"Download our app"

[BruceHellerAlmighty]

AIBU to think it's an absolute pisstake for companies to try to make up for their poor customer service by telling customers to download apps onto their phones to sort it out? I've had to do this three times in the last week alone. Missed your delivery (that we didn't make)? Download our app to rearrange. Bought tickets for a concert at £120 a fucking pop? Download our app to access them. Bought a train ticket? Download the app for the specific fucking tiny operating company that covers the part of the country you happen to be travelling through at any point in time in order to access it. If you venture outside of this area you'll need to download another fucking app to get a hold of the tickets you've bought that covers you there. Then if you want to buy a coffee download another fucking app.

Fuckers. Just do your jobs, answer your phones and give me my fucking stuff that I've paid for.

It’s only in the last ten years or so that smartphones have become widely available (affordable). The elderly are warned on one hand to be protective of their personal data yet are expected to give it to use the various apps.

I suppose it could be. I find it quicker and easier to swipe the Key than I would my phone though. Don't have to worry making sure it's unlocked, app open, positioned correctly on reader etc. Much easier to have ticket on the Key and swipe that in a fast moving queue.

I had a look at that ofcom report. It's a mix of reasons including "not interested/no need" when asked about if they connect in next 12 months. That actually seemed to account for majority of those without current connection.

I hate that you are forced to download an app for something that should just be a Web page. Only things that need to be done offline should require an app. Sneaky companies even disable their websites on mobile browsers to force you to an app.

You need to quote the next part of that and then read on to fully understand why (and helpful to mention that 49% are proxy users) - and then read the report fully in the wider context of digital exclusion.

Well said, I couldn't agree more.

I hate change as much as the next person but I have to suck it up. Sometimes I end up liking it.

"That's life"

Yes, i think we all know proxy users of "I don't need internet. Can you check/buy this for me?" every day...

Look we can argue forever, but it is clear for most people without some serious issues, not being able to use an internet is not about not being able to have it or never having acces before.
That goes for the older generations as well as others Yellow talked about in the comment about "siffering".
It's only about 1% of households which can get usable broadband connection when it comes to geographical position. Few more percent due to affordability. Others are just doing the "but I don't wanna learn the mldern things" (again not talking about health issues making it impossible or very significantly difficult)

I hate it when you have to get the app, that then just redirects you to a website anyway! I find a lot of apps do this now, South West Water, Better Leisure...
Why bother with an app if you're not going to develop it properly and give it decent functionality?

Internet usage is one thing; app usage is another. There are plenty of people capable of surfing the internet, writing emails, etc, who are not regular smartphone users and even more so, regular app users.

I am very against the push to apps over websites and conscious of greater data collection through the apps. Happily, for almost everything, I can just ignore the apps. I don't drive, so I don't have to struggle with the parking apps. I have only a few apps on my phone, basically Whatsapp/Signal, Revolut, Shazam and an automatic translation app. I am often places without my phone in general.

I refuse to download apps for this kind of thing, I don’t have space or data for it in my phone.
If I go to a car park and it’s pay by app only, I’ll park somewhere else. 🤷🏻‍♀️

There's no argument to be had - there are many reasons why people don't/can't/won't use the internet and experience digital exclusion, and it's not enough to say 'tough shit' (unless your thought processes are very limited). If we have nearly 12 million people who don't have the necessary digital skills and around 4 million who don't have internet access for one reason or another then we have to look at how that can be improved (for very obvious reasons). Again, saying 'tough shit' isn't going to solve anything.

It is tough shit for many.
But yeah. I keep forgetting about the illiteracy levels in uk

It especially pisses me off when they expect you to download an app on mobile fucking data. So I have to basically pay to give you money? Dick off.

We were in Cornwall a couple of weeks ago and twice walked out of cafes that demanded we download their app in order to order a cup of coffee. This whilst the staff stood waiting behind the counter a few yards away for your order to ping through.

News, we tolerated in during covid and won’t any more.

I tend not to use places that need an app, most apps are not that good, in fact the only one that is better than the website is the Daily Mail. Most banking apps are worse than using the website though that is probably because at home I use a large iMac or iPad rather than a phone, I hate using a phone for anything really, too fiddling and small.

And beyond. We have a sizeable problem in the UK but also worldwide where the inequalities are resulting in significant variations in health, social and economic conditions. Not good.

Of course the elderly were elderly when this technology came out.

My MIL is 90. She doesn't drive, doesn't have a mobile phone or a computer or broadband. She isn't unusual in her generation.

My mother is 84. She does have all of the above but is considered something of a tech wizz by her friends who struggle to manage the most basic systems.

Younger people might think all this stuff has been around forever but the rest of us who remember the days of dial-up, and mobiles the size of a brick know it really hasn't.

First iPhone came out in 2007 so the elderly were old then it was only 15 years ago, not many 70 year olds would have bought those phones, they would be 85 now

Agree with the last two posters. My MIL is in her mid nineties and lives alone. She had retired when the tech we’re familiar with came out - it’s really only in the last decade or so that the level of digital skills that are needed to operate apps have been required. She has an absolute fear of being scammed because she doesn’t have the skills or confidence to use a computer or smartphone, so relies completely on other people to do things digitally for her. She’s by no stretch of the imagination an unintelligent woman, she’s just not been exposed to technology in the way we all have - and this thread has demonstrated perfectly that if many of us find apps frustrating then there’s no way someone who doesn’t know the difference between an email and an iOS is going to feel confident doing so.

You know its not that simple and to think so, is obtuse