This App Should’ve Been A Website

Technology is amazing. Hardware has brought us to the moon, and software made sure nothing went wrong on the way. But especially software is also going to be our downfall. There are a lot of issues with software, but today I won’t be talking about Microslop, brittle IT infrastructure, or malware spreading through Open Source repositories.

Today I want to talk about the bane of my interaction with others where everything nowadays has to be an app. While websites seem to have replaced actual pieces of software that you’d install on computers, it appears that the opposite trend has a tight grip over the phone ecosystem. Here, instead of moving everything from To-Do list to Excel into a website, every silly little website is being turned into an app.¹ And I am sick of pretending that I am okay with this.

To be fair, I am relatively privileged in that I know how software works in and out, and know what functionality actually requires apps. But I do think that everybody else should at least get the gist of the problem. Because it’s not that I refuse to connect and interact with my friends — to the opposite. Things such as splitting bills, coordinating and booking trips, and other things are important, and I wholeheartedly commit to this.

But whenever I point out to friends that something for which they want to use an app should not be an app, but instead a website, I feel like I’m a downer — possibly with due cause.² When it comes to planning and coordinating as a group, if you’re the one suggesting we search for something that does not come as an app, you will inevitably get the mark of a troublemaker. You might even run in the danger of not being invited anymore, because you cause too much of an issue with seemingly simple things. Because that one app works, it’s convenient, and nobody else complains, so why would you even have a point?

But I do not think that I should feel this way. Taking the extra 5 minutes to research alternatives that offer the same functionality, but without forcing your group to install yet another app, should be something we all (me included!) should strive to do. In the next few paragraphs, I want to outline what my issue with using apps for everything is, when I would prefer an app instead, and what the risks of defaulting to phone apps are.

So, what could possibly warrant an entire article about issues with apps? We all use them. Most of us use Instagram, some messaging app (WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram), many of us have Spotify, possibly Duolingo, maybe Zoom, Discord, and LinkedIn. Besides that, every phone nowadays ships with a metric ton of built-in apps; some of which are essential (Settings or the camera app), some of which are optional and can be uninstalled (especially on iPhones), some are unremovable bloatware (mostly on Android phones). In short: apps are nothing inherently bad.

My issue is a specific category of apps: those whose only reason to exist is to extort money from people in some way. The casus belli for this article was that I recently went on a trip with a few friends; and to split up the bills, the organizer asked us to use an app for that. Indeed, he shared a link, but that link just went to the homepage of the company that offers the app. There was a button that seemed to indicate I could see the shared budget, but it made my Safari throw an error that it was an invalid link. After asking around and realizing nobody else had the issue, I saw that the only functional thing on the website was to “download an app.” An app? For something as simple as splitting expenses?

Hesitantly, I downloaded the app (to not be seen as the idiot), and could quickly confirm my fear: The app is literally something that should have been a website. The app did not require me to create an account, which I hold in its favor. But the moment I clicked my friend’s link again to open the app again with the correct account, a notification popped up where the app tried to upsell me a credit card with a meager 10% interest rate.

Man, what the fuck, dude.

The task of splitting a budget requires a few form inputs that allows people to punch in their expenses. Then it uses some very, very simple arithmetic to ensure everyone receives/pays money in such a way that after paying each other, everything is balanced. It is a mere tool for a task that we could almost as easily do by hand if we wanted to. Again, nothing of this task is revolutionary, and there are hundreds of competing apps and regular websites out there that do this. It took me quite literally 10 seconds to dig up this alternative which offers exactly the same, but without the need to download an app.

“But wouldn’t an app be more convenient?” No, because you will in any case need a link to share with everyone else. There is no difference between having a link that redirects you to a web form, and a link that asks you to download an app. In fact, if that had been a simple website instead, a single click on the link would’ve directly taken me to the correct account. Instead, I had to figure out that I was supposed to download an app; then click on a button; get asked to scan a QR code with my phone; see the same website; click a button; be redirected to the app store; download something to my phone; open it; then click the same link again, but now on my phone to have the app open to the correct account. A simple website would have done all of this more convenient.

Except, the creators could not as easily make money off of a website.

The sole reason why so many simple tasks are transformed into downloadable apps is because apps are closer to the user. Instead of being served through a browser which (at least for now) puts some very heavy guardrails onto what a website can do, apps are literally compiled programs that run directly on your phone. The only convenience of such apps is for its developers, because they can make money off of you.

Most importantly: Websites cannot send you unsolicited notifications without you explicitly allowing that, while app notifications are essentially on by default. And even if the app does not use a single phone API, that pivotal difference to serve you notifications (read: ads) immediately is so lucrative that developers go through hoops to pay Apple and Google for access to the app stores; develop two different apps (for iOS and Android); and make you click a bunch of buttons just to download a glorified, single-use spreadsheet calculator to your phone. Also, once an app is on someone’s phone, it is very likely that this app will just stay there. And, at some point, the user who downloaded it may be in need for that functionality, and, conveniently, it is still on the phone. Thus, competitors are locked out for good. There’s much more to this, and entire books have been written on how to hook customers to extort them for money later on with free or “convenient” offerings.

But my point has become clear. There is a category of tools that simply should not be an app. And if you’re organizing a trip or a gathering with some friends, be nice and don’t force them to download a single-use app if the same functionality could be a website. Just ask yourself: Does the app you want to suggest to your friends require location services, access to the camera, or some live activities? Then please, go ahead, because those things cannot be properly done via a website. But for anything else: please take 30 seconds of your day to search for a website alternative and use that one instead. Your own friends should be worth this to you. Recommending apps that could be websites quite literally puts your friends’ data at risk. Remember when Facebook asked for full, unrestricted access to your address book which is why most of our contact details are now used for scam calls and spam mails?

I’m relatively sure that there should be a website that lists alternatives for apps, although I couldn’t find it yet. So if you know of such a website, let me know so I can share it here.

Because nobody should need to download an app for that.