this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2024
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AssholeDesign
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This is a community for designs specifically crafted to make the experience worse for the user. This can be due to greed, apathy, laziness or just downright scumbaggery.
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Why the fuck would anybody install an APP to use a website?
(Puts on clown face) "Sure, I'll install this program on my pocket computer from the Urban Dictionary to save the time it would take me to open a web browser and type in the URL of it, all it costs is me giving direct access to my stored personal data and real-time activities"
The state of people blindly using apps for everything is atrocious.
“But it saves me a 1USD on my fast food burger!”
Fast food charges you around double if you don't use the app. I think it's mostly about tiered pricing. They want the money from those willing to pay $15 for a burger AND they still want the money from people who won't pay more than $10. This way they get both.
In the US, I guess? Not where I come from
In Italy it's also like this
You literally pay double the price if you order without using the coupons found in the app for McDonald's, Burger King and KFC
Makes sense. I don’t eat fast food, so I didn’t know. But no way am I installing apps for… basically any commercial thing.
Same here, but I do eat fast food on occasion. Their small discounts are not worth enough to compromise my phone's integrity and my privacy.
I just looked at their app permissions, and woof. It’s almost as bad as Threads.
It's not a small discount. Of course just using the app isn't the only hoop. You also have to order correctly to maximize the discount.
Those kind of apps have a special place on my phone: petercxy's shelter (don't install it from play store because in order to meet the Google requirements it has been nerfed). Apps installed there use a dedicated throwaway Google account and are completely disabled with a toggle on my launcher. (Lawnchair 2 has a toggle in the drawer for it)
If an app is installed in shelter it's on a completely separate partition and can't access any file or photo on your main one. And once you quit, they are all disabled like if the phone is turned off
It's just an incentive to install the app, the amount of data being harvested and sold/traded is basically the new economy.
You could as much harvest more data from a browser honestly. Most apps are sandboxed, a browser shares its cookies.
Phone apps have access to significantly more data than a browser does, especially when people haphazardly agree to any and all permissions.
If you believe that's really true I'm probably not the one to change your mind.
Browsers usually don't even ask for any permissions, where iOS and Android apps do, and explicitly state what data they'll steal.
It's much easier to fingerprint your behavior when using the web than it is when using apps.
Unless you're only talking about "the wrong kind of apps" but then I could continue about "the wrong kind of websites".
But hey, you do you. Happy tracking.
Edit: I feel sad that sites like The Verge et al. trick people who want to learn in those kind of directions. They're writers, not tech people. They earn from ads! Don't listen to them.
Yes, I'm comparing the threat level based on the maximum potential akin to the likes of "those apps". Permissions are straightforward and will protect users just like ad blockers, decentralized static frameworks (JavaScript/CSS/fonts), and clearing cookies. But on average users are not well informed and aren't considering permissions, add-ons, or even which browser or app they use so I compare based on the potential threat level.
McDonald's charges a lot more without the app tho
fun fact: McDonald's app has tighter "security" than my bank app and won't even work on rooted devices
I can't believe that there's a whole generation of people who voluntarily installed a McDonald's app. I guess marketing works...
"but i can save a dollar by letting mcdonalds root itself deep inside my large intestine!"
When they introduced the app back in December 2016, they gave you a free burger/fish filet. Me and my college roommate took advantage of this and made accounts with sharklasers.com emails. We got 3 free burgers a day just by driving to the closest McDonald’s, down the road 10 mins to the next one, then back.
Free burgers are definitely a big deal in college.
McDonald's app is the fastest way to check if you installed magisk+shamiko correctly
LOL! Glad I'm not the only one who thinks the Mickie app is locked down
McDonalds needs updates more often than my credit card app...
It absolutely will work on a rooted device. Mine is rooted and it works fine. Also, in my experience (maybe this is just in my area) outside of the points perk, prices are the same between the app and physically at the store as I have checked out of curiosity.
there are bundles and deals which are only available in the app, usually you can save like 50% with them
depends on the region i guess ¯_(ツ)_/¯
e.g. I could either get a big mac for like 22zl? or big mac + medium fries + any sauce for 16zl, or a cheeseburger for 30% of it's price + 300 points (which you literally get back, exact amount for your order)
Seriously. Apps are stupid. They exist solely to steal your data, and they do that by asking for insane permissions.
And the overwhelming majority of this could be avoided if consumers didnt just straight up braindead refuse to use the actual website because "hurr hurrr I do nothing wrong why I have to hide anything I WANT MAH CONVENIENCE! REAL OR PERCEIVED!"
No, only stupid apps are stupid.
Webpages are webpages. Apps are apps. Just don't use webpages that are shitty apps, don't use apps that are shitty webpages, never let a webpage display an ad, never accept a closed-source app and you'll be fine.
It’s quicker to load a known json into a know UI than an entire webpage. Plus, you don’t get any features in the webpage like swiping, double tapping, or notifications (for things like DMs).
I use a Lemmy app because it’s faster and just works. It hasn’t asked for any extra permissions.
Especially with Firefox and derivatives allowing you to run the webpage in an app-like way! I do this for everything from the public transit website in my city to financial sites.
Here's a real reason: It's generally more optimized and smooth than the web version. And before you say that's because the websites purposely nerf themselves, one of the best examples to support my statement is Mastodon, which is slow and laggy on the website but fast and smooth in the app.
Here's the REAL reason: Apps grant Developers/Content owners more control/metrics/data about the user to feed their advertisers, which translates to more revenue. It's way easier to hoover up data about the user outside of the browser sandbox, and in apps.
But this urban dictionary app looks like some webapp. Also this slight smoothness costs your personally identifiable data for such apps
How often do I need to find a reference in Urban Dictionary?
You tell us winsome
eh, if the app is actually native and i use it a lot I'd rather have it installed...
Don't see the point of WebView/web apps packaged as mobile ones tho....
And that's why your phone's probably fucked up. Just install whatever, for the alleged convenience. But you already have a web browser, and you could simply make a bookmark to the website you visit frequently.
I get 3 days of battery life between charges on my phone without all that kind of bullshit on there. Running GrapheneOS on a supported Pixel with sandboxed Google Play services and zero social media apps that are not open source.
Btw, I use Arch
Actually I use CentOS, Raspbian, Windows 10, Android, and MacOS on my various computers.
Lol I like you.
My phone runs fine. I use some apps, and many others I use websites. My ebooks, music, podcasts, and video stuff uses apps, as well as some games, my banking app, and this lemmy app. I don't use apps for just about every other social media (mostly because I barely use em), for many websites etc. Email I do use the apps, as well as my robovac, and some other communication based ones. Also MFA apps.
Use of apps can be decided on a per use basis, as long as the person knows the possible issues stemming from them. It doesn't need to be all or nothing, and your solution doesn't necessarily work for everyone. It doesn't make you better than them, nor them better than you, just different. Stop assuming everyone should do things like you do.
Reading this on Voyager app… errr well hummm
Lemmy (and Mastodon) apps do IMO provide added value over the websites, but AFAICT the Urban Dictionary app would be better off as a web shortcut on one's home screen
Well it looks like the app adds motion and fitness abilities… /s
I stand corrected! Brb, downloading the app and giving it full access to my devices.
That’s more like it. We’re glad to have you as ~~product~~ customer.
"hey Google, define 'no shot'"
"sorry, I didn't understand"
(90% of the responses I get from that in the past two years - it used to work but now it's useless)
Redo the voice training. I agree you shouldn't have to, but it massively helps.
I have never navigated urban dictionary. Even going from one word to the next, I have only ever googled a word + "urban dictionary"