IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

Apple Keynote now showing ads in its UI

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

Theme 1 – Apple’s growing use of in‑app promotions/ads feels like “enshittification.”
Many users see the AppleCare nag‑icons, Keynote upgrade prompts, and similar upsells as unwanted ads that betray the company’s historically clean, ad‑free experience.

“Another new annoyance: the Settings app has 2 red notification icons because Apple is trying to sell me extended AppleCare. Apparently no way to turn off these notifications.” – mark_l_watson
“Ads are Ads, people hate to see them whatever they are advertising. Especially when they already paid a lot of money to join the ecosystem, upselling to paid customers feels cheap.” – gumby271

Theme 2 – Users are looking for or already using alternatives (Linux, older hardware, open‑source tools, AI‑generated software) to escape Apple’s walled garden.
Frustration with the ecosystem is pushing people toward Linux distributions, repurposed older PCs, or even AI‑assisted clones of macOS apps.

“Yeah same here. I decided to use 5/6 year old trash PCs running Debian. They work absolutely fine. I think I’m actually more productive and certainly less distracted and less broke.” – sdcfgy
“I’d like to switch to Linux, but I can't find a sufficiently functional alternative to Keynote, which I need every day for my work.” – Archesilas
“I could make a full macOS clone… break out of the walled garden where I want to.” – LeFantome

Theme 3 – Concerns that these tactics erode Apple’s premium/luxury brand and long‑term value.
Commenters argue that Apple’s reputation for quality and design is being diluted by monetization tactics that prioritize short‑term revenue over user experience.

“I still don’t get why apple chooses to devalue their brand so much for so little additional revenue. They’re a luxury goods brand, their whole revenue model is based on the appearance of quality.” – Joeri
“They make great hardware. They used to make great devices - but a great device needs the whole user experience to be great. Ad‑ridden UI does not make for a great device.” – spinningslate
“When you can't sell to more customers, you have to squeeze the revenue out of the opportunities you do have.” – lenerdenator

🚀 Project Ideas

Generating project ideas…

KeyNoteX – Open‑source Keynote‑compatible presentation suite

Summary

  • Provides a free, cross‑platform alternative to Apple Keynote that reads/writes .key files and exports to PDF/PowerPoint.
  • Core value: AI‑assisted slide creation from plain‑text outlines (LaTeX/HTML) eliminates manual formatting and lets Linux users replace Keynote workflow.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Professionals, educators, designers who need Keynote‑level presentations on Linux or want to escape Apple’s upsell notifications
Core Feature Full .key file compatibility + AI outline‑to‑slide engine (LaTeX/HTML export)
Tech Stack Electron/Tauri for UI, libetonyek for .key parsing, local LLM (Llama.cpp) for outline generation, React/Svelte slide editor
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • HN users complained: “I’d like to switch to Linux, but I can't find a sufficiently functional alternative to Keynote…” (Archesilas) and “Claude, make me a latex presentation on filled in with this outline.” (hedora).
  • Potential for discussion: Open‑source presentation tools often appear on HN; could spark show‑and‑tell, contributions, and plugin ecosystems.

NoUpsell – macOS daemon that silences Apple’s promotional notifications

Summary

  • Runs as a background service that monitors and suppresses Apple’s built‑in upsell banners in System Settings and Notification Center.
  • Core value: Restores a clean, ad‑free macOS experience without needing to toggle each prompt manually.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience macOS users frustrated by persistent upsell notifications (AppleCare, iCloud, etc.)
Core Feature Disables specific notification bundle IDs and blocks promotional UI in Settings via plist/defaults tweaks
Tech Stack Swift/SwiftUI macOS app, launchd/ServiceManagement, optional Objective‑C for private API hooks
Difficulty Low‑Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Users expressed annoyance: “Settings app has 2 red notification icons because Apple is trying to sell me extended AppleCare… no way to turn off these notifications.” (mark_l_watson) and “Apple’s own cross‑promotions are so ugly…”.
  • Practical utility: Many HN threads discuss disabling macOS ads; a simple tool would be widely shared and discussed.

KeyShare – AI‑powered Keynote ↔ open format conversion service

Summary

  • Upload a .key file, get a fully editable HTML/reveal.js deck or LaTeX Beamer source; optionally convert back to .key.
  • Core value: Enables Linux/Windows users to work with Keynote files without needing Apple software, and lets teams share presentations in universal formats.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Teams with mixed OS environments, educators, consultants who receive Keynote files from Apple users
Core Feature AI‑assisted layout detection and conversion (LLM maps objects, styles, animations) plus traditional parsing via libetonyek
Tech Stack Python/FastAPI backend (libetonyek via subprocess), LLM (Llama 2) for semantic mapping, React frontend with Monaco editor for LaTeX/HTML preview
Difficulty High
Monetization Revenue-ready: Freemium – free limited conversions, $9/mo for unlimited + priority

Notes

  • HN comment: “Claude, make me a latex presentation on filled in with this outline.” (hedora) shows desire for AI‑generated LaTeX slides; also “I could make a full macOS clone…” (LeFantome).
  • Potential for discussion: Conversion tools often appear on HN; would spark talk about interoperability and AI’s role in file translation.

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