If you want my business, don't require an app.

 Oh now don't go all OK Boomer on us.  I don't mean don't HAVE an app.  I mean don't REQUIRE an app.

There is a fine line there and I got my tail dragged all over it.

Yes, this is a little rant-y so bear with me.

I was doing some online shopping.  In this case I was happily looking at things I could justify either way.  Buy or not buy.  I am not exactly floating in money these days, oh I get by but floating in the stuff?  No.

Every time I clicked on a link there was a helpful hopeful link explaining how you can have an app sit on your phone to do all this work.

No.  From a Security Standpoint, No, Just No.

I have a friend up in New Jersey.  She won't do anything with an app and I think she may be onto something. 

So you download their helpful little app and it sits on your phone listening to what you are doing and where you are going as well as assisting you on its intended purpose.  You now have what the gov'mint says  is a vector for attack.  You have to create a signon, give the thing credentials.  It now has a privileged place.  It lives in your pocket or your purse.  When you start the thing, it is going to serve you ads.  The FBI already says if you can block an ad to do so.

I absolutely agree.  Block any and all ads aggressively.  I do so on my laptop with a hosts file and on the phone with a VPN to an ad blocking DNS.  If I see an ad, it is a surprise.

Now while this is shaping into an anti advertising rant, it's probably not the main reason that I give people why I refuse their apps.  It's the size of the things. 

I'm a big dude.  Athletic, 193cm or 6'4".  A fit 85 Kilos, 190 pounds this morning.  Oh sure I could go onto a cutting diet and tune that all down a bit more towards the lean side, but with a BMI of 23.5 I don't have to.  As much cardio as I get in a day, even on the bench as I have been since the last sports injury, I don't pass that dessert cart.

Being a big dude, I have big hands.  Now don't get wild with that parallel, ladies.  I find it difficult to operate a cell phone.  Tablet perhaps is more my size, laptop I am great with.

Linux, Hosts file, Firefox, and ublock origin.  Like I said no ads.

But a cell phone?  Damn things are too small for me.

Went from the general purpose site to a specialized one to do some purchasing.  I'm expecting the economy to "tank" next year and a world wide depression happen.  So I am stocking up on things.  If I had the tools to do so, I'd be lowering the gas tank on the Jeep and repairing it.  That check engine light is not going away on its own.

Repairing things is a good way to live anyway.  The Brits used to say Make Do And Mend, and I like mending my 23 year old Jeep.

So I went on with my purchase. 

Lo and behold the site REQUIRED me to download an app in order to deal with the purchase. 

No. Just no.

And who the site is is not important.  There's this shift to the smart phone that I avoid where possible.

Of course there was a problem with the app.  It simply did not download and there was a subsequent problem with the order.  I missed a tick box and it required me to pay an extra $1.55 for some nonsense called ShipTection.   Insurance on your shipping.

I wrote back telling them to reverse that charge or I will cancel the sale with my credit card.  I also fired off a comment saying that if you insist on charging what sounded like a "Protection Racket" because your method of shipping is so bad, I'll go elsewhere next time.

I'll go elsewhere anyway, I don't like being forced to jump through hoops.

I got everything cleared up, which is why I am not naming names, but damnit no thank you I will not be downloading your sketchy app.

I have quite enough of those sketchy apps anyway, we all do.  ThankYouVeryMuch.