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Do not download the app, use the website

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Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#81

What are good examples of apps that have managed to monetize the precise location of millions of users in a way that isn't obvious (e.g. location-based advertising, or location-based filtering of social media content)? Collecting that data sounds creepy and nefarious, but if i think about what Experian and everyone else already knows about me, I don't know what information my phone's location would actually add that…

When “location” includes Bluetooth and wifi info, companies with a reason to invest can track your movement around a store to ~1m accuracy with BLE beacons etc. They know what you looked at in an aisle, for how long, and unless you paid in cash what you ended up buying via loyalty programs or credit card info. They also know, for each product you looked at and bought, or looked at and didn’t buy, what advertisements you were exposed to.

On an individual level who gives a shit, but with large enough datasets you can essentially A/B test your way to psychologically manipulating people into more sales.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#82
The other side of the coin is that website forces you to trust your data to the website and almost always locks you in with them (the regulation to provide "export" of data worth nothing if competitors are not required to be able to auto-import it). It is not as one-sided as this articles presents it.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#83
post #4

I 100% agree with this, but a significant way that mobile websites often decay the experience compared to the app is with very short-lived login sessions. Even when the experience is otherwise basically identical, I've found that login sessions in a browser are sometimes measured in days, where in the app sessions never expire. Which feels like app install metric juicing to me.

Note that Safari will remove storage for a site if it hasn't been accessed in 7 days.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#84

I understand but it’s not always with bad intentions. In the Netherlands we have a system called DigiD to login into to most government websites like your taxes and city, etc. When I contracted for the city of Amsterdam I learned they’ve been pushing hard for the DigiD app to two factor authenticate instead of text message, because of contracts Digid charges a lot per text message validation and none for app.

True, but it does force citizens into a contract with either Apple or Google. I don’t think that is a good idea both from the perspective of individual freedom and national sovereignty.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#85
I wonder what people do in that one area they are so often reticent to discuss: porn.

The (non-scientific) impression I have is that people don't tend to use porn apps, they stick with porn websites.

Therefore, do people basically know apps aren't well behaved with their data and yet in other scenarios they turn a blind eye?

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#86

The other side of the coin is that website forces you to trust your data to the website and almost always locks you in with them (the regulation to provide "export" of data worth nothing if competitors are not required to be able to auto-import it). It is not as one-sided as this articles presents it.

> website forces you to trust your data to the website

Applies to apps too. The point was, you trust you whole disk to apps, in addition to this.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#87
post #84

I understand but it’s not always with bad intentions. In the Netherlands we have a system called DigiD to login into to most government websites like your taxes and city, etc. When I contracted for the city of Amsterdam I learned they’ve been pushing hard for the DigiD app to two factor authenticate instead of text message, because of contracts Digid charges a lot per text message validation and none for app.

True, but it does force citizens into a contract with either Apple or Google. I don’t think that is a good idea both from the perspective of individual freedom and national sovereignty.

Nothing beats a hardware token.

I would also use Yubikey for banking, but I am scared as f. what happens if I lose it while traveling abroad.

Re: Do not download the app, use the website

#89

I wonder what people do in that one area they are so often reticent to discuss: porn. The (non-scientific) impression I have is that people don't tend to use porn apps, they stick with porn websites. Therefore, do people basically know apps aren't well behaved with their data and yet in other scenarios they turn a blind eye?

Are there porn apps? I believe App Store restrictions wouldn't allow that.
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