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Stop using app icons for political activism

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Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#71
post #41
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CleanMyMac put a Ukrainian flag in my toolbar and I promptly uninstalled CleanMyMac and cancelled my subscription. I was already using AppCleaner (OSS?) for most uninstalls anyways.

For context, CleanMyMac is based in Kyiv

I get that this adds context but I still didn't want their flag on my computer and their stunt guaranteed that I wouldn't buy another product from them

Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#72
post #70
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, they’re saying consumers are able to stop using your app if you inject politics into it, and some percentage will. No right or wrong involved, this means less money for you.

> this means less money for you. My morals are not for sale.

Great! While we can argue over whether not changing an app icon is immoral, it is your prerogative to make that trade off. Let’s just not pretend the tradeoff doesn’t exist.

Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#73
post #66
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The app might be "yours", but once you gave it to another person to install it on their phone, you should not abuse their hospitality. You don't rerrange furniture in a home you're visiting if you have good manners.

Then don't update the app.

When you invite someone for a repeat visit, you presume that they won't rearrange your stuff.

When they arrive and you catch them in the act, the damage is already done. (Can applications be downgraded in the typical walled-garden OS environment?)

Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#74
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's political advertising and, like many, I don't want any ads in my apps. Normalizing political ads in apps is a two edged sword because, even if yours are righteous, there are plenty of unsavory political movements I don't want to see ads for and they would be just as "justified" as yours because they too sincerely believe their cause is righteous (even though we would disagree).

I'm completely fine with your right to dump those unsavory apps. If enough of us do, they may chose to, at least, hide to wherever they came out from.

[deleted]

Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#75

The main question I have after reading this is: what 'bargain' is the author referring to? Apps change their logos all of the time, as is their right. The timing of this post is coincident with pride month, and many companies changing altering their logo to use the pride colors. I disagree with the suggestion that changing the color(s) of the logos and icons hinder the user's ability to find the app. A rainbow versio…

When someone complains about politics infiltrating a space but is unwilling to name the specific politics, suggesting it's a general principle, they very likely have a problem with the specific politics. They see social costs in voicing that opinion, so they generalize it to some principle.

Hard to imagine a minor annoyance of logo design would otherwise justify a public post. Living in a pluralistic, multi-cultural society doesn't mean excluding politics from the public sphere. It means tolerating politics in the public sphere, especially if you're ambivalent or even a little annoyed by those politics.

In this example, if it's pride symbols or the Ukrainian flag, or something else -- those will stop being political once the rights are so normalized and obvious, they no longer elicit reactions like this.

Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#76
Now that so many big corps change their logo colors to rainbow in July, I think it's no longer a strong statement. Not that it really was one, if certain locales were excluded from it. I guess ceasing business with countries which don't follow human rights requires too much courage.

Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One more reason to support linux phones. And yes, I know how inconvenient they can be compared to other models, but people should make the effort or else we will always live with these kinds of problems.

I'm a pinephone early adopter so you don't have to sell me on that. But I also know that such things are not viable for mass market. Pinephone works for me because I am technically savvy and value ownership of my device more than ease of use. But time and time again we've seen that the market as a whole will go for whatever has the lowest friction. That's the singular most important factor. Whatever lets people do th…

You're right. Thinking "people create problems for themselves" is egoistical, most people are not educated to see beyond ads, the ones who are, most don't care. The deepest problem with such behavior is that this influences industry to simply kill any support to less common options and such group of users (which probably include we two) won't get any support from major vendors.

Consumer protection laws are not only important even for those who don't care about them. They are important specially because there are so many people who don't care about them.

Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#79
post #2

How about no? If it's my app, I'll use my logo. I consider the logo an integral part of the application's identity and I should control its identity. I promise I'll do my best to make it easily and readily recognizable, regardless of it using national colors, a rainbow or shades of white, pink and blue. If you don't like it, it's your problem, not mine.

If you do that you a paid customer, you are perpetuating a bait and switch fraud.

If you are doing that in a free app, OK, but you are going to get bad reviews from the users you vandalized, and might be violating the advertising/spam rules of the platform your are distributing on.

Re: Stop using app icons for political activism

#80
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s the activism angle exactly for? Do you think people on the fence about some issue will be swayed one way or the other?

As someone said much better than I ever could, I don't want to impose my values upon others, but I want to show others who have the same values I do they are not alone.

Saying that you're changing your logo to "show others who have the same values I do they are not alone" implies that you're expressing some very exceptional values. I struggle to imagine what values are best at connecting to lonely people through their phone homescreen.
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