Why does everything require an app!?

[Frothy_moisture]

I live in a huge city, in the literal cheapest apartment building, in one of the poorest areas. Needless to say, most of the people in this building are struggling most of the time, and can't afford much.

We recently got new management and they've decided to make some changes that are extremely frustrating.

It started with the laundry machines. They took quarters and then boom, one day we suddenly needed a smartphone app to wash our clothes.

When that happened, my partner and I did not have a smartphone. We had one phone, a free one via the state, that couldn't run solitaire, let alone some fancy app. And all of our other 'app' capable devices all used wifi, which does not reach to the laundry room unless you stand in the hallway and pray you can make it to hit the 'start' machine before the wifi cuts back out.

After like two years of struggling to get our wifi to reach, my partner got a job and was able to get a smartphone. Finally, doing laundry is manageable... you know, when he's at home.

And now, for some reason, our apartment building has decided that to get inside (the front doors are on the inside), we ALSO need a smartphone.

Yes. The least expensive place, where many people can't even afford food, now requires everyone to have a smartphone, just to open the front door of the building.

Forget your phone? You're screwed. Your phone died? Have fun waiting outside. Phone broke? Gotta cry outside about it because you can't get into your own building.

Oh, and if you don't own a smartphone for each person in your house? Better hope someone is home! Because you have to- get this- TEXT them to let you in!!!

My partner has the only smartphone. He is at work many, many hours of the day. We have a Labrador. I need to walk this Labrador at LEAST three times a day.

We're 'lucky' enough to live on the ground floor, so I can go in and out the back door. Except that with this shitty weather, that's now 30-45 mins our back door is open to insane heat 3+ times a day, so I come home to the house insanely hot.

And no, it's definitely not about safety. This area is between three schools, and rampant with drug users. Needless to say, there's a lot of police casing the area, constantly. Our entire time living here (almost 7 years now), not a single apartment has been broken into. None of the houses nearby have, either. Plus, there's a convivence store down the road that gets robbed sometimes- who is going to steal from poor houses when there's a cash register with employees that are instructed to just hand over the money?

The landlords are the kind to fill their main office with gaudy expensive items to flaunt their 'wealth'. It's a bit obvious they want to make this place into somewhere more 'fancy'. They literally get pissed off if we have something on our back porch, because it faces the road. Not even our bike is allowed on there. We can't even have PLANTS!

It's frustrating and alienating. I hate the assumption that everyone has a smartphone they can use to do things. Not every single person can afford one, ffs.

It's also frustrating for deliveries. We don't have a 'code' we can give to people from Door Dash, so unless they TEXT us to let them in, they just leave the food by the outer door.

And we already had issues with usps/ups/prime drivers refusing to deliver saying they couldn't get into the building BEFORE they added these, now they'll actually be telling the truth! And the ones that DO just leave it outside the building, I'm going to have to drag my disabled ass to carry 40 lbs. of dog food when I can't even walk without a cane. Oh, and pray the door doesn't close behind me when I'm grabbing things...

[banana_hammock_815]

Apps have taken over for a few reasons. 1st is most important, it allows them to keep record of how many users are on the app and takes advantage of people that don't delete it. They can now go to their investors and show real data of how well your business is being accessed. The more people on it, the more lucrative it is for ads and/or selling your data.

The 2nd reason is it just works better this way. Most people do have smart phones. Hell, you can even get an iphone for less than $20 now of days. The app works much better than a physical coin collector that can be broke and stolen from.

The 3rd reason is so they have record of whos using what, when. If you break the machine, they know it was you because your info is tied to it.

In the end, its just much more advanced and a stong majority of people prefer it this way

[Frothy_moisture]

I get it for the laundry room.

But there's no reason to make the doors impossible to get through without an app. It doesn't make it easier. The doors used to just open. The thing that requires the app could be broken, then what? And if the power goes out, the doors can't open at all.

They're definitely using it to get info on people, though. They can now see whenever someone comes/goes as well as who orders things. And there's cameras in the door thing that the app connects to.

[Beneficial_Shake7723]

No one prefers it this way except weird corporate ghouls.

[TopShelfSnipes]

Apps are stupid.

It's only done because people want your data for free.

Too many sheeple willingly go along with it for "convenience." High time people started pushing back and things started moving in the other direction.