Apple’s F1 Movie Alert Sparks Outrage in the US: Controversy Erupts Over Notification

Apple is going all out to market its new movie F1, which hit theaters this week, even employing tactics it usually avoids. In the United States, the company has sparked controversy by sending out a notification through its Maps app that promoted a special offer (a $10 discount on the purchase of two tickets from Fandango when using Apple Pay).

This approach has led to numerous complaints from users who are unhappy about the promotional use of this channel, especially since the only way to avoid such notifications is to disable all notifications from the Maps app, which also means missing out on other useful alerts.

The beta version of iOS 26 introduces a new feature that allows users to control the display of Apple Pay promotional offers. This setting is located directly within the Maps app under the notifications menu, where the “Offers and Promotions” option is checked by default. This feature is not available in iOS 18.