‘The tyranny of apps’: those without smartphones are unfairly penalised, say campaigners
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I'm shocked.
Right off the top of my head, I can mention an entire finacial institution that only exists through an app. No website, no physical locations, no nothing. It's one app and that is it.
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I am still using a flip phone. My new goal is to make it to 2027 marking two decades of rejecting the smartphone era. Each time I consider compromising something gets even more awful about smartphones and I double down on saying no.
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My GF laughs because I have no loyalty cards or apps and I laugh that she has one for everything.
Loyalty rewards are bullshit.
In the US, if you don't have the loyalty card, you're paying more for groceries. For the stores we use, any sale prices are contingent upon using the loyalty card. This can add up to $5-$10 per order.
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Then you could agree with any barely computer-savvy person that such things should be killed with fire.
Now a lot of very competent person will try to persuade you how you are a luddite and wrong, except 5-10 years ago they'd also promise some bright tech future in addition to that, and now you're just wrong because they can exist in that environment and like it, and you can't.
you can't.
Can, but refuse. Big distinction for me. I've lived through these arguments once already, and have watched their computers keel over and die several time from the viruses these toolbars often bring, and I will now watch as their phones do the same.
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My S21 is on the verge of losing regular security updates, and I hate it. The battery is fine, the camera is more than adequate, I do not want to upgrade.
Mine decided to randomly start rebooting about a year ago.
Tried everything I could think of to get it to work normally, but nothing helped. I couldn't rely on it, so I had to replace it. Like you, I hadn't planned to replace it any time soon. -
Yep. They want you to use apps, cause all the permissions you give the app makes it much easier for them to harvest all your data for marketing and selling purposes.
That's exactly it. Easy to block ads and trackers on a website, but more difficult or impossible on some apps.
One of the banking apps won't show the total balance of the account unless I'm using the app. How ridiculous.
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I'm never trolling about Linux. On Lemmy there are so many cultists that you can say the most innocuous things and it will be downvoted to oblivion or deleted for "trolling". Maybe you don't like calling it a cult but I get more downvoted for negative comments about Linux them other people do when they literally say Nazi things.
"You're a cultist!" screamed the cultist, angry at people for using something other than what the cultist prefers.
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Phone apps are nothing more than modern toolbars. And in case you forgot or missed this phase of the internet...
Peak internet wdym
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I'm in California where we have a grocery chain, Safeway. They've had a loyalty card for decades, which works great, gets you good deals, can be scanned by the checkout clerk or at self checkout. It also racks up points which can be used for discounts.
About 2 years ago I started seeing signs in the store offering even greater savings through the app. There will sometimes be 2 signs side by side for the loyalty card vs the app. The app is always a better deal.
So I downloaded the app and learned
- the app cannot scan your membership at self checkout, you have to be checked out by a clerk
- the app's membership number is different from your loyalty card number and the two cannot be merged.
- because of that your points can't be transferred to the app
It's the dumbest thing ever. Why not just offer the better savings to the loyalty card? Isn't that the whole point behind loyalty? I literally shop at Safeway less often now.
Food Lion (East coast, not sure if they're national) has a fairly good loyalty program. Your loyalty card number on the physical card or in the app are the same, you can load coupons to it so they're applied at checkout if they're relevant, you can use their ordinary website if you don't have/want to use a smart phone app...it's non-cancerous.
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My S21 is on the verge of losing regular security updates, and I hate it. The battery is fine, the camera is more than adequate, I do not want to upgrade.
I have an S10e in service, it's perfectly fine.
I saw whoever has the Nokia name now is selling smart phones designed to be end user disassembled and repairable, but they're really mum about how long their software support is.
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There should be a warning label on any establishment or product that requires a smartphone to use.
There was a food truck I went to one time that required you to download some app to look at their menu and order your food. They refused to accept a credit card or cash. I walked. So fucking stupid. I don't know why people allow shit like that to exist.
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I mean I simply refuse to ask QR code phishing is a thing
I mean you just need to audit the URL before going there.
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Ooh. Now do iOS.
No, you stop doing iOS.
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Phone apps are nothing more than modern toolbars. And in case you forgot or missed this phase of the internet...
I missed that phase because I was using Netscape.
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Peak internet wdym
No argument there, especially with Bonzi Buddy lol
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I missed that phase because I was using Netscape.
Then you didn't miss it. You glossed over it, like a boss
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The funny thing about qr codes for restaurant menus to me, as someone that studied menu design. Is that actual menus are designed specific ways make the restaurant more profit and make it easier for people to find what they want. Whereas qr codes often bring one to a hastily designed list of categories which are not only less intuitive but also less manipulative. So people will end up taking longer to order less profitable dishes.
I've been to some that try to upsell you during the checkout process. Big pop up comes up "Add x to your order for $y.99!" Shut the fuck up!
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I for one cheer and root for my flip phone friends.
I'd never do it, but we have one at work and he's singlehandedly causing so much grief at work. Because none of the engineers wanna use a security app for login. They want a fob.
IT refuses to pay for fobs and wants us to use an app, but they also don't want to pay for a phone for anyone in engineering just to use the security app because it opens a floodgate of people with company phones.
It's just wonderful to watch this fight from the sidelines sipping tea.
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In the US, if you don't have the loyalty card, you're paying more for groceries. For the stores we use, any sale prices are contingent upon using the loyalty card. This can add up to $5-$10 per order.
Oh the same bullshit is done here with Loblaws. I don't care. They have my info every time I use my credit card at their store that's all they need and it's all they get.
If I have to pay more because they're greedy little fuckpigs so be it.
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My old apartment had gates that could only be opened with an app. They took out the card reader and made it app only. Should have gotten out of there much earlier than I did.
the gates that slide over using a chain, they often have a removable link at the end. If you unhook the chain on the opener side, it will open one more time, then spit all the chain out trying to close it. I used to take that link out when living in complexes with those gates. Made life easier for most. Would take months for it to get fixed. They are just standard 1/2in x1/8in bike chain.
