April 4, 2026, 10:57 am | Read time: 2 minutes
Pre-installed apps are considered by many to be an integral part of smartphones. It becomes all the more sensitive when content appears there that looks more like marketing.
Many people use weather, time, or system notifications on their smartphones without a second thought. That’s precisely why advertising there stands out immediately. Reports about such ads on Honor devices have been circulating for about three months, although only a few regions were affected. Now, there are increasing indications that this is about to change.
Advertising also in Europe
According to WinFuture, the practice was initially known mainly from Middle Eastern countries. There, advertising content is said to appear in factory-installed apps, such as the weather app and other system services. There are now indications that this approach is spreading to Europe. New terms of use, which users reportedly have to agree to after software updates in Europe, are considered signs of this, according to reports on Reddit.
This is particularly critical because such system apps often cannot be easily removed. Advertising is more accepted in free apps. In permanently integrated programs, ads feel imposed.
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Advertising by other manufacturers
Honor has been known for years for its relatively low prices. Therefore, using advertising to finance the offering is at least partially understandable. However, this would not be a new step. Xiaomi confirmed years ago that it was incorporating ads into its operating system. These appeared in pre-installed programs like the music player and even in the settings, sometimes labeled as “recommendations.”
Even in Honor’s expensive devices
Apparently, not only budget devices from Honor are affected. Even the Honor Magic 7 Pro, which currently costs more than 700 euros, reportedly has such ads. There’s another issue: The content is not always clearly recognizable as advertising. Sometimes it appears more like recommendations or additional content within the interface. This makes it even harder to distinguish between real functions and commercial content. For a brand aiming to establish a stronger presence in the premium segment, this could become a problem. Those who spend a lot of money on a smartphone expect a mostly uninterrupted user experience without additional ads in this class.