Gransnet forums

AIBU

Enough with the APPS!

(77 Posts)
Retread Tue 20-Aug-24 14:32:00

Am I the only one that flinches every time I'm requested or even told to download yet another damn App?! From the coffee shop, to Greggs, to the bank, the GP, the NHS, the Uber, the airlines, supermarket ... list is endless.

And then my phone tells me that certain apps are draining my phone battery... 😵‍💫🥴🫨😠

I'm so over Apps.

winterwhite Tue 20-Aug-24 19:52:52

I’d embrace it more readily if I could use it with my iPad. The print is often too small for me to read on my phone, and if I go off to enlarge it I lose my place and when I get back I can’t see a whole sentence at a time….
App dependency also increases phone dependency which brings its own problems if phone is lost or runs out of charge
away from home.

choughdancer Tue 20-Aug-24 19:46:22

I find Google maps very useful and better than any individual bus or train apps. I use its 'directions' thingy and it gives me options and the time each route takes. I sometime use it when I'm walking too if I'm not sure how to get to somewhere.

kittylester Tue 20-Aug-24 19:34:17

I get where you are coming from but really we should embrace this new technology - it is inevitable.

Margiknot Tue 20-Aug-24 19:22:26

We have walked out of cafes because ordering had to be done via an app that refused to work! I usually block non essential cookies so many apps refuse to work on my phone! I much prefer a simple paper menu!

Maggiemaybe Tue 20-Aug-24 19:16:54

I think the driver got fed-up and drove home for his tea. grin

I’m not anti-app, some are very useful, especially the NHS one. I think I’m nearly ready to open up my own medical practice after analysing all the blood tests and scan results on DH’s and mine with the help of Dr Google.

And they can give us a laugh as well. My friend ordered a round of drinks for her table at our local Wetherspoons. Only when it didn’t arrive did she realise she’d ordered it to be delivered to a lucky group of people at Wetherspoons in the next town.

Retread Tue 20-Aug-24 19:04:18

Deedaa

I will just say that my daughter has a science PhD and grade 1 in English language A Level and she is rarely able to make her parking app work. I frequently end up paying with cash.

That is reassuring! I thought it was only me. smile

Elegran Tue 20-Aug-24 18:17:24

Maggiemaybe

Lucky people who have a bus app that actually works! Mine shows the bus setting off, getting closer, pootling along, it’s at the next stop, then…..poof, and it’s gone. Presumably evaporated by alien ray guns between the stop before us and the end of our street. Or perhaps, as explained by our transport authority, just never updated by our inept local bus company.

The electronic boards at the bus-stops here have been "redesigned and improved" so now they no longer show where the bus actually IS and how long it will take to get to you as you wait patiently(?) at the bus-stop. Instead they show the timetable, which shows what time the bus is due to be at each stop provided it is running to time and hasn't met any problems on the way to you. We have had disappearing buses too - including one that got progressively further and further away. I think he driver got fed-up and drove home for his tea.

shysal Tue 20-Aug-24 17:36:17

My phone doesn't have much storage so I don't have many apps. The most useful one I would like to use is the NHS, but unfortunately it will not allow me to link with my surgery records because the ID codes supplied at the GP have already been used for patientaccess.com. Despite spending hours on the helpline I have been unable to resolve this. Anyone else had this problem and solved it?

Maggiemaybe Tue 20-Aug-24 17:21:16

Lucky people who have a bus app that actually works! Mine shows the bus setting off, getting closer, pootling along, it’s at the next stop, then…..poof, and it’s gone. Presumably evaporated by alien ray guns between the stop before us and the end of our street. Or perhaps, as explained by our transport authority, just never updated by our inept local bus company.

Deedaa Tue 20-Aug-24 17:12:44

I will just say that my daughter has a science PhD and grade 1 in English language A Level and she is rarely able to make her parking app work. I frequently end up paying with cash.

MissInterpreted Tue 20-Aug-24 17:09:24

The bus one is definitely handy here. My pet hate is having to download an app or scan a q code in restaurants to see the menu. I like to have a 'proper' menu to read and choose what I want.

Mt61 Tue 20-Aug-24 17:08:19

Yep! Pain in the but trying to get a taxi that will take my dad’s wheelchair- wanted me to download an app. I ended taking him to his respite

AreWeThereYet Tue 20-Aug-24 17:01:55

I don't have many but I do like the bus one. We only have 2 buses an hour so I check before I leave home that it is about 15 minutes way, which is the time it takes me to walk to the bus stop. Now I can tell before I leave the house if there is no bus in sight.

No more sitting at the bus stop for nearly an hour trying to work out if the bus was actually late or just wasn't going to arrive. Usually it didn't arrive. So I had the option of sitting at the bus stop or walking home, turning around and walking back again to catch the next bus.

Oreo Tue 20-Aug-24 16:51:56

Grammaretto

I recently shredded some apps too.

Everyone at bus stops seems to know when the bus is due using their app so now I ask one of them and take a paper timetable if I can find one. Or even just wait.

Amazing isn’t it that we could all catch buses once upon a time by just going to the bus stop and joining a queue.🤔

Retread Tue 20-Aug-24 16:51:49

has = had

Retread Tue 20-Aug-24 16:51:26

Thanks re the screen brightness, will check that.

I agree the NHS app is good, but I have has an error on it when an appointment didn't show. So now I do "belt and braces" re appointments.

Oreo Tue 20-Aug-24 16:50:11

Marydoll

I have recently gone through my phone and deleted the unnecessary Apps. I feel liberated!

Yee-Ha!😁know just what you mean.It’s like clearing out a cupboard.

Sarnia Tue 20-Aug-24 16:17:48

I need an App to get through the turnstile at my local leisure centre now. Ridiculous.

Grammaretto Tue 20-Aug-24 16:15:29

I recently shredded some apps too.

Everyone at bus stops seems to know when the bus is due using their app so now I ask one of them and take a paper timetable if I can find one. Or even just wait.

Elrel Tue 20-Aug-24 16:05:13

Yes, I’m not keen on apps either.

Marydoll Tue 20-Aug-24 16:04:50

I have recently gone through my phone and deleted the unnecessary Apps. I feel liberated!

petra Tue 20-Aug-24 15:59:28

Retread
Apps are ^running all the time, even when you’re not using a specific app.
The biggest drain on your battery is your screen brightness when using an app.
There are ways to reduce this in your settings.

kittylester Tue 20-Aug-24 15:24:16

I don't think you have to down load unless you want to and it improves your life. I love an app.

The NHS one is worthwhile.

Babs03 Tue 20-Aug-24 15:13:12

I really dread all these apps, now apparently we need a parking as well to add to all the rest. I forgot my apple thingummy code to add an app last time. Oh what a hoohah!
I had to contact Apple and wait for a new code which never showed up. My daughter says could take days. Eventually my SIL came to the rescue but I hate having to ask for help. We even have an app for the docs now, and still can’t see a bloomin doctor!

ferry23 Tue 20-Aug-24 14:43:57

I'm with you Retread.

I recently moved and everyone told me to buy a Ring doorbell, which I did. When my SiL set it all up, turns out my phone, which works perfectly well and suits my needs, is too old to support the Ring app. So now I have a £70 doorbell that does the same as one I could have bought for £15. angry

I like to control my life myself - I refuse to be controlled by a mobile phone.