August 24, 2013
Google Making Android a Less Spammy Experience

No More Notification Ads and Icon Ads in Android Apps says google in a revision to it’s Play Store rules:

Apps and their ads must not add homescreen shortcuts, browser bookmarks, or icons on the user’s device as a service to third parties or for advertising purposes. Apps and their ads must not display advertisements through system level notifications on the user’s device, unless the notifications derive from an integral feature provided by the installed app. (e.g., an airline app that notifies users of special deals, or a game that notifies users of in-game promotions).

I’m not an Android user, but these sound like good things, especially if they’re being abused. Not sure how the crowd who is against gatekeepers of any sort will feel about this (though I suppose it’s only the official Play Store apps, not sideloaded 3rd party ones). I wish Apple would adopt some of these, particularily the ‘system notifiers for advertising’ thing.





Posted by Arcterex at August 24, 2013 11:41 PM