You did fall for the brand and marketing trap though. Why would Apple make such an app? They are investing hard in advertising.
I too have mostly escaped ads on iOS, but I think that’s a combination of not living in the US, never opening the App Store, and a few other factors. I’m under no illusion that will last forever. Tim Cook must be salivating with ideas.
¹ https://daringfireball.net/2023/04/ios_adware
² https://www.macrumors.com/2022/08/21/ads-coming-to-apple-map...
It’s explicitly linked in my post. In the article they talk about it and have a link to a screenshot. Search for:
> I’ve noticed an ad in Settings on my iPhone, in the iCloud section at the very top of the first screen
They have paid placements in the App Store.
I suppose you could consider some of the music in the Music app to be promotional for that music.
It’s nothing like Google’s ad network.
2. Red Badge in settings when your device is eligible for Apple Care+
3. Bullet point for 1 year free AppleTV at the top of the settings app
4. Same as 3) but for Apple Arcade
I had a bug where the AppleTV ad was shown consistently for two years, although I already used the trial. It only got fixed with the latest iOS update.