Please Don't Make Me Download Another App
Growing reliance on mobile apps for everyday tasks—paying for parking, doing laundry, ordering food, banking, even configuring appliances—is provoking backlash from users who would rather use the web or offline alternatives. Commenters argue that many apps are little more than packaged websites laden with tracking, invasive permissions, and spammy notifications, driven by data collection and platform fees rather than genuine user need. They call for stronger regulation, better browser‑based options and PWAs, and product designs that don’t make basic services contingent on owning a smartphone and installing yet another app.
Overall Sentiment About “App Creep”
- Many commenters are exhausted by being pushed to install single‑purpose apps for trivial or infrequent tasks (parking, laundry, restaurants, barbers, transit, etc.).
- Some refuse on principle and choose alternative providers or go without the service; others feel effectively coerced because there is no workable alternative nearby.
- A minority argues that you can just install an app briefly and delete it, or that apps often work better than poorly tested mobile websites.
Notifications, Attention, and Data Collection
- Strong resentment toward notification spam and dark patterns: apps use “legitimate” alerts (rides, laundry done, banking) as a channel for marketing.
- Several people practice strict “notification hygiene,” disabling or uninstalling any app that sends non‑essential alerts.
- Others note they cannot fully opt out for banking, government, or payment apps.
- Notifications and invasive permissions are seen as key profit levers: attention hijacking plus data harvesting (location, contacts, Bluetooth, etc.).
Forced App Use and Everyday Life
- Examples: app‑only payment for laundry, parking, curbside check‑in, restaurant ordering, apartment HVAC, even house keys.
- Complaints include poor app quality (slow, unsorted lists, unreliable connectivity), dubious billing behavior, and dependence on cloud APIs that get hacked or fail.
- Some jurisdictions reportedly restrict “no cash” policies, but in practice users still feel boxed in.
Web vs Native Apps / PWAs
- Many want functional, mobile‑friendly web apps instead of duplicated native apps.
- Others note that native apps often feel faster, cleaner, and work offline; mobile web UX is frequently neglected.
- PWAs and browser “Add to Dock/Home Screen” are seen as promising but hampered by platform limits (especially on iOS) and missing browser features in PWA shells.
Privacy, Permissions, and Security Models
- Debate over how much more data apps can access than websites; some stress that web APIs (location, Bluetooth, battery) now narrow the gap.
- Several describe capability‑based OS designs, finer‑grained contact access, and fake/mediated capabilities as desirable futures.
Platform and Policy Critiques
- App stores are criticized for prioritizing revenue over quality or user control, and for allowing notification abuse.
- Some blame Apple/Google’s app‑store model for stifling a more open, URL‑based native‑app ecosystem.
- Loyalty apps and “member pricing” are viewed as data‑collection systems that enable price discrimination and should potentially be banned or regulated.