I deactivated Google Play on my phone.
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@agturcz @CiaraNi that's awesome, I hope the electricity company does something with your request.
We don't have a similar campaign in the Netherlands, but we do have a similar problem. I'd love to get a Fairphone or any linux based phone with an alternative app store like @fdroidorg , but then my banking apps wouldn't work anymore. Same with DigiD (gov auth).
It would be great if gov and companies offered their apps in non-proprietary app stores. Maybe we need a campaign too @bo
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I deactivated Google Play on my phone. The electricity company app was the first to be bricked. 'You must update.'
I wrote to them: ’I don’t have Google or Apple. Where else can I update the app?’ Nowhere else, they replied.
I wrote (politely) back: ’I can’t use your app any more then. It’s an odd requirement to make of your customers. A Norlys customer can only access all Norlys services if they are also a customer of one of two specific private for-profit US companies.’
@CiaraNi Heh, the most insulting "We need you to install Google Play Services" (as if that was ever something you installed in particular) dialogs are the ones that don't say it at all, but rather claim your device is too old and needs "an update". Same with the CloudFlare Turnstile gates that trigger when you decide you don't want them to run all sorts of code in your browser
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@CiaraNi interesting story. Does not having a mobile app precludes you entirely from paying your bills or you can continue by making bank wire transfers?
@ThePolishDispatch Oh no, not that bad, thankfully. I can still log on to my customer profile on their website and billing continues by automatic standing order as usual. Some of the useful features from the app aren't in their web services, though, and it's not handy for me to access on my mobile. So it's less convenient for checking my data, my consumption, hour-by-hour pricing, ,bill status etc. I can't do it on the fly, on my phone, any more.
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@CiaraNi Heh, the most insulting "We need you to install Google Play Services" (as if that was ever something you installed in particular) dialogs are the ones that don't say it at all, but rather claim your device is too old and needs "an update". Same with the CloudFlare Turnstile gates that trigger when you decide you don't want them to run all sorts of code in your browser
@HaTetsu Oh yes - 'your device is too old', I've had those too! I have greatly reduced the number of apps I use at all and have found F-Droid open-source alternatives to several of the ones I want to keep using. So there are fewer left to get bricked now. I am waiting for the others to brick in soon
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@CiaraNi in fact terrible they force us to use big tech!
@AccordingtoWouter 'Force' is the right word. It's telling paying customers: 'Be a customer of Google or Apple too if you want to use our services'.
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@CiaraNi this is great! I can't imagine this in the UK
@caffetino Fair play to the volunteers who started the campaign. There's a similar one in Germany and maybe other places. I hope you get something similar in the UK!
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I deactivated Google Play on my phone. The electricity company app was the first to be bricked. 'You must update.'
I wrote to them: ’I don’t have Google or Apple. Where else can I update the app?’ Nowhere else, they replied.
I wrote (politely) back: ’I can’t use your app any more then. It’s an odd requirement to make of your customers. A Norlys customer can only access all Norlys services if they are also a customer of one of two specific private for-profit US companies.’
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@CiaraNi was the response signed by someone with "RH" for initials?
@mk No? I don't understand the reference. RH?
It was signed by a staff member with name and title and department.
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R relay@relay.mycrowd.ca shared this topic
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@woody For the moment, I am going to write to make my point directly to any company that bricks their app because I don't use Google or Apple.
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@Gina @agturcz @fdroidorg @bo Same problem here with banking apps and, in some cases, the government ID app. I hope non-proprietary versions come soon. The government ID ('mitID') app problem is easy to work around, at least - there's a non-app alternative, a nice simple physical code-displayer. (I'm blanking on the English word for the yoke.)
@CiaraNi "MitID code display"! There's also a little device that reads the code out loud. I think that one is called MitID audio reader.
They're free btw. And even if people also use the MitID app they should have it as a backup if for some reason their phone craps out.
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@CiaraNi "MitID code display"! There's also a little device that reads the code out loud. I think that one is called MitID audio reader.
They're free btw. And even if people also use the MitID app they should have it as a backup if for some reason their phone craps out.
@Pepijn Thanks! I was, by chance, close enough with 'code-displayer' so. I love my little code-display, it is so quick to use. I have the physical Chip version too as a back-up. And there's a physcial audio version too, as you say. You have to pay for an extra physical device, but it's a reasonable price, and ok given that the first code-display is free.
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I deactivated Google Play on my phone. The electricity company app was the first to be bricked. 'You must update.'
I wrote to them: ’I don’t have Google or Apple. Where else can I update the app?’ Nowhere else, they replied.
I wrote (politely) back: ’I can’t use your app any more then. It’s an odd requirement to make of your customers. A Norlys customer can only access all Norlys services if they are also a customer of one of two specific private for-profit US companies.’
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I deactivated Google Play on my phone. The electricity company app was the first to be bricked. 'You must update.'
I wrote to them: ’I don’t have Google or Apple. Where else can I update the app?’ Nowhere else, they replied.
I wrote (politely) back: ’I can’t use your app any more then. It’s an odd requirement to make of your customers. A Norlys customer can only access all Norlys services if they are also a customer of one of two specific private for-profit US companies.’
@CiaraNi I'm trying to explain the same thing to the Swiss Government...
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I deactivated Google Play on my phone. The electricity company app was the first to be bricked. 'You must update.'
I wrote to them: ’I don’t have Google or Apple. Where else can I update the app?’ Nowhere else, they replied.
I wrote (politely) back: ’I can’t use your app any more then. It’s an odd requirement to make of your customers. A Norlys customer can only access all Norlys services if they are also a customer of one of two specific private for-profit US companies.’
@CiaraNi i wonder if the app exists on a non-goog repository like Aptoide so you can update Goog-free
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@caffetino Fair play to the volunteers who started the campaign. There's a similar one in Germany and maybe other places. I hope you get something similar in the UK!
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@agturcz @CiaraNi @Gina there is https://www.appdwang.nl/ by @kevin.
At the same time, I haven't ran into a smartphone requirement myself yet in the Netherlands, either generally or blessed by Apple/Google. Such situation would create a problem as I would not have a suitable device.
Especially banks do appear notorious to try to push for this though. -
I deactivated Google Play on my phone. The electricity company app was the first to be bricked. 'You must update.'
I wrote to them: ’I don’t have Google or Apple. Where else can I update the app?’ Nowhere else, they replied.
I wrote (politely) back: ’I can’t use your app any more then. It’s an odd requirement to make of your customers. A Norlys customer can only access all Norlys services if they are also a customer of one of two specific private for-profit US companies.’
@CiaraNi vi bør opfinde en mærkningsordning så man let kan se inden man vælger en leverandør om man kan bruge den på en suveræn platform. Hvad skal vi kalde det?
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@AccordingtoWouter 'Force' is the right word. It's telling paying customers: 'Be a customer of Google or Apple too if you want to use our services'.
@CiaraNi I hope that all these companies will soon see the light and start developing alternatives. But we as customers can also do something. Namely, stop using them en masse. Then it will be over quickly. We are also letting it slide.
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@mk No? I don't understand the reference. RH?
It was signed by a staff member with name and title and department.
@CiaraNi a former coworker works there. At least on one occasion she surprised me, and very positively, and doing so made me realise how much big companies can do good and give people a good experience just by having the right kind of human deal with customers, and "deal with" should always be "help".
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I deactivated Google Play on my phone. The electricity company app was the first to be bricked. 'You must update.'
I wrote to them: ’I don’t have Google or Apple. Where else can I update the app?’ Nowhere else, they replied.
I wrote (politely) back: ’I can’t use your app any more then. It’s an odd requirement to make of your customers. A Norlys customer can only access all Norlys services if they are also a customer of one of two specific private for-profit US companies.’
@CiaraNi
And some used to have websites that worked. An Post Banking specifically disabled that to have App only.
Also there is the erroneous claim that an Android or iOS app is more secure.Banking, billing & usage for services etc should only be licenced if they have a fully functional web site that works also with screen readers. An app should be an option.
Apps to play my local mp3s, read local ebooks, take and view my local photos / videos is OK, but none of those should report online.
