Adverts App for Android

spaceHopper

I installed the adverts app on my phone, should have looked at the reviews,
It installed, adverts.ie, pumps.ie, boardsdeals.ie and a few other apps.

I'm getting spam on my phone from boardsdeals and I can't install any of the apps.

Who ever decieded this was a good idea need thier head looked at, you've pissed off lots of people who will now never use any of your apps or boards deals.

It's the kind of shoddy practice I'd expect from FaceBook.

hullaballoo

Notatall.


Facebook tell you when they're going to spam you.

LoLth

you should be able to uninstall any app from Settings>manage applications , select teh applciation and hit uninstall. As for "spam" the boardsdeals send you an email when they update the deal, which is pretty much one a day.

are you looking for an option to opt out of receiving updates but retain access to boards deals when you want to visit?

Zaph

I've had the same issue and have spoken to Dav about it. He's currently investigating.

spaceHopper

LoLth wrote: »

you should be able to uninstall any app from Settings>manage applications , select teh applciation and hit uninstall. As for "spam" the boardsdeals send you an email when they update the deal, which is pretty much one a day.

are you looking for an option to opt out of receiving updates but retain access to boards deals when you want to visit?

I've don that and all I can do is force stop it and clear data there is no uninstall had I read the feedback on app first I'd have seen that others had the same problem. I now also have BoardDeal and TheJournal apps installed even though I didnot install them so it put other apps on without asking up front. Also in the notificaction bar I'm now getting boardDeal messages not emails so it's spam, I've a free data package so it's not costing me money but it could cost others money. It's SPAM.

I've had the same issue and have spoken to Dav about it. He's currently investigating.

If he knows about it why hasn't he taken down the apps resonsable till it's fixed?

Zaph

Because he's not the person responsible for them and I'm sure it's not quite as simple as that. Believe me, I'm just as unhappy about this as you are, and I've let the guys in the office know this, but I know it isn't going to be fixed in a few hours.

Dav

So here's what's happened. A deal was made by Distilled Media (that's the name of the group of companies that includes Daft, Boards, Adverts and TheJournal) with Samsung to push our group's apps out as a part of their update. This includes the apps for BoardsDeals, Adverts, Daft and TheJournal.

The BoardsDeals app pops a notification when a deal goes live, but this can be disabled (I have just tested this to confirm). Press the Menu Button when in the app, choose More and then there's a tick-box to "Receive deal alert notification".

All the Mobile Operators except Three required that people should be able to remove any app installed as a part of this update, so anyone using Vodafone, O2, Meteor or eMobile should be able to remove them (I don't even know if all those Operators carry Samsung Android phones). Why Three decided not to allow people the ability to remove the apps I don't know, but maybe they can answer that on their Talk To Forum. I'm trying to get some more information on it myself. If you're using one of the other Operators and can't remove these apps, can you please let me know and I'll do my best to get more information.

I'm chasing this up with the people involved in the office folks and for what it's worth, I'm really sorry that this has happened. I would never have give this a thumbs up if anyone had consulted with me, but the first I heard of it was the PM I got from Zaph this morning telling me about his experience with it. It's rare that something like this doesn't get communicated internally before going live, so I'm going to do my damnedest to make sure it doesn't happen again.

spaceHopper

Dav wrote: »

So here's what's happened. A deal was made by Distilled Media (that's the name of the group of companies that includes Daft, Boards, Adverts and TheJournal) with Samsung to push our group's apps out as a part of their update. This includes the apps for BoardsDeals, Adverts, Daft and TheJournal.

The BoardsDeals app pops a notification when a deal goes live, but this can be disabled (I have just tested this to confirm). Press the Menu Button when in the app, choose More and then there's a tick-box to "Receive deal alert notification".

All the Mobile Operators except Three required that people should be able to remove any app installed as a part of this update, so anyone using Vodafone, O2, Meteor or eMobile should be able to remove them (I don't even know if all those Operators carry Samsung Android phones). Why Three decided not to allow people the ability to remove the apps I don't know, but maybe they can answer that on their Talk To Forum. I'm trying to get some more information on it myself. If you're using one of the other Operators and can't remove these apps, can you please let me know and I'll do my best to get more information.

I'm chasing this up with the people involved in the office folks and for what it's worth, I'm really sorry that this has happened. I would never have give this a thumbs up if anyone had consulted with me, but the first I heard of it was the PM I got from Zaph this morning telling me about his experience with it. It's rare that something like this doesn't get communicated internally before going live, so I'm going to do my damnedest to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Thank you for the response,

I'm with 3 but all apps that I've down loaded so far I can remove except, for yours and the bunch that were installed when I installed the adverts app, so it's been designed not be uninstalled - now I will have to hack my phone to get it off.

The one exception to this is the apps that 3 installed.

I've very against data mining and sneaky background installs which is what Distilled Media have done between the adverts apps and the "cencus" they did. I'd have words with them or even get another provider it has hurt your reputation.

Can you ask what data they have collected from my and others phones please? If possible can they do an uninstaller as well.

Zaph

In relation to this issue I have started a thread on the Three Talk To... forum here.

Orion

Dav wrote: »

So here's what's happened. A deal was made by Distilled Media (that's the name of the group of companies that includes Daft, Boards, Adverts and TheJournal) with Samsung to push our group's apps out as a part of their update. This includes the apps for BoardsDeals, Adverts, Daft and TheJournal.

So does this only happen if you install the Adverts app from the Samsung Apps app or was it forced out as part of a Samsung update? I'm asking because I am running a custom ROM (Darky's ROM) on my Galaxy S - I installed Adverts from the Android Market and didn't get any other apps.

Either way - if you agree to install one app no other apps should be installed. It's not enough to be able to remove them afterwards. Only the requested app should be installed in the first place. That's very poor form imo if unrequested apps are installed. It's the type of thing I'd expect from Apple!

Orion

Zaph wrote: »

In relation to this issue I have started a thread on the Three Talk To... forum here.

Just read your first reply there Zaph. So it was part of a firmware update. Well that's a fcuking disgrace in my opinion. And I don't even blame Three in this case (apart from the not allowing uninstalls issue). A force install of software is wrong. If I was updating my firmware via Kies and got this $hit I would be mightily annoyed. A firmware upgrade should be just that - to force install unwanted software is just plain wrong. I have the Journal and Adverts installed anyway but I chose to install them.

Custom firmware ftw - Samsung firmware is laggy as hell anyway even without all the unwanted crap they install.

Dav

OK, just some more of my own experimenting with this.

I'm running Android 2.3.4 on a HTC Sensation. I've uninstalled all of the Distilled Group apps without any difficulty (via Manage Applications in the Applications section of the Settings) and have just re-installed them. They didn't all install in one bunch, I had to do them all individualy via Android Marketplace.

I'm still going to talk to people in here about it, I just wanted to update you and let you know that the apps aren't broken and can be uninstalled. SpaceHopper, I don't know how all the apps were installed in one go, can you give me some more specific information so I can track this issue down please?

spaceHopper

Dav wrote: »

OK, just some more of my own experimenting with this.

I'm running Android 2.3.4 on a HTC Sensation. I've uninstalled all of the Distilled Group apps without any difficulty (via Manage Applications in the Applications section of the Settings) and have just re-installed them. They didn't all install in one bunch, I had to do them all individualy via Android Marketplace.

I'm still going to talk to people in here about it, I just wanted to update you and let you know that the apps aren't broken and can be uninstalled. SpaceHopper, I don't know how all the apps were installed in one go, can you give me some more specific information so I can track this issue down please?

Firstly Thanks for taking this on and looking at it

I did a firmware upgrade on Monday evening, Three customer care had suggested it as I was having problems with call breaking up / dropped audio, they said there was a fix for it in a firmware upgrade.
Then I went onto android market and installed adverts ( till then I hadn't noticed extra apps) I also installed Daft.ie. Now I have Adverts, RTE Pocket Player, The Journal, RTE DocOnOne, Pumps.ie and Boards Deals. Note Daft, adverts, pumps and boards all come from the same company.

I believed that they were installed when I installed adverts as most of them come from the one company, but now it looks like you are right they come from "firmware" update. This to me is out of order, firmware has nothing to do with applications and they should not be updated at the same time I only consented to a firmware upgrade. Why are boards involved with this kind of thing.

I cannot remove the, I've gone into setting, application manage application in the all tap I can select adverts but there is no option to uninstall it. Same for other apps pushed on.
If I go to market and find adverts I update it and un install the update but I can't un install the app it's self.

Donaghp

Dav wrote: »

OK, just some more of my own experimenting with this.

I'm running Android 2.3.4 on a HTC Sensation. I've uninstalled all of the Distilled Group apps without any difficulty (via Manage Applications in the Applications section of the Settings) and have just re-installed them. They didn't all install in one bunch, I had to do them all individualy via Android Marketplace.

I'm still going to talk to people in here about it, I just wanted to update you and let you know that the apps aren't broken and can be uninstalled. SpaceHopper, I don't know how all the apps were installed in one go, can you give me some more specific information so I can track this issue down please?

I updated my Galaxy S2 via Kies and suddenly the Deals app appeared along with Journal, RTE DocOnOne and RTE Pocket Player. No request, no advice. Journal and Pocket Player I can uninstall but the other two do not appear on my list of apps either with Samsung's "Manage Apps" or my downloaded app manager. What can I do? I have managed to stop messages from Deals, at least for the moment, but I want to get rid of it, big time!

LoLth

what mobile network are you on?

Have to say, i agree with the sentiment that no software should be installed when you are performing a firmware update and no software should be installed without prior consent at any time by any organisation. while I can understand and empathise with the feelign towards boards.ie for this software update, I actually reserve my disgust for the mobile companies. I cant blame a business for taking advantage of an opportunity but I can blame a service provider for making that opportunity avialable in the first place.

LoLth

a quick google later and....

it looks like the uninstall issue is not limited to Three

http://forums.meteor.ie/index.php?showtopic=2638

OP from that thread:

I have to say I am annoyed after updating my Galaxy S2 to Android 2.3.5

I now seem to have the following apps installed and can't remove them. The apps are:

Adverts.ie
Daft.ie
RTE Pocket Player

spaceHopper

Donaghp wrote: »

I updated my Galaxy S2 via Kies and suddenly the Deals app appeared along with Journal, RTE DocOnOne and RTE Pocket Player. No request, no advice. Journal and Pocket Player I can uninstall but the other two do not appear on my list of apps either with Samsung's "Manage Apps" or my downloaded app manager. What can I do? I have managed to stop messages from Deals, at least for the moment, but I want to get rid of it, big time!

OK then I stand corrected, the apps came from a firmware update and not when I installed adverts.ie

I actually reserve my disgust for the mobile companies. I cant blame a business for taking advantage of an opportunity but I can blame a service provider for making that opportunity avialable in the first place.

Dissagree here, boards is run by people with a technical / IT background and they would know well that it would piss off alot of them so it reflect on them if they get involved in it. If it were me I would get Samsung to pull the apps from firmware updates. Right now I would not use boardsdeals...

Steve

The adverts tech team have been made aware of this.

I'm sure it wasn't intentional .

spaceHopper

Steve wrote: »

The adverts tech team have been made aware of this.

I'm sure it wasn't intentional .

Yea in fairness they were probable expecting new phones to get them it's one thing when a phone comes with apps but sly installs it another thing.

But three's you can't uninstall policy isn't helping

Sully

O2 customer with same problems. How can they be removed?

AlmightyCushion

If you really want to remove these apps then you could always just root the phone and install system app remover or titanium backup. Either of those will let you un-install them.

Orion

Root phone, install custom ROM, never have to deal with Samsung software again

On the Three thread it is said that it's Samsung who installed the software and prevented it's removal. That would tie in with what Dav said above and customers of other networks having issues like Sarky. Installing software without asking is bad enough but installing it as system, unremovable software is shocking.

I'm thinking about upgrading - I'm out of contract since August - HTC might be the way to go instead. There's not much between the phones themselves tbh. Kies software is absolutely crap anyway which annoyed me about Samsung in the first place. This is the kiss of death.

The ironic thing is that most of these apps I have installed anyway. But if they had been thrust on me I'd turn over heaven and hell to remove them and never reinstall them.

thomasoreilly

Orion wrote: »

Root phone, install custom ROM, never have to deal with Samsung software again

On the Three thread it is said that it's Samsung who installed the software and prevented it's removal. That would tie in with what Dav said above and customers of other networks having issues like Sarky. Installing software without asking is bad enough but installing it as system, unremovable software is shocking.

I'm thinking about upgrading - I'm out of contract since August - HTC might be the way to go instead. There's not much between the phones themselves tbh. Kies software is absolutely crap anyway which annoyed me about Samsung in the first place. This is the kiss of death.

The ironic thing is that most of these apps I have installed anyway. But if they had been thrust on me I'd turn over heaven and hell to remove them and never reinstall them.

I'm pretty much in the same boat, out of contract (still on HTC HERO), I was about to get the deal from three (TAB 10.1 and SGSII) €60 a month for 24 months. I actually went into Three on Henry St. yesterday, but they had none in stock.

Was on the fence about Samsung, severly dislike being forced to use KIES to perform OTA updates. Now after reading this (and other forums), the whole deal with installing these apps with FW update, is a deal breaker, the proverbial nail.

I will be staying clear of normal Samsung devices. I will be getting the Galaxy Nexus, or sticking with HTC. I think unlocked, Vanilla is the way to go. No crap ware etc.

And maybe the new Transformer Prime when it comes out, looks tasty.

Sully

Orion wrote: »

Root phone, install custom ROM, never have to deal with Samsung software again

On the Three thread it is said that it's Samsung who installed the software and prevented it's removal. That would tie in with what Dav said above and customers of other networks having issues like Sarky. Installing software without asking is bad enough but installing it as system, unremovable software is shocking.

I'm thinking about upgrading - I'm out of contract since August - HTC might be the way to go instead. There's not much between the phones themselves tbh. Kies software is absolutely crap anyway which annoyed me about Samsung in the first place. This is the kiss of death.

The ironic thing is that most of these apps I have installed anyway. But if they had been thrust on me I'd turn over heaven and hell to remove them and never reinstall them.

I'm normally comfortable doing these things but from what I read - if it ****s up, my phone is dead. Big waste of money

Orion

From what I read it is nearly impossible to brick a Galaxy S. Rooting it is done with an app - single click. Flashing it was very straightforward. I did have a squeaky bum moment when it took 10 mins for the phone to reboot but that was just the upgrade completing.

angel01

In fairness, you shouldn't have to invalidate your warranty just to get rid of these annoying apps. Distilled Media need to stand up here and do something :mad:

Orion

angel01 wrote: »

In fairness, you shouldn't have to invalidate your warranty just to get rid of these annoying apps. Distilled Media need to stand up here and do something :mad:

I didn't mean to imply otherwise. I completely agree and now that Dav is aware of it I'm sure whatever can be done will be done

Dav

It's Samsung that's decided to install these apps and your network providers who have decided to not insist that you can uninstall them. I really hate to have to pass the buck but you'll have to sort it out with them - unfortunately there isn't a thing I can do about it.

I would urge you to get in touch with the people in charge of the various sites in the group who's apps have been installed: BoardsDeals, Adverts, Daft and TheJournal. Maybe they can put pressure on Samsung to recall their update or something and fix this mess.

I know this whole thing's permanently turned me off ever owning a Samsung phone and I'd tell anyone who asked me to steer clear of them for this reason.

thomasoreilly

In fairness, do they not realise, it is the likes of us, that can influence new smartphone users to pick android over iOS (when it comes to high-end phones that is). I will be advising my sister, mother and father all in the new year which phone to get. Sure even a few of my peers in work (I.T) were disgusted when I told them about this latest update fiasco. I will be steering them clear of Samsung, I firmly disagree with this latest crap-ware update. HTC or Sony will be recommended.

Orion

Dav wrote: »

It's Samsung that's decided to install these apps and your network providers who have decided to not insist that you can uninstall them. I really hate to have to pass the buck but you'll have to sort it out with them - unfortunately there isn't a thing I can do about it.

I would urge you to get in touch with the people in charge of the various sites in the group who's apps have been installed: BoardsDeals, Adverts, Daft and TheJournal. Maybe they can put pressure on Samsung to recall their update or something and fix this mess.

I know this whole thing's permanently turned me off ever owning a Samsung phone and I'd tell anyone who asked me to steer clear of them for this reason.

The fact that four sites have their apps installed means people should go above that and straight to Distilled Media imo
http://www.distilledmedia.ie/contact-us/

This was a group decision not an individual site one.

As for networks not insisting they can be uninstalled according to you only 3 didn't insist that. Yet if the others did and they still can't be uninstalled then that should be taken up with the networks. After all they do provide the firmware updates after they've been validated against their own software.

I agree that this is totally $hit behaviour from Samsung but Distilled Media must take their share of the blame.

I agree about Samsung. While I do like the Galaxy S when I upgrade in the new year it will probably be a HTC as a result of this. And I'm unaffected by this directly - it's a principle.

Zaph

Tbh, my bigger issue is with 3, rather than Samsung. Yeah, it's a pretty sh*tty thing to do bundling crap into an upgrade, but who knows, maybe some people will use those apps. However I should have the right to remove them if I so wish, and the inability to do that is solely down to 3. I'm still waiting for a proper response from them on the thread I started on their Talk to... forum, and that in itself speaks volumes for what they believe passes for customer service. I haven't asked them to reveal state secrets or anything, just a simple explanation as to why they have adopted this rather shoddy policy.

angel01

I left a message on Samsung's facebook wall and this is their response:

Hi Emma - We are aware of this issue and are working on an update to fix it which we hope will be available in January. Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Dav

We got some word back from Samsung:

Samsung Mobile Ireland wrote:

All,

We are aware of the issue regarding the inability to remove pre-loaded local apps from Three and O2 versions of Galaxy S II, and having taken customer feedback on the issue very seriously, we will be making them removable with the next software release. Galaxy S II owners will be able to upgrade at home when it becomes available. Further communication on availability will be made through our Social Media channels.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Samsung Mobile Ireland

I believe this update is scheduled for January, but I'll see if I can get better confirmation of that for you.

spaceHopper

Dav wrote: »

It's Samsung that's decided to install these apps and your network providers who have decided to not insist that you can uninstall them. I really hate to have to pass the buck but you'll have to sort it out with them - unfortunately there isn't a thing I can do about it.

I would urge you to get in touch with the people in charge of the various sites in the group who's apps have been installed: BoardsDeals, Adverts, Daft and TheJournal. Maybe they can put pressure on Samsung to recall their update or something and fix this mess.

I know this whole thing's permanently turned me off ever owning a Samsung phone and I'd tell anyone who asked me to steer clear of them for this reason.

Sorry but that is not good enough boards deal and adverts are both spin off of boards.ie you should have them removed from the update side at the very least, you could also get an app that will remove them published.

AlmightyCushion

spaceHopper wrote: »

Dav wrote: »

It's Samsung that's decided to install these apps and your network providers who have decided to not insist that you can uninstall them. I really hate to have to pass the buck but you'll have to sort it out with them - unfortunately there isn't a thing I can do about it.

I would urge you to get in touch with the people in charge of the various sites in the group who's apps have been installed: BoardsDeals, Adverts, Daft and TheJournal. Maybe they can put pressure on Samsung to recall their update or something and fix this mess.

I know this whole thing's permanently turned me off ever owning a Samsung phone and I'd tell anyone who asked me to steer clear of them for this reason.

Sorry but that is not good enough boards deal and adverts are both spin off of boards.ie you should have them removed from the update side at the very least, you could also get an app that will remove them published.

There are already apps that will do that. You'll need to root your phone though.

contraflow

Is adverts.ie not a boards.ie app? Surely you can bring some pressure to bear on distilledmedia.ie to make this uninstallable on phones. I am being pestered daily to buy completely cr*p email services that cost about €5 a week... extremely head wrecking. I have posted complaints on samsung mobile ireland's facebook page, sent distilledmedia.ie a complaint and posted a comment on android market which will hopefully deter would be downloaders from going near this malware which is a bit futile as most of us are being inflicted with this virus surreptitiously thru a samsung update.

Now I have to investigate rooting my fone to get rid of it. Don't think I can endure it until Jan for the supposed update/fix.:(

serrades

So what's the craic ? January is here and no sign of the update. Tried the other day and Kies found nothing new ?

Zaph

serrades wrote: »

So what's the craic ? January is here and no sign of the update. Tried the other day and Kies found nothing new ?

To be fair, there's still a couple of weeks of January left, so I wouldn't be getting upset about it just yet.

Captain Andy

Tick tock tick tock. Pumps.ie and boards deals. provide uninstall please. The longer you take the slimmer the chances i'll ever be a customer of anything to do with "distilled media"!

Boards.ie: Nicola

Captain Andy wrote: »

Tick tock tick tock. Pumps.ie and boards deals. provide uninstall please. The longer you take the slimmer the chances i'll ever be a customer of anything to do with "distilled media"!

As has been stated, the update rests with Samsung.

Pumps.ie has nothing to do with Distilled Media.

If we hear any further information on this next week, we'll communicate it as quickly as possible.

Sully

I've asked Samsung on twitter but no reply yet.

Captain Andy

Boards.ie: Nicola wrote: »

Captain Andy wrote: »

Tick tock tick tock. Pumps.ie and boards deals. provide uninstall please. The longer you take the slimmer the chances i'll ever be a customer of anything to do with "distilled media"!

As has been stated, the update rests with Samsung.

Pumps.ie has nothing to do with Distilled Media.

If we hear any further information on this next week, we'll communicate it as quickly as possible.

Understood on Pumps and Samsung hold up. Still shouldn't have Been allowed to happen in the first place and should have been resolved more quickly with an apology from all companies in bed with one another in one form or another. i can accept preloaded bloatware, but if we weren't to complain, where would these types of acts of scheisterism end...

dingbat

I've got a brand new Samsung Galaxy 2 from Meteor and just woke up to a couple of deals notifications in the status bar!

Tried to uninstall the app and couldn't??

Although I'm happy to discover an explanation for problem here in this thread I'm stunned that this is genuinely an ad-serving scam from what I thought was a reasonably reputable company (or group of companies).

Any word on an update??

TouchingVirus

dingbat wrote: »

I've got a brand new Samsung Galaxy 2 from Meteor and just woke up to a couple of deals notifications in the status bar!

Tried to uninstall the app and couldn't??

Although I'm happy to discover an explanation for problem here in this thread I'm stunned that this is genuinely an ad-serving scam from what I thought was a reasonably reputable company (or group of companies).

Any word on an update??

So you took the time to find the thread, but didn't read three posts up? Boards.ie: Nicola has said they have no information, the problem lies with Samsung so talk to them.

dingbat

TouchingVirus wrote: »

dingbat wrote: »

I've got a brand new Samsung Galaxy 2 from Meteor and just woke up to a couple of deals notifications in the status bar!

Tried to uninstall the app and couldn't??

Although I'm happy to discover an explanation for problem here in this thread I'm stunned that this is genuinely an ad-serving scam from what I thought was a reasonably reputable company (or group of companies).

Any word on an update??

So you took the time to find the thread, but didn't read three posts up? Boards.ie: Nicola has said they have no information, the problem lies with Samsung so talk to them.

Bit harsh - I just asked if there was an update on the situation...

*shrugs*

Dav

One of the Distilled tech people came to visit me at my desk earlier and he told me that there was something of an update, but not a solution.

The BoardsDeals app has been updated (and this is being pushed out today on Android Marketplace as far as we're aware) so that the pop-up notifications will be disabled by default and you'll be asked if you want them enabled the first time you run the app.

So if you've got it pre-installed and can't remove it, you can now at least disable the notifications. I know that's not really ideal or indeed a proper solution, but it'll at least save on daily annoyance.

As it stands, we're waiting for someone in Samaung in Korea to make whatever chances they're supposed to to allow these things to be uninstalled. No one is happy with this, but Samsung just don't seemed to be in any rush to address this problem as it seems to have been a mistake on their end initially and things were meant to be uninstallable which is different from what they initially told us that the operators set this.

All I can add is that I'm really sorry it's hit so many of you - no one told me this was happening (as I don't work with BoardsDeals or the other sites in the group on a day-to-day basis) and I guarantee you I'd have said "ARE YOU MAD?" to anyone suggesting this to me.

Sully

Will they apologize? :P

Orion

Dav wrote: »

The BoardsDeals app has been updated (and this is being pushed out today on Android Marketplace as far as we're aware) so that the pop-up notifications will be disabled by default and you'll be asked if you want them enabled the first time you run the app.

Coincidentally I installed it yesterday from the Market (I'm unaffected by this as I'm using a custom firmware not Samsung's bloated crap) and this was already in place. I got the pop up asking if I wanted notifications.

dingbat

Dav wrote: »

One of the Distilled tech people came to visit me at my desk earlier and he told me that there was something of an update, but not a solution.

The BoardsDeals app has been updated (and this is being pushed out today on Android Marketplace as far as we're aware) so that the pop-up notifications will be disabled by default and you'll be asked if you want them enabled the first time you run the app.

So if you've got it pre-installed and can't remove it, you can now at least disable the notifications. I know that's not really ideal or indeed a proper solution, but it'll at least save on daily annoyance.

As it stands, we're waiting for someone in Samaung in Korea to make whatever chances they're supposed to to allow these things to be uninstalled. No one is happy with this, but Samsung just don't seemed to be in any rush to address this problem as it seems to have been a mistake on their end initially and things were meant to be uninstallable which is different from what they initially told us that the operators set this.

All I can add is that I'm really sorry it's hit so many of you - no one told me this was happening (as I don't work with BoardsDeals or the other sites in the group on a day-to-day basis) and I guarantee you I'd have said "ARE YOU MAD?" to anyone suggesting this to me.

Thanks for the update.

Sully

Orion wrote: »

Coincidentally I installed it yesterday from the Market (I'm unaffected by this as I'm using a custom firmware not Samsung's bloated crap) and this was already in place. I got the pop up asking if I wanted notifications.

Its been there since the software update which placed the app on my phone, sometime ago.

Orion

Then why the update saying it's a new thing?