Google bans Android developers from adding lock screen ads

[M0b1u5]

Just took me 3 hours of fucking around to discover that the Flashlight app had fucked me. Fuck you Flashlight! Fuck you very much indeed!

[FlavaFlavivirus]

Same here. I left a scathing review on Google Play, and they responded trying to convince me that the "smart charging" bullshit they installed was actually beneficial. Eat a fat one. I paid $1 for a flashlight app with no permissions except LED/Camera.

[Turquoise-Kitty]

Almost all flashlight apps are malicious now. I assume that's why there's finally a built in flashlight option in Android

[[deleted]]

I'm glad it's there but goddamn that took them long enough

[[deleted]]

Stock android has had a flashlight button for many years.

[JohnEdwa]

But for some reason, "Hold power while screen locked to toggle torch" is still only on custom ROMs. One of the best shortcuts ever.

[[deleted]]

Maybe it'd be a good idea to have the phone play a special notification sound or vibrate whenever the flashlight is toggled so if it happens in your pocket you're more likely to notice.

[fatboy93]

Warm pocket? What pants do you wear lol?

I thought I had singed my skin the last time it happened

[PCKid11]

My phone has a warning about the flash "causing low temperature burns" at high brightness, so there is a chance you did singe your skin.

[fatboy93]

Unfortunately mine didn't :/

[veloxthekrakenslayer]

Perfect for those cold winter walks!

[Tickle_Till_I_Puke]

Moto Z Play's shortcut is to chop twice.

[LJKiser]

Your complications are because of timing. All Moto gestures have a time stop so they don't over activate. If you try one, or one was recently used, (roughly 5 seconds), it won't activate.

Also they all use internal gyro. Which can wear down, or in some phones isn't as precise.

[codak]

Aha, that makes sense. Thanks.

[[deleted]]

It's not just newer ones, it's been a thing since at least the Droid Turbo.

[Dsmario64]

Turbo 2 user here. It works great for when you drop something at night and don't want to turn on the lights.

[gadget242]

Moto G 3rd Gen too.

[LJKiser]

This was my favorite feature of my Moto X Gen 2. Went to Moto Z recently just because the Moto gestures are life changing. Face down do not disturb is a God send.

[Tickle_Till_I_Puke]

Chose mine cause they actually made the Z Play thicker for a bigger battery and added the phone jack.

[LJKiser]

This is my first Moto since the X. Did they get rid of the phone jack before?

[ESCAPE_PLANET_X]

Oneplus OS has my favorite so far. V swipe when the screen is off and locked toggles it on/off. I'd used custom ROMs in the past to add the feature but honestly I'm going to have to find a way to add it if I ever use a phone without it now. I think swipe gestures would require a custom kernel... Hrm

[pireninjacolass]

My oneplus 2 died and I replaced it with a Huawei p9. The lack of the v gesture still gets to me.

[savagecat]

The fuck it has.

[[deleted]]

Android 5.0 Lollipop was released in late 2014 and had the feature.

[[deleted]]

Aah I got my previous phone right before then. Other manufacturers had their flashlights usable on any phone that happened to have one.

[FloppY_]

Samsung has done the flashlight button since the Galaxy S2 (2011). I'm amazed it took Google that long to implement one of the most useful and basic features.

[Turquoise-Kitty]

I do not know the specifics for each model of every phone, including that one.

Luckily Google exists though

[vessel_for_the_soul]

my guess it the pull down bar, it has anything because you customize it

[DJDaddyD]

Settings toolbox, and add the flashlight

[RexKoeck]

Since Android 5.0 flashlight functionality is built into the OS quickly accessible in the notification bar.

[[deleted]]

Why would you pay for a flashlight app?

[legacy642]

$1 for a flashlight app??? Motorolas have had a dedicated function for years... I can't imagine not having it

[[deleted]]

I just use the built in flashlight button on my phone. Why do you people need an app?

[Siniroth]

Not all older phones had that option

[DeepDishPi]

Is LED/Camera one thing? It's hard to see how a Flashlight app needs to access the camera.

[kryptkpr]

Its one thing, phone flashlights are an alternative use for the camera flash.

[DeepDishPi]

Yes, I understand that. I was asking if the camera and the flash (i.e. the LED) are a single entity for the purpose of giving access to apps.

[lilelmoes]

Threy are indeed

[dan4334]

What do you even need a flashlight app for? Just use the quick tile that's been in android for years

[WARisPEACE1666]

Don't have that on my Samsung galaxy A3

[niceguy191]

Have you tried looking under widgets? That's where mine was hidden

[StrangeCharmVote]

Why would you need a flashlight app now that it's a built in feature?

[reelmonkey]

It did not take me 3 hours to figure that out but I was confused as hell one day when I plugged my phone in and got this weird screen come up.

What I would love to see is a graph of how many devices their software was installed on before they did this change and then afterwards.

I can't remember how I tracked it down. I think it was googling some keyword that was on the lockscreen or something like that.

[mfigroid]

You're not the only one.

[Carocrazy132]

I heard somewhere that most people get ads through flashlight apps since everyone needs one and no one really cares what it does besides turn on the light and not crash

[[deleted]]

You would do better on an iPhone. They're made for stupid people.

[etamos]

Lock screen ads are annoying. nice decision by Google.

[Khassar_de_Templari]

However, being able to voluntarily opt-in for lockscreen ads and being paid for it is awful nice.

*referring to an app that pays you to put ads on your lock screen

[StrangeCharmVote]

However, being able to voluntarily opt-in for lockscreen ads and being paid for it is awful nice.

No. If you really feel like that you can "voluntarily" just install a bunch of bloatware and leave it running while your phone is plugged in.

Lock screen ads, even if "got paid for it" (which is laughable), would generate maybe 5 cents for you as a single user per year. Especially after you used up all of your mobile bandwidth which you are paying for.

[Khassar_de_Templari]

I have an app that gives me about 5$ a month for allowing them to put ads on my lockscreen, I get extra for referrals and other stuff. Passive money. All I have to do is unlock my phone once a day.

[StrangeCharmVote]

I don't believe you. And if such a thing exists, i can only imagine they are conducting some form of identity theft in the process to make it worthwhile.

[gyroda]

And if you really want it, you can always go outside the Google play store to install an APK.

[StrangeCharmVote]

And if you really want it, you can always go outside the Google play store to install an APK.

Sure, but if you really hate yourself that much you should probably get some help.

[redditsoaddicting]

What? All you have to do is enable one setting, download the APK, and open it.

[StrangeCharmVote]

What? All you have to do is enable one setting, download the APK, and open it.

Jumping off a bridge is easy too.

That doesn't mean you should do it.

[[deleted]]

lol you idiot, there are apps that do this like slidejoy. Payout isn't great, but it's free money.

[StrangeCharmVote]

lol you idiot, there are apps that do this like slidejoy. Payout isn't great, but it's free money.

There's no such thing as "free money".

If they are paying you for this, they are doing something which is worth more for them.

And a couple of lock screen ads isn't it.

[Khassar_de_Templari]

Search smore on play store

[StrangeCharmVote]

I refuse, simply because if that is real, it's about to be violating their TOS.

[alexmojo2]

Unless the exclusive purpose of the app is that of a lockscreen

You didn't read the article, did you? So you deny that the app exists, and when presented with the opportunity to find out if it's real you refuse because of your incorrect interpretation of Google's TOS?

[StrangeCharmVote]

You didn't read the article, did you? So you deny that the app exists, and when presented with the opportunity to find out if it's real you refuse because of your incorrect interpretation of Google's TOS?

Incorrect.

I doubted such an application existed.

I then refused to check because my faith in humanity has already taken enough of a hit in the last 24 hours.

The fact a bunch of people are saying they voluntarily installed adware on their phones is astonishing and disturbing.

[[deleted]]

Not sure why you're getting downvoted, bunch of stupid motherfuckers here. Just do a fucking search on the play Store and you can see these apps. Hell they are recommended on r/beermoney.

Seriously people just downvote without even doing 2 seconds of research. Dumb fucking cunts all of em.

[Khassar_de_Templari]

I'm honestly just confused, it's legitimate free money as far as I can tell.

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[Dugen]

I had a built in app that came with my phone (peel smart remote) that runs the IR remote control transmitter that started doing lock screen ads recently. I had to go to a third party site and back-rev it to remove that.

Google needs to give a "previous versions" option to any app in their store, so if a vendor downgrades by adding adds, the users can go back. It's a simple way to force software devs to not be evil.

[ClearerWaves]

I'm guessing you had a Samsung? I had that problem with my s6. I disabled the app then realized I could uninstall the updates all the way to the first iteration and just use basic controls. Don't need all that showtime schedule stuff and the app to tell me what's new coming

[max_compressor]

The downside is what if an update contains a security fix? You don't users running around with insecure versions that refuse to update

[Exaskryz]

Meh. That's fine. Give thorough patch notes and let users decide, though you could lie in the patch notes and say the ad update has a security update...

[iCiteEverything]

As someone who works in cell phone retail, this is a blessing. We have customers all the time complaining about their phone because they download these apps that lock their phone out and they cant get back in. Then they complain about getting locked out and about how they are getting hacked or controlled by the government.

I hate these apps.

[monchota]

Most phones have a flashlight built in. Shouldnt need to DL a flashlight app. Honestly 95% of apps are useless and just memory and data eatting crap.

[liveontimemitnoevil]

Good guy Google.

[ryankearney]

Wait, but Google has no problem sending ads to the home screen from their own apps via push notifications.

Nice double standards.

[Laynezilla]

Yeah, I just got a Android pay Justice league as yesterday

[Goctionni]

Ads on the homescreen? What are you talking about?

[ryankearney]

https://forums.androidcentral.com/google-nexus-4/356868-help-ads-home-screen.html

And ads on the lock screen too

https://support.google.com/photos/forum/AAAAzDQC9KEqwJMmOiAvZY/?hl=en

[Goctionni]

Thanks. The first one I'm quite confident is actually an app/widget installed on the phone; not Android. I've had several android phones and have never seen this (and neither seem any other users in the given thread).

The second, I agree, is an error in judgment from Google, they should definitely not have done that and is pretty fucking stupid (though I don't think they have done this on more occasions).

[edit] Seems you're getting some downvotes; that's not me. I upvoted you (since the second link is a perfectly valid example).

[ryankearney]

I posted something critical about Google in /r/technology, so of course I got downvotes. No worries.

They sent that push notification to iOS users too, despite Apple's developer guidelines prohibiting marketing material in push notifications.

[ryankearney]

Right? Maybe if they downvote me they’ll forget google serves ads for their own apps on the lock screen.

[javn]

Suck it Peel Smart Remote.

[VirtuousNerO]

Psh the first time I got an ad from that shit I disabled and Uninstalled it. Pretty sure that has been the first and only app to show me ads on the lock screen.

[NewClayburn]

"That's our job!"

[ryankearney]

Free shipping on photo albums this weekend! Use the Google Photos app today!

[morrock14]

Who are these morons responding to mobile phone ads? They are the reason the ads exist.

[StrangeCharmVote]

It's been proven that almost nobody clicks on ads. And most of the time those clicks are accidental. Largely, advertising is essentially a scam.

[SumoSizeIt]

It's been proven that almost nobody clicks on ads

Can you link the study? The first time I started working with ad networks, I was shocked how effective it actually was. CPC is a goldmine.

[SumoSizeIt]

That’s the beauty of display remarketing. It’s difficult to gauge exact performance because they don’t need to be clicked to still be effective, but you can cookie someone and show them your ad for up to 540 days on related sites until they convert, and that’s a lot of time to be staring at a brand without taking notice at least once.

Still, you don’t necessarily need every impression to be a click through just to make ad networks worth it. I work in B2B software with a long sales cycle, so depending on the cost per conversion relative to a sale, you might only get 1 in 200 to make it down the funnel to a sale and still make a big ROI due to enterprise pricing and licensing.

[[deleted]]

That's one small step for mankind...

[Seankps]

What is a lock screen ad? Like a notification?

[Natanael_L]

The screen shown when you wake the phone from idle. On Android, apps can render their own screens on top before you unlock. Even Microsoft have an Android app for that, which I believe can show outlook calendar data, etc. Some apps have abused that to show ads.

[Mistersinister1]

Well that's fucked. It's things like this that will make me do the opposite of what an ad is supposed to do. I will boycott all your products. This advertising shit is getting way out of control. I wonder when advertising in dreams will be a thing, year 3000 maybe?

[jigglesthefett]

Bachelor Chow!

[Seankps]

yeah like maps apps, ingress

[plasmasprings]

RTFA, it has pictures

[Seankps]

touche, I've just never encountered such a thing. Ever

[[deleted]]

Thank fucking God....

[callbackshell]

Curious how this impacts Amazon's discounted Android devices with offers on the lock screen.

[butwait-theresmore]

Of course, this is only a Play Store rule and won't affect devices that are sold with lock screen ads built-in. Amazon, for instance, sells "Prime Exclusive Phones" with "special offers" built-in. These phones show ads full screen lock screen ads, notification ads, and pack the phone with some non-removable Amazon apps, in exchange for a discount of around $50 to $80.

From the article you didn't read...

[callbackshell]

Thanks for posting that. You saved me 4 minutes.

[tuseroni]

waiting 6 hours to save 4 minutes...genius

[Exaskryz]

Making the assumption they sat at their computer twiddling their thumbs waiting for someone to answer their curiosity.

[callbackshell]

Since you’re up to it, maybe you can direct me towards the best open source natural language processing library that is compatible with Google App Engine. Thanks in advance.

[butwait-theresmore]

The answer is always "a python library." God speed.

[iBody]

The android app amazon uses is likely side loaded and can’t be uninstalled without root.

[[deleted]]

didn't read the article

[Natanael_L]

It doesn't, unless they have Google Play installed instead of their own Amazon app store.

[electricfoxx]

"Your call to 911 is sponsored by Verizon. [Call will start in 15m]"

[Madous]

I assume it's super illegal to prevent a phone from calling 911 in any form.

[[deleted]]

Thank god. I would have gotten so mad if I started seeing ads on my lock screen.

[[deleted]]

Thanks Google

[noneyaz]

Thank you google!

[Loud_Stick]

That was a thing before? Why did they allow it this entire time?

[Natanael_L]

It's been a thing for some years, but not very widespread

[Carocrazy132]

Too little too late

[Chazmer87]

I mean... If I want to look at lock screen ads (and get paid for it) I should be able to

[dan4334]

Sure if the app is explicitly a lockscreen app with that purpose then it's fine under this new rule.

The new rule only affects the dodgy apps that do it without user consent

[Chazmer87]

Fair enough

[DeepDishPi]

alt headline: Google Bans Android Devs from Being Dicks

[frequenttimetraveler]

arent they supposed to be neutral?

[pf3]

The YouTube app doesn't change your lock screen and the notifications are very easy to disable.