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  • When you buy something from a medium-sized shop in India, they would insist for your phone number, as their POS app have that field as almost mandatory. I had to fight at a pharmacy checkout, holding up the queue behind me, as I refuse to give my phone number.
    by zkmon
  • Learn to say "no". It's freaking easy.

    I do have a smartphone, and every time someone asks me to install something on it, or ask for my phone number for "accumulating bonuses", I say simple and dry "no" looking into their eyes. When there's a queue behind me, they'll just show loading icon on their face a couple of seconds, and then proceed, because of pressure.

    Otherwise, when there are no more people, they feel like wasting their and my time, I just stare harder in their eyes, and they feel ill at ease and back up rather quickly.

    by culebron21
  • > They are willing to accept all the conditions of your apps, including sending you personal data, registering an account, etc.

    I've had this exact problem this morning, I wanted to download the ASD-STE100 https://www.asd-ste100.org/STE_downloads.html#article02-2l and they use a request form to get the download.

    Unfortunately the last question:

    > Do you consent to us collecting your data? This form has the only purpose of requesting a copy of ASD-STE100. Details are for record and statistical purposes only and will not be used or disclosed in any form to anyone. You can find out more about STEMG privacy policy here.

    Only has a "Yes" option, and so I couldn't submit the form.

    Great success.

    by bilekas
  • We could all be a bit more humble about the onerous “tools” we’ve built . I have a lot of sympathy for the elderly, and the ridiculous rituals they go through just to book an appointment, fill a subscription, buy tickets to a concert, order groceries.

    The McDonalds app is 15+ screens to order a burger. Compare that to walking in a, “hi, how are you, I’d like a Big Mac meal with a Coke, here’s my money, thanks”.

    Let’s all have a bit more humility, and even humiliation, for the absurd protocols we’ve imposed on everyone.

    by tonymet
  • I have a motorola smartphone. I don't have google play installed. I mainly use obtainium for app installation. Its a bare bones phone and it drives my business partner crazy.

    "Just log into our instagram account and. . .right, you don't have insta installed on your phone."

    "Can you log into our scheduling app and. . . right, you don't have that installed on your phone either."

    Some of the more painful things you have to deal with:

    - Chromite and Iron Fox filtering out a ton of stuff so a lot of sites simply don't work

    - Organic maps is slow and hard to use compared to Google and Apple maps.

    - Fairmail that blocks a ton of images and other code - which is good, but had to get used to seeing everything blocked visually.

    - Not having any banking apps on my phone. Every time my son needs a few bucks in his account, my wife has to do it if we're out.

    - The open source weather apps are not very accurate. Usually within a few degrees, and the radar is hit or miss.

    Kind of odd that we have to try so hard to ensure our own privacy. I'm up for a new phone this Fall so I'll most likely be moving to a newer Pixel and will get Lineage or Graphene installed on it.

    by burningChrome
  • I have no business-based "apps". If it's not on F-Droid, I don't have it. Google Play Store is turned off.

    So far, the only thing I've found that absolutely requires a Google account is Waymo. This is probably a violation of common carrier rules, since Waymo is legally a common carrier. That forces Google's terms of service, including the binding arbitration and no class action terms, on Waymo riders.

    by Animats
  • I've still never had a smartphone (technically my flip phone, a Kyocera Dura, is an android device, but it can't install apps so I'll consider it suitably "dumb")

    Occasionally I need to tote along a tablet because several places (some MLB venues, for one thing) will either require a smartphone, or impose a severe surcharge for the convenience of not using it.

    Anyway, I really regret that we didn't impose dumbphone protection laws back when we had a large enough bloc of seniors that didn't "upgrade" to a smartphone yet

    by bufordsharkley
  • I do have a smartphone, but I don't seem to feel the pain the author feels about being inundated by QR codes and apps. Maybe I have all the apps I need already? Maybe I just don't mind having an app on my phone because I know that I can set it to basically never bother me. Most of my apps have notifications silenced. My home screen is empty, save the handful of apps I do want. And for the little bit of effort I put forth to tweak the device to my liking, I get the world in my pocket - a full browser, every song I've ever liked, every picture I've ever taken, all my scanned documents, etc - not to mention all my loved ones available at a moment's notice. My battery lasts long enough, and when it doesn't, it's because I was using the device. I just don't understand the complaint I guess. Make the device work for you, not the other way around?
    by eddieroger

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