HTC's default( touchpal) Keyboard has started to show ads to users

[The Sloth]

what happened? 

 

There are a few places where advertising is acceptable. Your phone's keyboard is definitely not one of them. The TouchPal keyboard, which HTC ships as the default system keyboard on many of its phones, has been updated to display ads.

The fault lies in a recent update to 'TouchPal Keyboard for HTC,' also referred to as 'TouchPal Sense Edition,' which HTC has included as the default keyboard on a wide variety of phones. It's even bundled on the company's latest flagships, including the HTC 10 and U11. Understandably, people are not happy at all about ads on their keyboard.

 

 

for a flagship this is unacceptable   

 

 HTC's response to all of this

 

both company are at fault -Judging from HTC's response, it seems likely that TouchPal added advertisements to the keyboard without HTC's knowledge/approval. The app listing in question is published by TouchPad, after all. But both companies are definitely at fault here; HTC shouldn't let another company control such a vital component of its products.

 

-http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/07/16/htcs-touchpal-keyboard-started-show-ads-users/

-

 

 

flagship phones should not have advert in the keyboard  

 

what do you guys think? 

 

 

Update 

 

this guy puts it nicely 

 

 

Edited July 17, 2017 by nerdslayer1
Update

[Guest]

I used touchpal on my Samsung for a while because the Neon Blie theme was simply amazing but now switched to SwiftKey because of freaking ads. There's TouchPal Pro that costs few bucks which has no ads but I guess that's too much for HTC. Why tf would they use a 3rd party app keyboard in the first place? 

[HunterSkater429]

If my keyboard told me to drink bud light I wouldn't be happy either. 

[Djole123]

It's total BS, but this isn't the first time a company has done this. Remember when Samsung was bundling Facebook when updating some of their phones?

 

I guess the reason for the ads on the keyboard is to get more money, HTC is probably not giving them enough and they have to find alternative sources for income.

[LeapFrogMasterRace]

Hi wan show people 

[The Sloth]

2 hours ago, Djole123 said:

It's total BS, but this isn't the first time a company has done this. Remember when Samsung was bundling Facebook when updating some of their phones?

so Samsung is doing this, so it should be ok for htc to do? carriers and samsung bundled that software on Samsung devices, not on the unlocked units -https://www.androidcentral.com/galaxy-s8-unlocked-vs-carrier 

-https://www.tomsguide.com/us/samsung-galaxy-s8-guide,review-4330-3.html 

2 hours ago, Djole123 said:

I guess the reason for the ads on the keyboard is to get more money, HTC is probably not giving them enough and they have to find alternative sources for income.

 it's still not ok, a flag ship should not have bloatware 

[DrMacintosh]

When the product is free, you are the product

 

kek 

[The Sloth]

3 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

When the product is free, you are the product

 

kek 

that's the funny thing, it costs 649 USD( flagship price)  

-https://www.htc.com/us/smartphones/htc-u11/buy/#!color=red

 

 

Edited July 16, 2017 by nerdslayer1
edit- i got the joke  

[DrMacintosh]

1 minute ago, nerdslayer1 said:

that's the funny thing, it costs 649 USD( flagship price)  

-https://www.htc.com/us/smartphones/htc-u11/buy/#!color=red

That flew over your head.

[The Sloth]

1 minute ago, DrMacintosh said:

That flew over your head.

... yup, just got it. 

[Djole123]

5 minutes ago, nerdslayer1 said:

so Samsung is doing this, so it should be ok for htc to do? carriers and samsung bundled that software on Samsung devices, not on the unlocked units -https://www.androidcentral.com/galaxy-s8-unlocked-vs-carrier 

-https://www.tomsguide.com/us/samsung-galaxy-s8-guide,review-4330-3.html

Mine was unlocked and still got the Facebook app

 

But yeah, having ads on a keyboard on a 600$ flagship is definitely not OK.

[The Sloth]

1 minute ago, Djole123 said:

Mine was unlocked and still got the Facebook app

 

But yeah, having ads on a keyboard on a 600$ flagship is definitely not OK.

definitely not ok, at least you can hide/ ignore that, unlike an advert on your keyboard. 

[KenjiUmino]

28 minutes ago, nerdslayer1 said:

The TouchPal keyboard, which HTC ships as the default system keyboard on many of its phones, has been updated to display ads.

ok ... can somebody please tell me why the fuck it is even necessary to pre-load phones with a 3rd party keyboard app ... a fucking keyboard app ... does android not come with a built in keyboard or what ? is there ANY benefit ?

[TheRandomness]

-Thread moved to Tech News and Reviews.

[DildorTheDecent]

1 hour ago, KenjiUmino said:

ok ... can somebody please tell me why the fuck it is even necessary to pre-load phones with a 3rd party keyboard app ... a fucking keyboard app ... does android not come with a built in keyboard or what ? is there ANY benefit ?

Built in keyboard is poo. 

 

Swiftkey tho....

[minibois]

Dear HTC,

 

Spoiler

This is not something you should do and is something that will push users away from your eco system.

This is why Android shouldn't have skins made by manufacturers, you get pre built system Windows adware stuff.. Tsk tsk.. Except worse, since you can't install a fresh version of Android, only one supplied by HTC (without rooting that is).

[JAKEBAB]

1 hour ago, Djole123 said:

Mine was unlocked and still got the Facebook app

I'm on contract and never got it

 

Why are they shipping with a 3rd party keyboard anyway? Should have google keyboard installed by default with the option on first boot to use 3rd party with a disclaimer.

[Syntaxvgm]

I now see the return of the free animated emoji malware 

[Jito463]

2 hours ago, HunterSkater429 said:

If my keyboard told me to drink bud light I wouldn't be happy either. 

If my keyboard told me to drink at all, I wouldn't be happy.  I've never understood how someone can stand to drink alcohol.

2 hours ago, nerdslayer1 said:

 it's still not ok, a flash ship should not have bloatware 

One definitely doesn't want to see bloated flashers, not even on a ship.

[Nowak]

One of my Twitter friends, who has an HTC 10, told me this pissed him off as well when I posted about it on Twitter last night. He uses Gboard now, per my suggestion, but this has turned him off from further HTC phones.

 

Funny that a keyboard from the world's largest ad broker is ad-free, innit? It's also probably the only good keyboard for Android tbh.

[JuztBe]

2 hours ago, KenjiUmino said:

ok ... can somebody please tell me why the fuck it is even necessary to pre-load phones with a 3rd party keyboard app ... a fucking keyboard app ... does android not come with a built in keyboard or what ? is there ANY benefit ?

3rd party app pays for it. 

[HunterSkater429]

7 minutes ago, Jito463 said:

If my keyboard told me to drink at all, I wouldn't be happy.  I've never understood how someone can stand to drink alcohol.

One definitely doesn't want to see bloated flashers, not even on a ship.

Same reason people eat ass, they like it 

[Dabombinable]

My phone (ZTE Fit 4G Smart) uses it as well. Luckily I don't update it often since its running Android 4.4.4 (although its had security features found in newer versions added by ZTE)

[The Sloth]

2 minutes ago, Dabombinable said:

Luckily I don't update it often since its running Android 4.4.4

...umm that's bad, update, your phone is at risk. 

[NumLock21]

This is just the beginning. Wait until everything you buy will start to show ads. Can't wait for the MBP touch bar to show ads!