T-Mobile apologizes for ads in Android notification area, fixes the issue

Recently, T-Mobile’s “My Account” app on some of its Android handset started pushing ads into the notification area. This obviously was the cause of much consternation — wholly justified as the app is generally included on-device and can’t be easily uninstalled. Luckily, T-Mobile acted relatively swiftly to remove the ad notifications — though the company chalked their existence up to a “mistake” rather than a conscious effort to push its “VIP Zone” loyalty program, which offers prizes and discounts to customers. Just as importantly, the company apologized in a statement to TmoNews

During a recent software update, a message to promote T-Mobile’s free VIP Zone was mistakenly sent to certain customers and appeared on the notification bar for some Android devices. After T-Mobile was made aware of this mistake, the company stopped the notifications. T-Mobile apologizes for the inconvenience this may have caused customers.

We’d like to say this is the last we’ll see of carrier ads appearing in what is otherwise a core smartphone experience, but given how aggressive the on-deck software has been getting lately, we’re sure it won’t be.