Apps - at what point is enough enough?
Discussion
Parking apps are actually convenient (don't need to carry change, can top up without returning to the car etc)
I just wish there weren't so many! It can also fall flat if you end up in a car park without decent signal!
As for restaurants, it isn't yet compulsory. I suppose it does encourage loyalty though - then you don't have to clog up your phone with millions of restaurant apps!
I just wish there weren't so many! It can also fall flat if you end up in a car park without decent signal!
As for restaurants, it isn't yet compulsory. I suppose it does encourage loyalty though - then you don't have to clog up your phone with millions of restaurant apps!
Gone the other way in the pub I work in. After seeing how much better we work without using an app, the boss is looking at getting rid in his other pubs.
I've been to one restaurant where app use was compulsory and the experience was s
te.
I will not put up with that again.
I suppose apps are ok if you want to avoid flirting with the bar staff and queue jump at one of Big Tim's discount bingo halls of piss and glitter whilst ordering the same meal, again, for the umpteenth time but that just ain't my scene.
Baby.
I've been to one restaurant where app use was compulsory and the experience was s
te.I will not put up with that again.
I suppose apps are ok if you want to avoid flirting with the bar staff and queue jump at one of Big Tim's discount bingo halls of piss and glitter whilst ordering the same meal, again, for the umpteenth time but that just ain't my scene.
Baby.
alock said:
I still haven't seen a car park that doesn't take coins or contactless.
Where are all these app-only car parks?
Dunster car park. No cash no cards app only.Where are all these app-only car parks?
No signal whatsoever, no WiFi. You have to walk into the town to get a signal to install the app, to return, to find you now need to go back again to enter your bay number where there is a signal. I got a tickets. I contested and won.
Same with a car park I used in Bristol last year. App only. Plenty of signal this time. I uninstalled the app as soon a I'd left. My old phone didn't have room for any more.
App car parks have not replaced "a man in a booth ". When was the last time anyone has seen one of those? They have replaced cash ticket machines.
I completely agree OP
In my phone I have 4 parking apps and 11 pubs apps. in the most case they don't really get used now but I dare take them off in case some busy body insists on them 1 time
Because of the amount of apps I now have all notifications off. I was sat next to someone the other day and their phone was pinging like mad for all sorts of bs notifications. I don't know how they cope.
In my phone I have 4 parking apps and 11 pubs apps. in the most case they don't really get used now but I dare take them off in case some busy body insists on them 1 time
Because of the amount of apps I now have all notifications off. I was sat next to someone the other day and their phone was pinging like mad for all sorts of bs notifications. I don't know how they cope.
anxious_ant said:
This does sound like a golden oppurtunity for software developers out there. Have a "one app" that unifies all apps into one, just like the remote controlling multiple devices.
It's called Google Chrome. People prefer apps, because apps are better, so there are apps instead. Businesses prefer apps because they can better monitor their use and use that info to build better stuff for their customers and stay ahead of their competition.It's just a fact of life that businesses respond to what people like and if you don't do what most people do you'll get a worse experience. Doesn't make you right though unfortunately. I like to rant about how s
t modern cars are for example, but they're clearly what most people want, no matter how bizarre it seems to me. There is scope for centralisation of some stuff, but you need a market-leader to drive that. For example Google added train timetables to Google Maps and they're working on letting you pay for parking and train tickets from there too.
anxious_ant said:
This does sound like a golden oppurtunity for software developers out there. Have a "one app" that unifies all apps into one, just like the remote controlling multiple devices.
Naive developer: you know these 14 competing protocols..I'm going to write a protocol to unify them all.Experienced Engineer: So... Soon there will be 15 competing protocols.
captain_cynic said:
anxious_ant said:
This does sound like a golden oppurtunity for software developers out there. Have a "one app" that unifies all apps into one, just like the remote controlling multiple devices.
Naive developer: you know these 14 competing protocols..I'm going to write a protocol to unify them all.Experienced Engineer: So... Soon there will be 15 competing protocols.
alock said:
I still haven't seen a car park that doesn't take coins or contactless.
Where are all these app-only car parks?
Some of the parking machines around here offer incentives for using the app. For example, you could park for 6hours for a quid if you used the app, or if you opted for cash or contactless it was about £7.Where are all these app-only car parks?
Obviously harvesting your data is more lucrative for them than you paying the extra £6 they'd make if you didn't use the app
Cliftonite said:
2gins said:
Beyond silly. The internet is becoming unusable. My bank now want me to enter my email address as well as a OTP for online purchases. Not so they can verify the address but the manner in which I type it in. It's got to the point where I just don't want to buy anything online. It'll be a debit card over the phone.
As for apps... they can all fk off. Had enough.
/rant etc
Same bank as mine, then? Their card will not now be used for online purchases! As for apps... they can all fk off. Had enough.
/rant etc
Bacon Is Proof said:
Gone the other way in the pub I work in. After seeing how much better we work without using an app, the boss is looking at getting rid in his other pubs.
I've been to one restaurant where app use was compulsory and the experience was ste.
I will not put up with that again.
I suppose apps are ok if you want to avoid flirting with the bar staff and queue jump at one of Big Tim's discount bingo halls of piss and glitter whilst ordering the same meal, again, for the umpteenth time but that just ain't my scene.
Baby.
I did have a well known automotive based pub try to tell me to order with an app.I've been to one restaurant where app use was compulsory and the experience was s
te.I will not put up with that again.
I suppose apps are ok if you want to avoid flirting with the bar staff and queue jump at one of Big Tim's discount bingo halls of piss and glitter whilst ordering the same meal, again, for the umpteenth time but that just ain't my scene.
Baby.
Not happening. Cant be arsed to serrve me, i'll leave. They served me.
Nowhere that "requires" me to use an app will get my business.
Parking apps are a pain in the arse, not least because you may have to download and install a new one if you're at a car park you've not used before, which can be impossible if data coverage is poor. Why not just install a contactless payment facility on parking machines? It's like everything has to have a more complicated solution than is necessary.
romeodelta said:
camel_landy said:
Joey Deacon said:
I work in IT and I am utterly sick of it too...
+1If it needs an app, I vote with my feet.
M
I currently have 5 MFA apps to log in to various systems and that doesn't include SMS.
3 parking apps and counting as well...
...I simply say "No" and go elsewhere.
Consequently,I don't have ANY parking apps and only 1x MFA app, for work and it lives on my work phone.
M
MitchT said:
Parking apps are a pain in the arse, not least because you may have to download and install a new one if you're at a car park you've not used before, which can be impossible if data coverage is poor. Why not just install a contactless payment facility on parking machines? It's like everything has to have a more complicated solution than is necessary.
Most of them have contactless as well.The ones that have no signal are annoying, but chances are you're going somewhere once you've parked that does have signal, so you can sort it out there and you can do the old Parking Disc trick of gambling when the ticket inspector will turn up for a bit of bonus excitement.
Of course, if there's no other method of payment available and no mobile signal, you get to park for free, so isn't that the best option?
The main reason to use the app though is that you can extend your stay without having to go back to the car to get another ticket. You save money by putting an hour on where you're not sure if you need 1 or 2 and it ends up being 1. Especially if you gamble for a bonus 15 minutes.
Most of them let you use their website too. But here's the thing for the luddites - if you do that you will have to manually find the parking site on the website rather than letting your phone pick the right one using your location. The app is the better technical solution.
That said, there's at least one of the popular parking apps that is complete junk.
paulrockliffe said:
Most of them have contactless as well.
The one at my local train station doesn't. It's cash or app, and the signal on my phone is often "E" in that location and apps just say there's no internet connection. So, instead of catching a train to go shopping in my nearest city I stay at home and do it all online instead.Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff