‘The tyranny of apps’: those without smartphones are unfairly penalised, say campaigners
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I switched thermostats due to the old one failing, and getting a basic smart thermostat was required for a hefty rebate that basically made it free.. and the one I have now, the app thought my not-major-brand phone was a tablet. I couldn’t hit the button to turn down the heat, only up, because it was cut off due to scaling.
So yeah, requiring apps for interface is bad. Even if you are willing to use it there’s so freakin many various versions of android that it’s guaranteed to not work properly for a whole swath of people, mostly those on budget devices.
Especially given that some of the common budget devices, like Huawei, lacks Google services. It is the reason why all the major banks here except one don't require Google services.
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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.
So would you not recommend me getting a refurbished s20? That's the most recent model that still has microSD slots and I've seen them for 200. But I'm not sure about security...
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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'm rocking an S8 as long as I can, but no updates in 5 years is starting to cause compatability issues. I'll have to look into /e/OS soon I think.
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That...
Is that not illegal where you live?
America has next to no protections for tenants, only landlords.
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The more insane thing here for me is the fact that there isn't a washing machine inside your apartment.
(btw lived in such once, apparently the owner wasn't very wealthy. We washed everything by hand)
It's actually incredibly common in US apartments for laundry to be a common area.
Having a unit in your apartment means you're at least well-to-do. Poor people can mostly go fuck themselves.
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Losing your phone now is like losing not just your wallet but simple access to everything.
Can confirm. Brother had his phone stuck in LA for 2 weeks.
- Hard time signing into some sites as they only had text for 2 factor
- Modern alarm clocks are awful, you only get two options and must be plugged in, so if you want 3 alarms while you're outside of your house? Fuck you.
- Harder to track public bus routes as not only can you not call dispatch, you can't check with the app.
There's probably more but those affected him the most. Genuinely weird that in 2025 alarm clocks are stuck in 1985.
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What ticks my off is that I have the stupid Safeway card and the stupid Kroger card. But now there's more deals, better deals if I do a digital coupon requiring the app on my phone, too. It's not enough to know about all the regular items in my home, from celery to toilet paper, but they also must need to hoover up all my digital into as well? Dude, just buy it from Meta or whichever jerks have it all. Half-price grapes ain't the right price.
Yeah multiple layers of s***; I'll be honest I never figured out how to use the digital coupons for the second layer of discount; seems like it's not in the Kroger app but some other scammy telemetry scamming 3rs party. I paid the $2.99 for the ice cream I stead of 1.99
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what's the rationale for IT not wanting to pay for the fobs?
Managers probably sold apps as a cost cutting measure
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what's the rationale for IT not wanting to pay for the fobs?
Presumably they’re expensive and someone needs to manage them.
My company’s approach is “we’ll pay your phone bill if you use an Authenticator app on your phone.” Cheaper for them, plus they don’t need to buy company phones or fobs, and who’s going to complain about their phone bill getting paid?
A previous company tried similar but required putting your phone under enterprise management. A lot of us disagreed with that
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Every service and site had their own malicious toolbar they'd ask you to install and / sneak it into the install for other software. They also came loaded with malware and or siphoned data from you. Older/more tech illiterate people would have browsers looking like the picture above and come to you wondering why their computer is so slow or why they keep getting viruses.
Plus the even simpler: apps are like browser “toolbars” because they’re just a veneer to collect more data, add more tracking, appear to be useful without actually benefitting the user over a simple web page
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Presumably they’re expensive and someone needs to manage them.
My company’s approach is “we’ll pay your phone bill if you use an Authenticator app on your phone.” Cheaper for them, plus they don’t need to buy company phones or fobs, and who’s going to complain about their phone bill getting paid?
A previous company tried similar but required putting your phone under enterprise management. A lot of us disagreed with that
They're not expensive at all.
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what's the rationale for IT not wanting to pay for the fobs?
My job does this too. It’s literally just cost cutting. The fobs expire and need to be replaced every so often but the app lasts “forever”.
IMO the fobs pay for themselves because what they are spending on fobs is the same as what they’re spending on IT members answering calls all day for employees that are having login issues with the app.
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Out of curiosity, how many flip phones have you used since 2007?
My current phone is a flip phone. A Samsung Galaxy Flip 5
Well, you're technically correct lol
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I recently shared a meal with a female friend. Imagine how I'd look if I wasn't able to get money transferred from her, because of not having a mobile banking app.
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No way would I use that app.
We're talking of what is, technically a bank (Moey), that entered my country through another bank. What is even stranger is that you can't even go to one of those banks and make a deposit on you account.
I use the services of what you can consider the most de-materialized bank in my country, which has less than twenty physical locations in the entire country, but they have a very robust help line and you can use the locations of another bank in the same group to deposit money to your account.
But Moey? Either the money is wired in or your stuck.
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I mean I use Cashapp, but I could also not use it and my life wouldn't be much harder
I don't know what Cashapp is but I'm going to take the risk and say it's a fintech that handles direct money services. How off am I?
But I'm talking about a bank. The institution only exists through an app. Let's say you do a odd job and you get paid cash. You can't deposit that money: there is no place or way to do so.
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Well, you're technically correct lol
I hope you can see that, as an owner of a Android flip phone, it is annoying to see people use "flip phone" as a synonym for "dumb phone". BTW not all dumb phones were flip phones, only the final wave of dumb phones generally were.
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I hope you can see that, as an owner of a Android flip phone, it is annoying to see people use "flip phone" as a synonym for "dumb phone". BTW not all dumb phones were flip phones, only the final wave of dumb phones generally were.
@btaf45 @nossaquesapao thank god someone had pointed this out because I'm old and I've been getting confused. Nokia 3310 all the way
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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.
I have no smartphone and am unable to access any of my college resources or email from home because you need a security app for remote login.
I've got in trouble a few times for it but idk what I'm supposed to do. I wasn't able to access my Exam Timetable because of this and had to ask some friends when the exams were because my teachers didn't know (somehow). It's very annoying.
