Apple is known for many things. It makes beautiful products with a tight integration between hardware and software. It also has a near-obsessive focus on user experience. But there’s one thing Apple sells that is far more important than anything else: trust.

Last week, Apple quietly took advantage of that trust. To promote its upcoming movie release, F1: The Movie, the company sent iPhone users in the US a push notification through the Wallet app offering US$10 (RM42) off two or more tickets when purchased with Apple Pay on Fandango.

There’s nothing wrong with Apple offering its users a discount on a movie it wants a lot of people to go watch. The problem is that it’s leveraging its platform in a way users don’t expect from Apple. Or, put another way, it’s leveraging the trust it has built over decades, in order to sell movie tickets. That hardly seems worth it.

You see, Apple’s entire brand is built on the idea that it is not like other tech companies. Its devices cost more, but – in return – you get a better user experience, and the feeling that your device respects you. That last one is subtle, but powerful. Apple markets its devices as tools designed for you, not for advertisers.

The company has even made privacy and security one of its marketing hallmarks, even calling privacy a “fundamental human right.” It’s a foundational part of how Apple positions itself in a world dominated by companies that make money by mining your data and monetizing your attention. So when Apple decides to blur that line and push a promotional message directly through an app that most users associate with security and utility, people aren’t going to be thrilled.

TechCrunch reported multiple user complaints, with many pointing out that Apple violated its own App Store guidelines. Specifically, guideline 4.5.4, which states:

“Push Notifications should not be used for promotions or direct marketing purposes unless customers have explicitly opted in to receive them via consent language displayed in your app’s UI, and you provide a method in your app for a user to opt out from receiving such messages.”

This isn’t a case of a third-party developer stepping out of line. This is Apple using its privileged position as platform owner to do something it doesn’t allow anyone else to do – and that’s exactly the kind of behaviour regulators and developers have been warning about for years.

Even worse, Apple knows this is a problem. In the iOS 26 beta, there’s a new toggle buried in the Wallet app’s settings labeled “Offers & Promotions.” It allows users to disable these kinds of notifications. Of course, that toggle doesn’t exist in iOS 18, which means that most people receiving this promotional push notification never had a chance to opt out.

Think about that. A company that has spent years telling the world that privacy is a fundamental human right, a company that famously took on Facebook and limited how apps can track users across other apps and websites, just used its own system-level app to send out marketing content that users didn’t ask for – and couldn’t opt out of. That’s not a great look.

The timing couldn’t be worse for Apple. The company is already under pressure on multiple fronts. Antitrust lawsuits in the US and Europe are challenging how Apple manages the App Store and its treatment of developers. The rollout of Apple Intelligence has been delayed. Sales of the Vision Pro have failed to live up to expectations. And the company has had to backtrack on a series of high-profile ads amid criticism over tone-deaf messaging.

Now, with F1: The Movie set to premiere in theaters – a move designed to give Apple TV+ the kind of cinematic prestige Netflix and Amazon have been chasing – Apple has managed to distract from the content with a self-inflicted wound.

And for what? A US$10 discount on movie tickets?

Apple could have promoted the film in a dozen different ways that wouldn’t have raised eyebrows. It could put banner ads in the TV app, for example. Instead, the company chose to sneak an ad into the Wallet app – a place where users store boarding passes, credit cards, event tickets, and vaccine records.

The lesson here is simple: Trust is a fragile thing. It’s also your most important asset. Apple knows that – it’s why it spends so much effort building trust with its users, and positioning itself as the one tech company that cares about you and your privacy. It has spent decades cultivating a reputation for prioritizing its users.

The thing is, once you compromise, it’s hard to get back. No company should ever take its customers’ trust for granted. Especially not Apple. – Inc./Tribune News Service