Re: Google nag to turn Discover on

On Fri, 21 Mar 2025 18:08:12 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:

 
Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> wrote:
 

VanguardLH wrote:
 

Since your phone likely connects to your Google account, go to
google.com (and signin), click your account picture, More settings, and
then Other settings.  Disable "Show Discover on home page."

 
I don't have such a setting under Other Settings, neither in a web
browser nor in the Google app, and entering it in the settings search
box didn't find it. The web browser version doesn't even have
Discover under Other Settings (or anywhere else that I could readily
see). Under Other Settings in the app, Discover (which, as I said, is
turned off) there is an explanation "You'll see stories related to
your interest on the home tab of the app."

 
In a web browser:
- Visit google.com. 
- Login. 
- Click on the user icon (top right corner of web page). 
- In the popup dialog, click on "More settings" (lower left corner of
  dialog). 
- In the left pane, click on "Other settings". 
- Under the Desktop section, disable the "Show Discover on home page". 
 
I don't see how you could have a different web page than anyone else
that logs into their Google account to review settings.  You did login,
right to then view your Google account settings, right?

Because you took the trouble to post and attempt to help, I'm
following up. But I think this subthread is probably obsolete, for
reasons given in my article dated "Fri, 21 Mar 2025 11:20:45 -0700"
in this thread.

https://brownmath.com/screenshot.jpg

I was already logged in; I had a "sign out" option when I first
clicked the S-in-a circle at upper right, but no login prompt. I then
clicked "More settings" followed by "Other settings", and the above
image was the result.

After logging in, and clicking on the account icon, I see:
https://imgur.com/a/FzoapeI
 
After clicking on More settings, I see:
https://imgur.com/a/rEJ5PfN
 
I only mention the server-side account settings since tis possible the
Google app is connecting to your Google account from your phone.  Do you
have a Google account defined on your phone?  Likely yes.  On the phone,
look under Accounts to see which ones you have defined.
 
While Android apps may connect using only the app, some apps will still
fallback to using the default web browser.  On your phone, which web
browser is the default one?  Regardless of how you think or wish the
bank and library apps to behave, have you contacted your bank and
library to check they NEVER fallback to a web browser.  Just because the
window doesn't look like a web browser doesn't mean it isn't one.  Lots
of web-centric apps want you to believe all their screens are presented
by the apps, not using a web browser as a helper app. 

Yes, but we know Google Messages doesn't use a web browser -- we do
know that, right? -- and nor does Google Nest. Those are two where I
remember recently being thrown into the Discover nag screen.

But all of this is probably beside the point; please see my other
response to you yesterday in  this thread, datelined "Fri, 21 Mar
2025 11:20:45 -0700".

Since making the changes described in that article, I haven't seen
the Discover nag screen again, and previously it was several times a
day.

Alas, the normal contacts at the bank and library are ignorants.

Yes, I've observed that when attempting to report a programming
problem. The most recent was that bill pay refuses to schedule an ACH 
payment for a future date if your available balance now is less than
the payment amount. The reply had the gall to call that misfeature an
"enhancement".

--
Stan Brown, Tehachapi, California, USA         https://BrownMath.com/
Shikata ga nai...