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Comment by ComputerGuru | Hacker News Reader

This is also my policy - except:

Uber just sent me a notification to celebrate pride month with Uber (by booking a car??). I don’t see how to turn off these promotional notifications but I need my Uber notifications so I’m aware when my driver is outside. I’m still not sure if I should block all Uber notifications.

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Spoiler - they probably know and don't want to destroy their reliable spam channel. I turn them off and either keep the app open when I've ordered a car, or temporarily turn them back on while ubering and turn them back off when I get a trash notification. This definitely strikes me as one of those comments you see on HN that is wildly impractical at scale, but it's what I do.

Which is why strict app store policy enforcement is the only way to really end this.

That won't happen. This is the most significant advantage the app stores have over PWAs.

You can choose to get text messages instead for ride notifications. I do that and don't get any spam from them.

Still get the stupid "try 1 month free trial" popups whenever I book a ride though, can't see how to turn those off.

Gig Car Share used to do this. I patiently responded to each incident with a support request politely asking them to stop the abuse. After a few months of 1:1 mapping from spam incident to customer support issue it eventually stopped.

I do the same on the Nespresso site with the “Hey, I’m clippy, do you need help with your order?” covering the “Order” button. I systematically click on it and ask them to order by order. Then they explain how to close the chat, and I click on the next page, the chat opens, I ask them again to go away because I can’t focus while the icon is bouncing in my page.

They don’t answer me anymore.

As in: A corporate employee leaves a chat aside because it’s too annoying.

None of those chat agents connect to a real human until the AI has figured out that you have a need to talk to a human. You're not accomplishing much, if anything.

Maybe so for the above example, but I too make a point of replying to “Can I help you with anything?” popups with an active “No” and am often connected with what passes for a real human.

It’s under the “privacy” in account settings. I just disabled marketing notifications

What a place to hide them!

I just uninstall such apps until I need them. But I rarely use Uber/Lyft/etc, so it's no hassle to reinstall once or twice a year.

Wow that’s cool, did you celebrate? (Block unless you are actively waiting for a car.)

> by booking a car??

by hooking a car, of course

*agressive eyebrow movements*

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