Apple has sparked controversy by sending an unsolicited Apple Wallet push notification promoting its Formula 1 feature film F1: The Movie, starring Brad Pitt. The notification offered a $10 discount at Fandango for purchasing two or more tickets using code APPLEPAYTEN, valid through June 29 “while supplies lasted.”
The promotion landed on the Wallet app—a tool primarily used for payments and tickets—and many iPhone users expressed strong displeasure. One user on Reddit complained, “I did not pay over $1000 for an iPhone to get advertised at.” Another remarked on MacRumors, “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.”
Critics drew parallels between this incident and Apple’s infamous 2014 U2 album giveaway, which automatically added the album to 500 million iTunes accounts without permission and reportedly cost the company over $100 million in backlash.
In response to the uproar, Apple introduced a new option in the iOS 26 beta to disable “Offers & Promotions” within the Wallet app, but this control isn’t available on the current public release. Until then, users can only disable all Wallet notifications or turn off card benefits during checkout, with no way to opt out of promotional notices entirely.
Analysts warn that Wallet is likely to become a bigger channel for marketing in the future—but many iPhone owners remain uneasy. One commenter on Hacker News bluntly said, “Any app that pushes me adverts gets its push notifications turned off.”
