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'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

theguardian.com

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Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#171

Post by tokioyoyo »

ryandrake wrote: post #163
pqtyw wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1. Parking apps are worse than parking meters. I certainly don't agree with that one. I really don't miss having to pay for a fixed number of hours and then having to figure out what to do if I'm running late (or wasting money if I get back early). > 4. Airline apps that are worse than just printing a boarding pass. Unless the app is exceptionally horrible you can just export it to Apple/Android wallet which is muc…

Don’t people just print their boarding passes at home before they leave for the airport? Or worst case, use the kiosks at the airports which print passes? Very few of the passengers in line ahead of me are using their phones.

Depends where you are and which flights. Around me, maybe 60% of people use mobile. From the other 40%, some probably got their paper tickets when they checked in their baggage and going with that now.

> boarding passes at home before they leave for the airport

It’s been years I’ve heard or seen anyone doing it. Even my parents in their 70s get theirs at the airport.

Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#172

Post by gambiting »

2shortplanks wrote: post #167

One thing this article doesn’t mention is how this all falls apart when you spend time in more than one country. My UK bank (Barclays) won’t let me install their app on my US iPhone (i.e. my phone that uses a US based iCloud account). Tesco won’t let me use their loyalty app. I can’t install an app that’ll let me order Starbucks or McDonalds in the UK (I only have access to the US versions of these apps). I can’t wat…

Yep, as someone who also travels between countries regularly, it's complete nonsense. "This app isn't available in your region" - what do you mean, I am literally in your region.

Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#173

Post by jamesfmilne »

jebarker wrote: post #107

When visiting the UK last summer we tried to go to a train museum. There were three public parking lots around with different app based parking systems. We were unsuccessful in using any of them due to various issues relating to poor cell service, lack of UK phone number etc. In the end we had to leave without visiting the museum. It was farcical.

As a North London resident, the parking app situation is just as farcical for me.

There are at least three different apps for parking around me: RingGo, PayByPhone and JustPark.

I went to East London recently to visit the Velodrome, and discovered yet another one: Evology.

It's always great fun, standing around in the car park trying to wrangle your cards whilst creating yet another account to pay for 30 minutes of parking.

Then, of course, there's the 50/50 chance that my iPhone has decided to offload the parking app you need because you haven't used it in the last month or so.

And occasionally RingGo will decide to log me out, and when I go to log back in for some reason the last password I have in my password manager doesn't work, so now I also have to reset my password.

Agreed, paying for parking has turned into a total farce.

Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#174

Post by tokioyoyo »

noqc wrote: post #161
pqtyw wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1. Parking apps are worse than parking meters. I certainly don't agree with that one. I really don't miss having to pay for a fixed number of hours and then having to figure out what to do if I'm running late (or wasting money if I get back early). > 4. Airline apps that are worse than just printing a boarding pass. Unless the app is exceptionally horrible you can just export it to Apple/Android wallet which is muc…

what if your phone runs out of battery?

I’m gonna say something stupid — the chances of my phone running out of battery and me not being able to charge it is lower than me losing the paper ticket.

Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#175

Post by robocat »

jampekka wrote: post #123

> The consumer group is among those to have highlighted Lidl’s loyalty scheme, Lidl Plus, as one that is only accessible via an app, with an email address also required. At least here in Finland Lidl Plus is one of the few which can be used by just entering a phone number. That said, all "loyalty programs" should be outright banned. They stifle competition, make pricing less transparent and discriminate against the l…

> loyalty programs" discriminate against the less well off.

The opposite: supermarket loyalty cards are often designed so that the well off pay more: i.e. it is the well off that are being discriminated against. The barriers are designed to allow poorer people to pay less. The topic is called price discrimination.

All the poorer people I know use loyalty cards because they judge them to be valuable (despite the extra hassle).

The less well off often get lower prices (plus valuable rewards) because of the loyalty programs in New Zealand.

I often use my friend's loyalty accounts: so I get the item discounts but they collect the loyalty rewards/cash. Also I like to screw the data surveillance up - I don't get tracked so much and my friend's account is spammed with higher cost items.

Coupons are designed for the same purpose. Allowing poorer people to choose to trade their time/hassle for savings (according to their values).

Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#176

Post by kQq9oHeAz6wLLS »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #159
PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what retaliation are you imagining and against whom? who is even "the user" here?

Do a little reverse engineering/analysis on the app, to parallel-construct the claims of 'fifticon (as to not require them to leak internal info or become a whistleblower). If it's as bad as it sounds, go to press. Or just dump an expose on Twitter/X to maximize public awareness. > who is even "the user" here? The doctors and their patients. If it's as bad as it sounds, it actively degrades the ability of doctors to…

People should instead just vote with you feet and dollars. That'll be inconvenient, but if it bothers you enough, you'll make the effort.

A crucial part of this approach is to let your doctor know exactly why you're leaving. If they're losing business over it, they'll look for alternatives. And if the EHR company loses money, they'll look to make changes, too.

Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#177

Post by montroser »

I never install apps, and I don't have any problem with private companies offering discounts or whatever via apps. The market will do its thing.

But where I have a big problem is when my local government requires me to install apps to do basic things like parking. It would almost be okay if the apps were developed in house and were open source. But of course they're not. And anyway there's no reason they can't just be web based.

So now I just don't pay for parking and I pay the ticket if I get a ticket...

Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#178

Post by tdeck »

philipov wrote: post #152
layer8 wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn’t solve the problem of having to spend time deleting photos and later restoring them back from the archive.

plug in USB cable, drag and drop entire directory from one drive to another with file explorer, is the only reasonable way to manage photos. Get everything off the device at the end of each day. Why would you ever put things back on the phone?

And then if I want to look at my photos while I'm out, or show them to someone, I don't have them on my phone anymore?

Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#179

Post by mariusor »

briandear wrote: post #122
mariusor wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a smartphone. However I choose to use a mobile OS that is neither Android nor iOS, why should I get penalized that banks don't invest in applications for my OS too?

It’s business. Should a steakhouse be required to have vegan offerings? If that’s not what their customers want, then why would they invest hundreds of thousands on building and maintaining an app that maybe five people would use?

When businesses provide essential services (like banking) I feel like they should be held to the same standards as government services. Not that some governments don't treat users without Android or iOS as third class citizens.

So, to clarify, there are banks that have their full business value accessible only through mobile, and as a person needing banking but doesn't have access to mobile, I can make an informed decision and not be their customer. But when I create a bank account in a physical office, and then the office gets closed in favour of an alegedly much more accessible mobile application, I feel like there should be some measure protecting me from that. Do you find that unreasonable?

Re: 'The tyranny of apps': those without smartphones are unfairly penalised

#180

Post by rrr_oh_man »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #136
pcthrowaway wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

City of Vancouver parking meters have to accept cash still. If you try putting a quarter in and it doesn't work (as is often the case because of tampering with the coin slots), I believe you don't have to pay for parking.

going back to pre-smartphone but still true, in the US at least, it is generally illegal to park at a broken meter and you can get a ticket -- because otherwise there would be incentive to break the meter so you could park there for free.

> because otherwise there would be incentive to break the meter so you could park there for free

Never in my life would I have thought of that.

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