I only care about the helpful notifications, not the promotional ones (alexanderell.is)

Article summary

The article discusses the issue of apps sending both helpful and promotional notifications, with no option to disable the latter without also disabling the former. This can lead to users receiving unwanted notifications, which can be frustrating and may cause them to disable all notifications from the app. The article suggests that apps should provide finer-grained controls for notifications, allowing users to choose which types of notifications they want to receive. This would help to prevent users from missing important notifications while also avoiding unwanted promotional messages.

Main themes

• notification controls
• app design
• user experience
• promotional vs transactional notifications
• regulation and governance
• digital wellness

What commenters say

• Some commenters argue that apps should allow users to opt-out of promotional notifications without disabling helpful notifications.
• Others suggest that users can simply disable all notifications from apps and check them manually when needed.
• A few commenters mention that some apps, like LinkedIn, are particularly egregious in sending unwanted notifications, and that paying for premium services does not necessarily reduce the number of promotional notifications.
• Some users have found that disabling all notifications or using a 'pull' approach to checking messages can be an effective way to avoid unwanted notifications.
• A few commenters note that some companies, like Apple, may send promotional notifications under the guise of 'transactional' or 'security' notifications.
• Others argue that the lack of regulation around app notifications is a major issue, and that users should be able to report abusive notification practices.
• Some commenters suggest that a 'do not track' or 'do not notify' registry could be an effective way to give users more control over their notifications.
• A few users mention that they have simply deleted apps or stopped using services that send too many unwanted notifications.