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Remember Apple News?
Just a refresher: it’s the one-stop news app that Apple replaced Newsstand with as a way for publishers to get their content distributed directly to people’s iPhones while keeping the ad revenue. “News has the latest stories, articles, and posts, with over a million topics to choose from,” Apple said at its launch in June.
What it doesn’t have is an active user base.
On Twitter, iPhone owners have recently noticed a push alert in their Notifications tab from the app begging people to open it. It’s not working. People are publicly calling it “spam” and subjecting Apple to a few sick burns:
So, Apple really wants me to use News and its “Top Stories” section. Got this notification in my 6s Plus and 5. pic.twitter.com/sn1zzdEZii
— e4io (@poke493) December 16, 2015
Apple News notification. This is spam, plain and simple. pic.twitter.com/jMYuOU44RF
— Mike Ciarlo (@mciarlo) December 16, 2015
Apple, thanks for sending me a push notification to remind me that News app exists. Now I’ll go back to ignoring it. pic.twitter.com/At8r0idTNs
— Natan Gesher (@gesher) December 16, 2015
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hmm… i just got an apple news notification on my mac. I don’t remember setting that up.
— Μικιυας (@mikiyas_t) December 10, 2015
apple better gtfoh with that news notification
— Juansito (@ElJuanitooo) December 16, 2015
So, if people haven’t already moved Apple News to the junk folder where Compass, Health and Stocks live, at the very least these pop-ups remind them to do so.
Apple didn’t immediately respond for comment as to why it’s doing this, but it’s clear that News isn’t resonating with people or publishers.
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“The traffic is underwhelming,” a publisher exec told Digiday, pegging the monthly traffic it garners from it at less than 1 million views. Another publisher called the user data “basically nonexistent,” adding that the whole experience is a “disappointment.”
Still, it’s early. Publishers like the design of the sleek app and they understand that forming new user habits takes time. So, while these pop-ups are bothersome, they’re one way for Apple to appease publisher frustration.
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