Apple today sent out an ad to some iPhone users in the form of a Wallet app push notification, and not everyone is happy about it.
An unknown number of iPhone users in the U.S. today received the push notification, which promotes a limited-time Apple Pay discount that movie ticket company Fandango is offering on a pair of tickets to Apple's new film "F1: The Movie."
Some of the iPhone users who received the push notification have complained about it across the GeekWebGuides Forums, Reddit, X, and other online discussion platforms.
"As far as I can tell, Apple is now just sending me ads to my screen now as push notifications, something I hate with an absolute passion and disable across the board in every app that tries this," said one person who received the notification.
Some people are especially upset about receiving a push notification ad through the Wallet app because it is a very important app for personal finances, so simply turning off notifications for the entire app is not a feasible solution.
Worse, Apple seems to be ignoring the guidelines that apply to App Store apps. The company says push notifications should not be used for promotions or direct marketing purposes unless users have explicitly opted in to receive them for said purposes.
The full text of Apple's guideline:
Push Notifications should not be used for promotions or direct marketing purposes unless customers have explicitly opted in to receive them via consent language displayed in your app's UI, and you provide a method in your app for a user to opt out from receiving such messages.
Apple did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
Apple has been heavily promoting F1: The Movie, which debuts in theaters on June 25 in Europe and on June 27 in the U.S. and Canada. However, the company may have gone a step too far here based on online reaction from some iPhone users.
One silver lining is that the iOS 26 beta adds an "Offers & Promotions" toggle to the Wallet app, allowing users to opt in or out of receiving special offers and discounts available from Apple and its unspecified partners. However, Apple sent out to the push notification ad to iPhone users on iOS 18 too, and those users seemingly did not explicitly opt in to receive such an ad. For that reason, some people are disappointed in Apple.
