Panic for iPhone owners as ‘Apple’s plot to add controversial feature’ leaked

APPLE is planning to add a controversial new feature that will leave iPhone owners frustrated, it is claimed.

The tech giants have reportedly started internal discussions about adding more advertisements, according to insiders.

Bloomberg reporter and Apple specialist Mark Gurman theorized that advertisements will come to Apple Maps, and one day expand to Apple Books and Apple Podcasts.

Gurman reported that businesses could pay Apple to have their listings appear at the top of the search results.

A similar practice is already in action in the App Store, where developers pay to have their apps for games or services listed near the top in response to search terms.

The company also runs ads during streams of Major League Baseball games on their premium service Apple TV+.

Overall, Apple is rather good natured in the advertising business, which can be a vicious, data-hawking space filled with annoying popups.

Apple placed itself at the forefront of user protection related to data collection for advertising by launching the App Tracking Transparency policy last year.

The policy enables users to choose which apps and websites can track their data as they move across cyberspace - many users opt out of data tracking, much to the dismay and horror of companies who rely on that data to place targeted ads.

Gurman also noted that Apple lets publishers advertise in stories posted to Apple News and publishers keep a "vast majority" of the proceeds.

Other products outside of the Apple realm have more invasive advertising programs.

Amazon's Fire tablet has ads for games, products, and TV shows constantly running on the lock screen.

But the Amazon Fire and other handhelds come at a much lower cost than Apple gadgets, and a mostly ad-free experience is part of what sets Apple apart in consumer tech.

Insider reported that Apple executives are musing the idea of making the advertising team into its own branch within the company, severing it from the Apple Services division.

Apple's next-generation technology coming this fall is sure to impress fans and spur revenue.

Adding more advertisements won't earn them praise, but user-friendly policies and subtle display ads likely won't push anyone out of the Apple ecosystem in favor of a competitor.