it on the hardware side removing sd cards and headphonejacks

100% agree, though since I bought my pixel with a headphone jack I haven't wanted to use it once in the 2 years that I've had the phone so.... 🤷

I honestly thought I would use it one or need it a lot more frequently.

Except for the profit margins, lol.

Are you an investor? Who gives a fuck?

Well the companies specifically. If we're talking about two companies competing with each other it's in what they're trying to achieve.

Literally not true. They lost ground last year.

Not defending Apple. But fighting misinformation.

I was talking about most individual markets, not worldwide combined market share. There's a difference and no amount of down voting changes that.

Perhaps you should have been clearer then, as evidently many people are not seeing it that way.

Perhaps that’s why you’re being downvoted. As if you care about those anyway, it isn’t really a measure we should use.

Take care!

I wrote "in almost every market" which is as clear as it can be. I'm being downvoted because die hard Samsung haters see red immediately and don't care about facts.

Dude you have no idea why people are downvoting you and I don’t want to get involved in a conjecture based debate.

All I can say is what I know and honestly I don’t give a shit what phone you use. Or toilet paper or porn site. You do you my guy.

I'll literally never buy a Samsung phone again if these fuckers push ads to my device.

I'm desperately trying to find a new phone that isn't a Samsung. I switched by force from LG to Samsung and even though the Samsung was 3 years newer, it was a downgrade.

It pushes so many notifications I have given up. I'm going to have to spend $1400 on a Sony just to retain my SD card slot and get rid of the bloatware.

Since starting my hunt, my garbage s20 is pushing so many s24 ads. Guess how many phones have an SD card slot and a FHD+ screen?

Nine. 4 of them are made by Sony.

Edit: I forgot to mention that my samsung phone also gave me a notification Ad for the S24. I didn't think to screenshot it because my notifications are so aggressive that I have become brain dead to this bullshit. I can clear a wall of 15 and within 3 minutes have another wall of 10.

The fairphone 5 has an SD slot, oled FHD and replaceable battery to boot

Since Fairphone 4, they are really good mid range smartphones. Price is higher, but gotta pay for the ethics somehow.

I'm super happy with my Fairphone 3 as well (I upgraded the camera to 3+), but the newer models seem to have made major improvements indeed.

Still, for anyone who doesn't need anything too fancy but who insist on having a headphone jack, a used Fairphone 3 is a good option. Buy a new battery for it and it'll be good as new. :)

Promising tech and features, but likely wouldn't work in my area 😔

the entire phone pieces are replaceable 💀💀, but i also recomend

Haha yeah I spent £200 on a Xiaomi something or another and it's totally fine.

Got a Redmi Note 12 from them for €180, replaced their version of the OS (riddled with pre-installed apps) with the clean one (MIUI) and from a software usability it's a nice as the old (old, old) One Plus from way before the enshittification trend that it replaced and, of course, it's light-years ahead in terms of hardware.

Granted, a little technical knowhow is very usefull to install a clean OS on an Android phone (I used to make Android apps at some point in my career, so that helps).

I'd definitely recommend Sony for the features I value: battery life, MicroSD slot, and headphone jack. They're the only manufacturer doing this with their high end phones. I'd go with the $1000 Xperia 5 V if I was looking for a flagship. It has a headphone jack, MicroSD slot, great performance, and outstanding battery life.

If you're on a budget in the US, go with the Motorola G Stylus 5G (2023). Adequate performance, good battery life, headphone jack, MicroSD slot, lots of internal storage, 120hz FHD+ screen, for $250-$300.

Seriously appreciate the suggestions because I have to catch up on phone specs since I never care about phones until I need to upgrade.

I had a couple hours to pick my current phone and my list of complaints and serious issues with it is outrageously long. I was seriously upset when LG left the phone market, and can't believe how overlooked and downtrodden their phones were.

For me personally, I'm all about minimal bloatware, the best screen quality, at least decent chip performance, and expandable storage.

Bloat for obvious reasons.

Screen quality due to me usually only watching TV when with my spouse and/or sailing. Otherwise I'm using my phone.

My s20 FE's chip is ok, but it was barely a jump from my v30, and now it's feeling slow when I use a lot of CPU intensive apps. I've noticed detrimental file degradation when moving large files around my phone unless I clear all app usage and even then it can still create artifacts, and take a long time.

SD slot because the service in my area is garbage and I could never count on cloud storage that will also inevitably grow as I age. Plus sailing.

The moto being an LCD is pretty much a deal breaker for me. The 5V isn't available here. The 1V is the only thing that checks every box, but the price is exorbant, the lack of wifi calling, bad auto photo mode, questionable durability, poor software support, lack of in depth reviews, and the general mystery surrounding the Sony software and UI makes me extremely hesitant for what I intend to be at least a 5 year phone.

I'm probably going to bite the bullet and get the Sony, but I'm still just so frustrated with the phone market. I keep getting the same responses from people like: "I just pay $5 a month for 500G".

LIKE YOU REALIZE THAT THOSE HIGH RES CAMERAS YOU PAID A PREMIUM FOR ARE GOING TO CREATE LARGER FILES RIGHT? WHEN YOU RUN OUT OF THE 500G YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY $15 FOR THE NEXT TIER, EVERY MONTH, UNTIL YOU RUN OUT OF SPACE, WHICH WILL HAPPEN FAST WHEN YOUR 1 HOUR 4K 120FPS AI EFFECTS EDITED VIDEOS OF YOUR NEWBORNS BIRTH TAKE UP 20G, AND THEN IF YOU CANT AFFORD IT THEN YOUR CHERISHED MEMORIES WILL BE HELD HOSTAGE UNTIL YOU CAN PAY THE FEE TO STORE THEM, WHERE? ON A GODDAMN MEMORY CARD.

You know how every streaming provider is jacking their prices because people are hooked on their platform? That's what companies will be doing with your cherished memories within the next 2 years.

Sorry for the rant. I'm a little high. Appreciate the suggestions buddy!

If you want something cheaper with a great display and great performance and can stomach the lack of expandable storage, and some bloatware, go with the OnePlus 12. Once you remove it, the phone will absolutely fly.

If you are okay with a no expandable storage and worse screen (still a bright OLED) and want less bloatware and/or are on a tighter budget, go with the Motorola Edge+ (2023). It still has 512GB internal and costs just $600.

As for the cloud storage problem, I suggest you have some kind of external drives, or even a high capacity laptop or desktop. You can transfer files with a cable, and storage is quite cheap, although the price (at least for SSDs) is climbing up and will probably continue to do so this year. Currently, I have 3TB of SSDs in my laptop and a 4TB external drive for my backups, while important backups are also stored in the cloud, which take up under 100GB total.

Expandable storage is #1, great screen would just barely edge out excessive bloatware for #2.

I guess I'm just bitching at this point because I know the sony is the only one that will fit what I want. Motorola is so close to filling the space that LG left behind, it's unfortunate they haven't realized they are just two features short of being unique at their price point. They don't have the ecosystem, aren't trying to create one, so why not pack in the features everyone else ignores?

I just really wish the EU could somehow create an argument to require memory card slots. I've been trying my best to come up with one myself, just to put it out there in the world.

I say vote with your wallet and get the Sony if you don't like my other suggestions. Your choice as a consumer will show that people still care about expandable storage.

I got a Samsung midrange with expandable storage and I'm realizing all those features the galaxy has exclusively I never used or cared for in the long term

I could stick with samsung if it wasn't for their bloatware and their terrible push notifications. And their UI. And their terrible ecosystem that pushes more data collection. And their terrible integration with google products. And their terrible boot system that pushes updates in the middle of the night, but doesn't fully restart the phone so your texts, calls, and alarms don't come through.

Samsung: "So you're going to go with Motorola.... Sony... Or......Apple?? That's what I thought."

They know they have the android market share cornered and can essentially do what they want

Why the hell do you think they removed expandable storage on their flag$hip line?.…

Im 100% going Sony this year because I prefer s9 features to the giant telescope cam and ai BS that expires on jan 1 2025

Hol up.

Galaxy AI features will expire at the end of this year??

Edit: Samsung is going to charge for them LMFAO WTF

my previous samsung TV plastered a huge Doom Eternal AD into my settings panel...

my new samsung TV is not connected to the net, lol.

My PLex, Yotutube, Netflix goes through my NVidia shield.

TV comes from a box through a HDMI cable.

and Playstation is playstation.

0 need to connect that shit to the net

Samsung Smart TV owner here. Connected to Internet for steam link and found out app is no longer available to download.

I realized then my fast input section at the home screen was replaced with TV apps and In order to change inputs, I had to go to another sub category of "connected devices" nstead of being able to do it from home with the shortcuts

I reset the TV, connected to the Internet but did NOT agree to smart hub this time.... Now my quick input selection is back

It's awful that it got changed like that, was there no setting at all to change it back?

Not that I can see..once you opt into smart hub it takes over the home page.... I wasn't going to bother fucking with it. I was also pissed steam link was removed...my only reason for downloading apps on my previous samsung tv

I have my TV on a VLAN that doesn't have internet access. I don't want it to be able to access the internet, but still want to be able to control it using Home Assistant.

And that's why you only buy phones where you can install a custom ROM, and then kick any poisonous bloatware and google shit off before starting to use it.

Edit2: I learned about GSI roms and DSU Sideloading is a thing https://github.com/VegaBobo/DSU-Sideloader

Yeah unfortunately that Custom ROM scene is dying out, I see that plenty of older phones are still supported (e.g. Galaxy Note 3, Samsung S5, kind of all Xiaomis) but newer phones are just a handful of models which its bootloader can be unlocked, and then some of these have support for Magisk and TWRP but sadly no custom ROMs.

Edit: still the ability to root these and unbloat them is better than nothing.

Yeah unfortunately that Custom ROM scene is dying out

I feel like recent Android has gotten good enough for me that I don't really need custom ROMs anymore. As long as I can still root the stock ROM and install AdAway, I'm fine.

And that’s why you only buy phones where you can install a custom ROM

Info update request. What is the current/best/uptodate websites to go to in 2024 to see that list of devices?

Also to such a thing also exist for tablets?

Thanks in advance.

Check for LineageOS supported devices, that's a good start. Some tablets can run ubuntu touch, I believe.

1 more...

This is so weird, I don't see ads anywher-

remembers that NextDNS is installed

Oh. Right.

I know this is completely unrelated, but I think I'd actually find it impossible to get to 11:50 in the day with only 7 steps. That's a one way trip to the toilet...

Maybe they're one of those weirdos that doesn't bring their phone everywhere

Wake up at 11, swipe on your phone for an hour, finally get up and go to the toilet, pull out your phone again and take this screenshot. Voilà :)

Samsung is like the Internet in the pop up ads days. Free yourself from that garbage.

Yeah, South Korea is awful. I don't mean the people. They are getting the brunt of it, in fact.

Yeah, Samsung charges more for their products here than they do in other, even richer countries because they can. Korea's economy is super protectionist. Understandably so since Hyundai, Samsung, LG, et al basically run the country.

I really like Samsung phones, but oh boy, they are so bloated on default install it's unbearable. When I got my Samsung Galaxy A52, there were like 10 different things that wanted my attention on first boot, and I uninstalled most uninstallable Samsung apps straight away.

Custom ROMs FTW... no, seriously, most samsung phones have support for at least some custom ROMs and GSIs so it might be worth it to take a look at the options available for your device

I have a OnePlus 9 pro and I love lineageos but the camera... The camera is just way better on stock :(

Is there a phone manufacturer that doesn't use their devices to shove more ads in your face? Google pushing Google One or Apple's preinstallwd watch app also come to mind

Motorola's pretty decent in this respect, ime.

Can’t say I’ve ever had anything shoved in my face on iPhone. At least, nothing I didn’t cause myself with third party apps or whatever.

Work gave me an iPhone, it has been pestering me with "ACTIVATE YOUR FREE 3 MONTHS OF APPLE TV PLUS" once a week since new, and the same for iCloud storage, and the games service, and apple music.

I got 4 notifications a week at random times of the day from the system itself telling me to make sure I signed up for their free trial with my credit card before the 3 month period where the deal was available is over.

This has never happened on a Pixel for me, sure they pester you about Google One plans etc on first setup, but they shut the fuck up after you say no.

Haven’t had any of that myself. Maybe because it’s an older model.

The Nokia branded phones (made by HMD Global).

I recently got a (Xiaomi) Redmin Note 12 because my old One Plus was way too old, and overrode the installed Android with the MIUI version (same one without their pre-loaded apps and customizations). The worst they do to try and make you give up on doing it is to make you wait 1 week between requesting enabling unlocking of that phone and actually being able to unlock the phone, after which it's pretty straightforward (they do make you go through 2 "are you sure" checks, which I found funny).

No Ads whatsoever.

So I went and bought another one of the same model as a Christmas present and did the same for it.

The crap intrusive pre-installed software of the Samsung and being impossible to unlock it and install a clean OS version is exactly why I did NOT get a Samsung instead.

Is xiaomi sold in the US? In every other country you can unlock Samsung phones

No idea as I'm not in the US.

I looked around, saw the Samsung phones could not be unlocked (from what you say, in some countries but can in others) and didn't care to get it.

Even had I known they were unlockable in some places but not othes, why should I risk my hard earned money on were I live being one of those places were Samsung did it. "We're sleazy only in some places" is hardly a ringing endorsement for the brand.

1 more...

This sort of thing is what keeps me away from Samsung phones.

Samsung used to be so great, at least in my opinion but they've really changed a lot over the years.

Samsung has gone full HP since about 5-10 years ago. They used to have awesome products, now it's just bloatware crap riding on customer goodwill that they built up over decades

Which products do you have?

remember the s5? ir blaster, waterproof, headphone jack, removable battery, lots of custom roms

now look at their recent devices

Ir blaster was a gimmick. S24 is IP68 rated. Really nice usb headphones are easy to come by if you don't like Bluetooth. Show me a waterproof phone with a battery the average end user can replace.

Sounds like you just want to moan.

Samsung peaked at the S7

The S8 is pretty nice, but only the Exynos variant. I hated the glass back, though. Shattered mine two times, one time the phone just fell 30 centimeters out of bed. Gorilla Glass only in the front was a deliberate decision by these bastards.

I thought the Exynos variant was the worst one.

It's the good one. As far as I know, Exynos phones are much faster than the Snapdragon variants. Custom ROMs like LineageOS are only available for Exynos phones, so those are the only ones still getting updates.

That's not what I've heard for Exynos. I heard exynos was too hot, too underpowered, and the snapdragon variant was better. Now I'm not here to debate, but is very interesting how we've heard two different sides to the story.

I used an Exynos S8 up to December of last year and it's still blazingly fast. And the consensus on xdaforums seems to be that the Qualcomm variant from the US is terrible. :) Weird, but maybe I'm wrong and I just got used to a slow device. I mean, I had a Sony Xperia XA2 before and that thing was so slow, everything else felt like The Flash. :D

I believe all phones are fast enough for our usage (at least in the beginning), but I'm not here to disagree. There have been some instances where the Snapdragon variants have been awful (the 810/808 come to mind), but I've heard more stuff about the exynos than I have the snapdragon. Just searching about "exynos worse than snapdragon," autocomplete in my web search had an option to change it to "why is exynos so bad." Although it is about the experience more than the reports online, and I'm not disagreeing with you as you've personally used the exynos chip(s).

Not justifying this in any way but the S9 hasn't received security updates in ages. It's the phone equivalent to still running Windows XP, it's a major security risk. You should upgrade to some newer phone. Personally I like the Pixels since you can run GrapheneOS which definitely doesn't have any ads and the newest models get updates for 7 years.

Lineage runs just fine on it. If you have a international version. Im saying this from my starlte SMG-960f running lineage os running android 13 running on the October security update..... Which I know has been updated since I just haven't taken the time to update yet.

I feel like a broken record at this point, but putting LineageOS on it still doesn’t fix the issue of no driver and firmware updates and you sacrifice secure boot, which makes the whole thing not worth it imo.

At least go for DivestOS which does support secure boot whenever possible. Even then, there’s no making an end of life phone secure. You can only do harm reduction.

Hm ages seems to mean two years https://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-galaxy-s9-march-2022-update-3134582/ but fair point.

Two years worth of known security vulnerabilities is VERY significant. That's literally hundereds of them, at least.

Same conclusion, perhaps look into putting lineage OS on it

https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/starlte/

Oh I didn't know that's possible!

Don't use Lineage. It doesn't even have secure boot. DivestOS would be a better option but keep in mind, there's no making an end of life phone secure. All you can do is mitigate, like putting a bandaid on a bullet wound.

Tldr save up for a new phone and use DivestOS in the meantime for harm reduction only.

That's not a real solution since you'll still miss out on driver and firmware updates. Worst of all, installing Lineage gets rid of secure boot. Which needless to say, isn't secure.

Better than nothing

In the case of LineageOS which doesn't even support secure boot, I'd argue no. You may have a look at DivestOS though. Keep in mind no matter what you do, there's no making an end of life device secure. You can only do harm reduction. Basically putting a bandaid on a bullet wound.

Ugh I hate those ads. I had a OnePlus for a few years and forgot about all the bloat you get with a Samsung phone. Recently decided to go for a Samsung phone as the other options didn't seem much better. But now I keep getting ads from Google and Samsung in my notifications. I THINK I managed to disable some of it but it still keeps popping up once in a while.

Universal Android Debloater baby

Thanks for the tip! Checking it out right now. Does it also work if my mobile carrier isn't on the list?

you consented to them while setting up the phone.
also prompt to enable them is only present in the us and korea.

Wow, first the tv now the phone, i'm not surprised when someone come saying their fridge and washing machine is doing this too.

That's not new, they have been doing this for a while now. 1st noticed when the S10 series was launched.

Glad I bought a cheaper and older phone then. I don't have this fortunately

It's so incredibly easy to disable, I'm not sure how people are justifying their phone choice based on the apps they have installed. It's not part of the OS.

It's easy to disable for now lol, the enshittification doesn't stop here

Oh sure, but OP's phone is from 2018, so yours isn't safe either.

Trash company, throw it on the pile with all the other ad companies.

I'm happy that I never connected my TV to the internet.

Weird....I have been using Samsung phones for the past 4 years. I have never got such ads. I think you turned on the customization service or some other ad related thing. And ofcourse you can always debloat it. Ideally they should turn off customization service as default but since we live in a world of enshittification one can only dream.

Depends on the region. If Korea: can bet your sweet momma your government is there to Gargle on that Samsung D

Have you got the customisation service turned on in settings? I've never seen an ad in my notifications and until recently I was using a Samsung of similar age.

I've been using the Galaxy A52s for a couple of years now. Never seen ads outside the Samsung apps. SEA region.

SEA? As in Seattle?

I'm guessing south east Asia
Not everything is in the us my friend

Even "the sea" would've been a better guess, haha.

U lazy. U more walk. U no get ads anymore. Samsung just discipline u.

Maybe it's because I don't have a flagship Samsung model, but I'm lucky enough not to get ads for their products in my notifications. That, or it's because my service provider doesn't want Samsung advertising new phones, which is a very fat chance that's true.

It's a setting. I believe it's under security and privacy. Mines been off since forever, but I'm not sure if I turned it off right away or if it came like that.

That could also be it since I almost never do deep dives into settings after the initial setup and after the first day or two.

I have an unlocked Galaxy S21 that I bought off Amazon, and I've never seen an ad for a new phone in my notifications.

My first thought was maybe the ad was from OP's service provider, not Samsung, but it definitely looks Samsung-generated. Not that the providers wouldn't do the same thing...

Wow. That would make me rage so hard. But I have had galaxy phones since the 6, on 21 ultra now. I've never seen an ad there.

Same, been on galaxy phones since 5 (not every model), and have never seen it either. Then again, I have been running Adguard on my phones the whole time.

Edit: Wow, this comment showed up 3 times....

2 more...

Man.. I tried to hit clear after looking at this for a second...

lineageos

I don't know about how well it supports Korean language though.

Would work great if samsung actually let people unlock the bootloader. Afaik you can't do it in certain regions like North America.

한국 문화

Agreed. I'm no cultural expert, but it really does seem like they put our oligarchy to shame with their level of roughshod running.

Possibly related

I gave up on Samsung after the exploding phone thing. I got enough problems

There was once a man named Sam, who lived in a town named Samsville - ironic, I know. Well, Sam was a really good singer, so good that he became famous and began touring the world. On Sam's tour, he was singing, like any ordinary song, and then, suddenly, he sung a note so perfect it could melt hearts. A member of the audience who happened to be a Father of a church cried out that he knew what that was; a holy note. He explained that a holy note was extremely rare, and could only be sung by the most talented of singers. Now that it was known that Sam was able to sing holy notes, his tours became infinitely times more popular. As he toured the world, Sam sung holy notes 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 and then his tour was over. After the tour, Sam decided to go back o his home town of Samsville for one last show to the people he knew and loved. He performed the show in their local church which was oddly large, and the mayor of the town attended. About halfway during the performance, Sam sung a note so horrible that it sounded like a cross between a loud metal fork being scraped across a dinner plate and a demon screeching. After he sung this note, Sam burst into flames and melted to the ground in a puddle of human goo. Everyone was so shocked, the whole church was silent. After a moment, the mayor questioned what just happened. The Father of the church looked at the mayor with a sad look and said, "don't you know mayor... Sam sung Note 7..."