2y ago

Not everything needs an app

I have an app for programming my chicken coop. My 401k company just created an app for onboarding new participants.

These should have been mobile friendly webpages.

89 comments

Often, the apps are there just to collect ad information for you in a way browsers don’t allow.
- And send notifications
  
  And collect email addresses, to send ~~important messages~~ spam
- Ding ding ding. It’s all about the tracking data. Also, notifications. They want to be able to buzz you with spam, to remind you that the app exists.
- Is there a way to insulate apps in my phone from looking at stuff they shouldn't? Kinda like Firefox Multi-Account Containers.
  
  You could look into Shelter if you are on android.
  
  On iOS, in the App Store entry for each app there is a section called “App Privacy.” You can use that section to see what data the app will collect. I do not know how to prevent it from collecting that data once it is installed.

This is a very popular opinion
- You won't see unpopular openion on your feed because people downvote unpopular openion and op knows it's popular openion
  
  I posted an actually unpopular one and can verify.

I hate propietary apps that are just services or stores and especially when they refuse to have a website and make you download their app.
I do not need 200 apps on my phone. Just one web browser app will do.
- With 200 open tabs
  
  Ahh, I see I have finally found my people

And not every program needs an installer.
Just because I downloaded a program to write ISOs to a USB drive, does not mean it needs to be installed on the system. Unless it's something like MS Office, why does it need to be installed? Just give me a zip file, I will extract it and delete it when I don't need it anymore.
- Your problem here is you're running windows
  
  I can tell you're a Linux user lol.
  
  Yeah, who needs an installer when you can just ./configure, then ./make and ./make install, just stopping to fetch and build missing dependencies occasionally, upgrade some others, then retry.
  
  Windows doesn't require you to install most things though. Developers just choose to do so unnecessarily sometimes.
  Why hate windows for this of all things? Isn't it normal to "install" packages in Linux as well?
- If you’re on Windows and looking for a portable ISO burner, Rufus works great and is a 1.4mb portable .exe for that. It works great for when I overwrite Windows with Linux.
  
  my directory of 'portable' programs has about sixty different things in it. some of which are used daily and are either in the path or are windows' default for something.

My 401k company just created an app for onboarding new participants.
"If you'd like me to run company software, you'll have to provide a company device for me to run it on."
Never install work software on a personal device. Security, Privacy, Expectations (regarding personal resources).
Along with this, never use personal software/accounts/services with company devices. You can't be sure who's watching and can't be sure you'll have a chance to remove/collect your personal data before being locked out of said device.
- That’s not their employer. It’s the company they have their 401k retirement plan with.
  Empower, John Hancock, fidelity, vanguard, whoever.
- 100% this. I put my foot down at my last job after finding out their app demanded device location when it wasn't being used.
  I got the fuck out the next week. Place is already sliding downhill fast

I rather have an app and a way to control the chicken coop offline that depend on the internet connection to whether my chicken coop works or not. That is in my opinion a right place for an app instead of a website.
Most online services don't need an app though.
- Like some kind of self hosted solution on Nextcloud or something. Maybe linked in with Home Assistant or able to access it remotely via Tailscale.
  Feels like overkill but if I had the time and the money, I would love to tinker with a system like that lol

Totally agree. I’m hoping web apps make a comeback as well — a lot of apps in App Stores are just websites in an “app wrapper”. Start rejecting that shit and tell people to publish it as a web app.
- I make WebApps for exactly this reason! PWAs for the win!

What can your chicken coop do that needs programming ? Genuinely interested
- Automatic doors.
- Probably heat, maybe timed doors, timed food, or something like that.

Wait, explain this chicken coop

I hate how all smart devices need their own apps. Lights, vacuum cleaners, doorbells, fans, etc. super annoying to go through my phone and see so many random apps.
- And then they become unsupported and unavailable.
- they should work through home/homekit
- That's so you feel locked into one brand so you can use all one app
- Just use home assistant. Open source and can connect to lots of different devices

Programming your chicken coop?
- yeah right what does that even mean
  
  Mood lighting and music.
  
  I’m imagining it probably has temperature, humidity, maybe automatic feeding, water capacity and maybe the ability to turn on a heat lamp.
- I program my chicken coop from the touchscreen panel on the outside. I don't need an app for it.
  
  So… that’s actually my plan. But that’s just because I program industrial HMIs for a living. Totally unnecessary.
- Probably setting times for the gate to lock
  
  You are correct.

They want your precious data

Nothing needs an app.
- I rather have an app when I need that stuff to work regardless of the internet connection.
  
  As if apps weren't basically just thin skins over browsers and needing internet connections anyway...

Yeah my work just switched payroll companies and they want us to download an app to do timesheets and stuff. No way in hell that's going on my phone. A least it works in desktop browsers too.

Not everything needs and app
But then they couldn't scrape maximum personal data, collect your contacts, have access to your mic and camera, and track your every physical movement. Your so selfish!

I agree. Same with every business doesn't need a freaking app. It's why I've avoided the app development sector of programming in my career. I don't want to crank out shitty apps for every local business for the rest of my life. talk about boring.

Is this actually unpopular? Give me web interface that works OK on mobile and I'm usually a happy camper.
- I mean most of lemmys front page is usually promoting unnecessary apps

True. Not everything does.

Its like when restaurants want to get people to order via a QR code on the physical menu and place your order on their website or app.
Like no. You are making this so much more awkward than it needs to be for the sake of novelty.
Restaurant near me tried to implement this during Covid. At the time I get it because people were trying to minimize risk and might have been worried about being around a waiter and getting infected etc.
But they still haven't stopped it though. The worse thing is that the signal there is terrible so it takes 5 minutes for the damn thing to load in the first place.

I once had to download an app to get my hair cut. Never walked out of a barber before so that was a first.
- "Download our app to see our menu"
  walks out

I don't know if you can communicate over Bluetooth via a webpage to program your chicken coop.
- Oddly enough, it doesn’t use Bluetooth. It’s a light sensor on the door. The phone actually flashes the screen at the light sensor to program it. I’m sure by being a native app it gives them more control over the screen but still….
  
  That's an interesting way of doing it. I wonder why they chose it over Bluetooth.
  
  Does the app work when offline? In that case it kinda makes sense since farms tend to be in areas with no cell service and a web page won't work with no service. The lack of Bluetooth maybe they just don't want to troubleshoot with people who might not be able to call to troubleshoot while being near the device.

The chicken coop controller needs access to use whatever drivers (Bluetooth?) to connect. On the other hand, they could have used Wi-Fi instead. The financial app, however, definitely should be a website. However, apps are a way to increase the longevity of the login token because apps on a non-rooted phone supposedly cannot leak the login token and can be trusted to keep it safe on the device.
- It’s actually flashing the screen to a photo sensor
  
  oh wow, that's intricate but it probably works more reliably than something like a usb cable. Native apps probably have more control over framerate compared to webapps.
- Bluetooth for example does work in web browsers though, and so does USB. There's web sockets and webrtc for communication. I can't think of a reasonable connection method that's inaccessible, but maybe I'm forgetting one.
  I'd rather choose the password manager I trust that can safely store my credentials and auto-fill, than being forced to use a specific banking app with unknown security features.

my company's payroll management software just rolled out an app called "swag"
that's not a joke

I have an app for programming my chicken coop
What kind of programming does a chicken coop need?
- How much of a delay on the light sensor for the automatic door.

I agree. It's way more sus to download an app. The reason social media sites push apps over websites is because they can harvest a lot more data that way.

Best apps are those that do basically everything in webview anyway (looking at you playstation)

I agree mostly but 401k does last after you leave a company. It’s more like a bank account setup for your employer to put money in.
It’s just used for onboarding and not managing or following your investments.

Corollary: I hate websites that refuse to provide native apps for commonly used functionality.

89 comments