The OnePlus 5 is just days away from making its retail debut, but the highly anticipated smartphone is already looking like it might be a tough sell. It’s not quite on par with the latest Samsung handsets, and it does a middling impression impression of an iPhone 7 Plus, all while being only marginally cheaper than either of its more capable competitors. Now, in a rather transparent effort to generate hype ahead of its retail debut on June 27th, OnePlus is sending push notification advertisements to owners of the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T, and they’re not even remotely happy about it.
Reports from OnePlus owners regarding the intrusive ads began popping up a couple of days ago on social media and sites like Reddit, and the rage has finally reached a point where it can’t be ignored. “This is not okay,” one Redditor comments, while others have far harsher words for OnePlus’s decision push unblockable ads on its customers base. Here are a few choice opinions from the OnePlus Reddit page:
“One of the main reasons I went with OnePlus is to get away from that Samsung level bullshit.”
“This opens up the possibility for them to push other types of notifications as well. Except for customer pushback, what’s stopping them from pushing ads for non-Oneplus products? If they can push notifications they can easily make those notifications look like whatever they want as well. Who’s to say they can’t make fake notifications to push products and services?”
“They specifically called out “new push system” in their latest patch notes. No customers asked for this. This is the kind of bullshit you do for yourself, not for your customer.”
“I don’t want spam on my phone, that includes spam from my phone manufacturer.”
“It’s especially egregious since I just bought the 3T a couple months ago and the online store makes it obvious that most 3 and 3T accessories have not been available because they filled the pipeline with 5 accessories. Fuck current customers I guess.”
At the moment, there doesn’t seem to be any way for OnePlus owners to opt out of the notifications, and it’s unclear how the company plans to handle these types of notifications going forward. If they intend on issue unblockable push ads, it’s pretty obvious that the pushback will only get even worse.
