Gregory's ServerThe reason so many firms push so hard to get you to use their phone apps rather than their websites is that the depth of invasive personal data they can gather via the apps is usually enormous in comparison.
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38 comments
  Drawing programs like Procreate are justifiably apps. I’d rather be able to create whatever I scribble locally. Sephora, I’ve added Signal, which I haven’t used yet and Procreate gotten much further than that, and don’t really intend to  @lauren The main reason why I don't want to use those apps is my phone's memory limit. There is no reason whatsoever to use an app when I can just use the website, unless the app is really much easier to use. I need the memory on my phone for apps that do things I can't do with a website. @lauren Bought a Colgate electric toothbrush, and installed their app to use with it. My phone started running out of battery much quicker - so I checked power usage. The Colgate app was using 88% of my total usage. The app was closed, and I wasn’t brushing my teeth - so have to ask - what was it doing? App is now deleted and power usage is back to normal. Lesson learned. @gpnaturephotos @lauren they know it's a useless app, so they hire inexpensive junior developers to make it for a dime. The app developers know it's useless, so no intention of doing it right or efficiently...etc and this is the end product   @lauren This is a fact and it can be verified in each one of them by looking at their permissions access. Even contacts alone can give them more than they rightly should have any access to. Many have access to far far more on your phone though... What bugs me is how many of these apps that *ABSOLUTELY DON'T NEED IT* demand location access. My phone service app back in the day even used to refuse to let me in because I refused and I had to use the site. @lauren for a lot of organizations, they do an app, the more loyal existing customers adopt it, they see that app users have higher ltv, then someone is like EVERYONE SHOULD BE ON THE APP. but also push notifications and in app messaging is cheap as free compared to sms and email. This is also why you can buy very cheap remotely controlled/configured electronics (lighting, etc.) that require tapping into your home network through an app installed on your device(s). The money isn't made on the initial sale, but on selling on your private data later. One positive aspect is that the build quality of those cheap "smart appliances" will be pretty good, as that will ensure that the app usage will be reliable across the appliance's lifetime. Now if only you could work around the app to directly use whatever protocol is used to talk to the appliances, like you would do by using a web browser instead of an app... 🤔 I am so sick of apps on mobile devices, but my tablet, this thing here, I use mastodon through the web interface. My intention is not to put apps on this device at all. Minus the drawing program that I have. Funny - our credit union and bank always direct me to their websites because they have more functionality. The kind expected from financial institutions. I am so tired of the tracking games by websites and apps. Expecting us to exchange our privacy for access to spend money? I will leave the site if I don’t have a “reject all” option.  @Eliot_L @PC_Fluesterer @Eliot_L Not usable or used by 99.999% of ordinary users. So, as far as I'm concerned, in the noise. @lauren @lauren  Ever had a restaurant deny you the discount they offer repeat customers because it's only available via their spyware app or via a dodgy QR code? It's a good way to destroy your customer base. I don’t have apps for any of the places I frequently custom. It’s ridiculous. Show up this morning coffee shop so frequently I benefit from discounts just give me.  Been living the PWA life for a good while because of that. Less addictive (as notifications arrive only while the browser is active), you can block ads, and surprisingly enough, it can save some battery too (as some apps love to stay in the background the whole day, chugging battery and whatever data they can collect)
@lauren I have never understood the need for apps over websites, unless the apps really offer something special that the sites don't. Otherwise, it' s alot easier to just go to the site. I usually do everything on my computer, not my phone, but looking at it from that perspective, it does make sense.
@lauren From @pluralistic: "An app is just a web-page wrapped in enough IP to make it a felony to block ads in it (or do anything else that wrestles value back from a company). Apps are web-pages where everything not mandatory is forbidden." https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/24/everything-not-mandatory/ I agree If it will run on a website, I'll avoid installing an app and use it through the browser The only few exceptions are mastodon, my bank and the core calender, mail etc apps that I've replaced with open source alternatives. All the google/pre installed crap got removed Ideally, I'd prefer to have a dumb phone which supports signal and will sync contacts with nextcloud. Everything else is a distraction |
@lauren apps are like lice.