Esborrany
Jan Wildeboer 😷
#AppFatigue IPA: /æp/ /fəˈtiːɡ/ (n) The tendency to NOT install new apps on your mobile phone because you finally understand that most apps should just be a website so you can seamlessly use a service on a PC, laptop, tablet or mobile device. Also a sign of distrust as apps are black boxes with access to a lot of data sources that invade your privacy in ways you can hardly quantify.
Inspired by https://mas.to/@carnage4life/116706445927726519
I noticed that I simply stopped caring about new apps a few years ago. When I get a new mobile phone, I have a rather small set of apps I install and that list is more or less the same since many years. Banking app, Signal, and a few more.
Tuchowski
Laurens@jwildeboer I agree. Some apps are a necessity and I have some apps I personally like and use often (i.e. VLC and the Bandcamp app).
Most of the space on my phone is occupied by music (because I only stream via WiFi and I do want to listen to music while I'm travelling) and photos, not by applications.
Niavy AFK 
@jwildeboer
I recently installed a web shortcut for AliExpress, Vinted and LeBonCoin instead of installing matching apps and granting unnecessary and intruding authorisations
I recently installed a web shortcut for AliExpress, Vinted and LeBonCoin instead of installing matching apps and granting unnecessary and intruding authorisations
Ben Tasker@jwildeboer Same - nowadays it's more common that I'll save a bookmark to my home screen to use it as a web-app than it is that I'll install a native app.
The exceptions are messaging and music. Bank apps I've largely moved to a second phone which lives somewhere secure (the exception being my main one - because I need to approve transaction notifications)
Earth Notes@jwildeboer Essentially Signal + home-page links only for me. Definitely no banking or anything else 'YMYL'...
FurryBeta@jwildeboer I’ve always kept the number of apps on my devices to a minimum because of the privacy issues. Sucks that some sites (SiriusXM) won’t let you stream from their webpage on a phone or tablet. You must use their app.
I currently use a older phone that has no PII on it for apps I don’t trust much (p2pcam apps, drone piloting, etc)
Ryan Lounsbury@jwildeboer I do tend to prefer a PWA over a native app. With the PWA my experience is the same across devices which is appreciated.
It does seem like we are past the time when new apps did genuinely new and novel things. Almost anything today is a riff on something else.
🏳️🌈 Brie 🌞🚴🌱✨@jwildeboer I switched to a lightweight launcher app quite a few years ago now, KISS Launcher. Every time I do a big Google update or move phones I am pleasantly surprised that, like, nothing has changed. They move some stuff around in the settings, but my day-to-day UX is no longer their marketing playground.
Highly recommend it, with KISS or any other launcher.
MaineC@jwildeboer exactly the same here, plus seriously starting to follow alternative OS options for smart phones
Heleen Kuiper@jwildeboer sommige mensen, zoals Erwin Blom, vinden het juist geweldig dat iedereen zijn eigen app kan bouwen naar eigen inzicht. Erwin Blom vergelijkt het zelfs met de punk tijd.
@heleenkuiper Het lijkt me meer punk een eigen website te maken die iedereen meteen kan zien :) Als je een app wilt publiceren betekent dat toch ook dat je die pas na controle en vergunning in de App Store ziet. Niet echt punk, toch? :)
@jwildeboer ah ja ik bedoelde denk ik meer het vibe coding an sich
lobingera@jwildeboer *sigh*
Ray McCarthy@lobingera @jwildeboer
Why does Google's stock Calculator, Gallery, Messages (I only use SMS on that, Viber for Internet messages), Phone, Contacts and File Browser all by default send stuff to Internet?
Rhetorical question.
@raymaccarthy @jwildeboer It's not the Internet they sent to?
@lobingera @jwildeboer
Google's latest stupidity:
Not only do you need a google account on your phone/tablet to access Playstore, but when I was updating a tablet just now:
1: RECAPTCHA
2. Needed to login with gmail address & password.
Why would you want Playstore if you don't want any (more) apps?
Only way to add accessibility features (usually missing by default) and security updates for the existing apps.
It's abusive.
So are websites using recaptcha for existing accounts logging in.
jaxu@home@jwildeboer
Do you (or anyone else here) know of any browsers on Android, that convincingly identify as a desktop browser to websites, so one can circumvent the "use our great app" pages, which are often the dead end pages for mobile browsers. 🤮
#AppFatigue
Do you (or anyone else here) know of any browsers on Android, that convincingly identify as a desktop browser to websites, so one can circumvent the "use our great app" pages, which are often the dead end pages for mobile browsers. 🤮
#AppFatigue
Luc Pestille@jwildeboer Alternatively "Fapptigue", no?
@LucPestille No :) I want it to become a whole family! AI Fatigue, Subscription Fatigue, Surveillance Fatigue and more!
Elias Probst@jwildeboer Until it's fatigue fatigue?
@eliasp Ah, yes. Niklas Luhmann Style :)
Joris Meys
A-nom-nom-nom-aly BSC SSCWhen I first got a smartphone, I was install all the apps.
I quickly realised I didn't need most of them.
Now the number of apps on my phone are basically.
Disabled or removed as much of the google shit as possible.
2 banking apps
Heating system app (not full of data harvesting)
2 Solar/Battery apps ( manufacturer one has been nerfed with subscriptions, replacement allows me access to my data again) Bought the paid version of the 2nd app.
2 messaging apps (what's app for family, signal for everyone else)
Google wallet
What3Words
Netfix
Grayjay (for youtube vids)
Emby (for my home mediaserver)
Kindle (for my own ebooks, would like to replace with something else)
Musicolet - for listening to my own music stored on my own phone.
WifiFileTransferPro - To transfer files to my device over my wifi, ad/tracking free and I paid a few quid for the pro version.
Firefox web browser
Brave web browser
DuckDuckGo app with tracking protection enabled and a duck.com email address for online signups.
Tusky app for Mastodon
Ebay app
Amazon app (cancelled prime 3yrs ago) should probably delete as rarely used.
Proton VPN app.
That's basically it... there are a couple of netflix games, mahjong and solitaire I occasionally use when out and waiting for people.
All permissions are disabled for everything unless essential for the app to work, DDG app tracking blocks a lot of 3rd party attempts at data collection... but banking apps have to be disabled from DDG or they don't work.
I don't need anything else... and I could probably get rid of 10-20% of what I have.
Robert KingettAlso, similar, https://sightlessscribbles.com/posts/6421/ @jwildeboer
Nikol Enigmann@jwildeboer afaic this was edited now 4-times: i recommend a wikipedia article
@nikolaenigmann It’ll become a blog post soon :)
@jwildeboer looking forward to it
patter@jwildeboer you are a website, being installed as an app is a privilege, not a right
VHG 🇪🇺🇩🇪@jwildeboer Websites are Blackboxs, too. You don’t see what backend does
Slackbear 
@jwildeboer I have RethinkDNS app on my phone so I can see what domains an app is contacting. I can then block a domain the app is contacting, block the entire app from using the net while I still have wifi or data active and some more stuff.
It's really useful to me cos it's also like a Little Snitch or pihole but runs in your phone and just has more features. It's also free and open source.
@jwildeboer It's also kinda "cheating" cos I can just have no ads on an ad-ridden free version of an app (if theres a paid version of that app but without ads and stuff) while i still have internet access.
I kinda feel bad cos that might be their only source of revenue, but who actually likes seeing ads like it's a freakin' jumpscare ?
Slash909uk@reallylazybear @jwildeboer similar for me; some apps are unavoidable, but at least I can have some control over them via Tracker Control:
grama long time ago, at a conference, a guy from Google gave a talk about the cool new thing, "instant apps". Android apps that you don't need to install. just open them and start using right away! and it will only download the pages you open. crazy!
when the time for QA came, people formed a long queue to the mic. i was the first. i asked: "so, how is it different from web apps?". the minute i said it, almost everyone left the queue, muttering: "damn, that was my question".
i don't remember their exact answer because there wasn't really any. many years later, in December 2025, Google discontinued instant apps.
i think they were onto something. it's cool to be able to just use apps without installing them. it's just... we already have it.
C_R@jwildeboer You also can't install an ad-blocker in an app.
Simon EI3JDB@collimated_thought @jwildeboer Most ad tools in apps can be blocked with DNS adblockers
Kotes@jwildeboer Very reasonable.
Nu Modular@jwildeboer More Tor nodes and Mullvad Browser usage.
Jens Noritzsch@jwildeboer … or because most apps are nowadays a website and simply ess… @Linkshaender
AnnieBuddyI refuse to install apps on my phone now.
I have been building websites for 3 decades. I do not see the need to create another platform to force people to use.
Orb 2069Trackercontrol.org isn't a total solution, but it definitely helps.
TrulsExactly, I find I suffer from that myself. Hardly any new apps are installed on my phone.
HO1024@jwildeboer For Android (I only use it as e-OS) see what https://exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/ has to say of the application you use or think of using.