Unwanted "Recommendations" !!

[johne53]

For the past month or so, each time I pick up my Galaxy Z Flip 3 I'll see constant "Recommendations" to install various stuff. I reject them all, but an hour or two later there'll be another batch of them. Does anyone know if there's a way to disable them?

[AndrewL]

@johne53: Where are you seeing the recommendations, and are they stemming from the Google Play Store or Galaxy Store? 

To check if the notifications are stemming from an external source, please restart your Galaxy Z Flip3 in Safe Mode. To enter Safe Mode, press and hold the Power button until the 'Power off' prompt appears on the screen then release > Touch and hold Power off until the 'Safe mode' prompt appears then release > To confirm, tap Safe mode.

If the recommendations don't show up while Safe Mode is enabled, then please restart your phone as you would normally, and uninstall any apps that you have added to the phone since you first encountered the issue. To do this, head to Settings > Apps > Select an app > Uninstall. 

[johne53]

Thanks for the quick reply. At the top of the main screen there's a Notifications bar which occasionally contains an icon for things like weather updates. But each time I pick up the phone I now see maybe 4 or 5 icons - mostly these annoying "Recommendations".

It wouldn't surprise me if Google Play is involved. I've generally found it quite annoying. Presumable I could just uninstall Google Play? I never use anything it installs...

[keith30]

You can't uninstall Google Play without it effecting on how you use your phone. Most functions won't work without it.

[Pugs1957]

Go to Play Store and install Toast Source, it should tell you where the notifications are coming from.

[papashaun]

Maybe check your settings for Google Play and the Galaxy Store and make sure under their notification sections that things like Deals & Offers, Promotions etc are all toggled off

[johne53]

Thanks... Galaxy Store won't let me check any settings until I update it but Google Play was showing the Deals and Promotions as disabled.

I tried booting into Safe Mode but that didn't stop the notifications - so (being in Safe Mode) I hoped it'd be a bit safer to click on a few. And it turned out they're not notifications about apps I might want to install. They're actually links to various news items.

But I'd still like to disable them if possible...

[johne53]

Yet another batch this morning 😞

They seem to be coming from somewhere called GBNews and I can see a Settings menu for changing to a paid subscription or for altering the download quality etc - but there's no option to stop the downloads.

Is this something that Toast Source might be able to help with? If not, I'll have to pester GBNews until they tell me how to stop them.

[johne53]

Yesterday morning I disabled notifications for the YouTube app and up to now, it seems to have stopped these annoying messages 🙂

[ironass]

It might also be a good idea to check your Galaxy Store settings to see if you have, "Get news and special offers", selected.

Galaxy Store > Menu > Menu (cog wheel) > Get news and special offers.