Smartphone apps are a headache for travel, banking, hotels, apartments, laundry
Frustration grows over reliance on smartphone apps for services like travel and banking. Concerns include accessibility challenges, app reliability, and impact on older adults and individuals with disabilities. Maintaining a balance is crucial.
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The article discusses the increasing frustration with the over-reliance on smartphone apps for various services like travel, banking, hotels, apartments, and more. The author shares personal experiences of app failures during a vacation, highlighting the inconvenience caused by app-based solutions. The proliferation of apps for every service, from airlines to laundromats, is noted as a growing trend. Companies benefit from app usage by controlling user interactions and promoting loyalty programs. However, the shift towards app-only options poses challenges for those without smartphones or with limited technical abilities, creating accessibility issues. The article also touches on concerns about app reliability, potential obsolescence of physical alternatives, and the impact on older adults and individuals with disabilities. The narrative concludes with the author opting to remove unnecessary travel apps to declutter their phone, emphasizing the need for a balance between digital convenience and practicality.
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4 commentsHaving to use my phone for everything from buying/selling my match tickets on stubhub, match tickets on the UEFA app, Deutsche Bahn train ticket on an app, online QR code attraction entry ticket, audio walking tours, restaurant menus (much less of these thank god), and more, made me VERY anxious every day.
If my phone's battery died through the day (which it did FAR too often), or if i lost my phone, i was completely screwed and would not have access to my overpriced match tickets nor my much needed train ticket.
I felt like a luddite carrying a paper guidebook so I didn't have to really on my phone for maps and location/attraction details, but I don't know how else I would have managed.
Luckily my mobile plan allowed international data so I didn't have to roam.
Our reliance on our phones is frightening, and every company locking us into their apps for 'basic' information/tickets is bothersome. I get it from the business point of view (and the 'let's save the trees' perspective too), but from a traveler's point of view it is very cumbersome and overly complicated to have to not only juggle all the apps, but also focus on maintaining the battery and connectivity of your device so you don't lose access to must-have important documents.
I sorely miss the days BEFORE ubiquitous internet, connectivity, and mobile devices. Maybe I am a Luddite.
Though in the long-term I envision more of a maturation: both in terms of apps being more reliable, and non-app features/solutions being (re)introduced. As in: sure your door lock will have an app, but it will also have a physical key, because nobody would buy one that did not have both.
I also wound up using LuggageHero's web site on my tablet to drop off my bag at a Bodega near
I was able to get the process started using the WiFi at the Starbucks 2 blocks down the street and managed to get my bag back even though the app wasn't working when I got back to the shop.
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