From The Chief Editor's Desk...

“There’s an app for that.”

When smartphones first appeared on the scene nearly 20 years ago, those words were greeted with great enthusiasm. Today, that phrase is dreaded.

I’m talking about app fatigue. It’s a very real phenomenon.

It seems like everyone and their brother, sister, mother, father, aunt, uncle, cousin, grandparent, and acquaintance has their own dedicated app. Enough already!

Around my parts, there are WAY too many separate apps for goods and services. Do you want the best buy on a Subway submarine sandwich? You’ll have to download Subway’s app, because the best buys are ONLY available to those who use the Subway app. If you want that $6.99 footlong sandwich, that price is only available when you order through their app. Do you want a great buy on a Wendy’s hamburger? You’ll have to download Wendy’s dedicated app. And thus it continues across a wide range of dedicated apps.

There are apps where the best prices are only available to the user of a particular app. Other apps offer exclusive “deals” only to users of their dedicated app. If you don’t have THEIR app, you get the honor of paying the higher price.

When I go to a MLB game, there’s an app for that. Since the pandemic, there are no more physical tickets. Your tickets are stored electronically on your smartphone. If you go to the concession stand to purchase the exorbitantly priced food and drink items, you can only pay with a credit/debit card, or with a payment app on your phone. No cash is allowed. They call it “contactless payment.” If you download the “Ballpark” app, you can get in-game discounts on upgraded seats and other discounted services. Oh yeah. That’s right. You must download the “Ballpark” app, because that’s where your tickets for admittance to the stadium are stored. And, take it from me: everything you do in the baseball stadium is very closely monitored and recorded. This was apparent after we attended a special event this year when the Kansas City Royals hosted a day for Scouts. In the days following the game, I got all kinds of emails, as well as notifications on my phone.

Consider for a moment all of the problems and pitfalls with this approach of everyone having their own dedicated app.

First, there’s the overwhelming number of apps that a “normal” person would have to install on their smartphone. EVERYONE has their own dedicated app. Given the bloat of many of these apps, there’s a very real chance that you could quickly run out of storage space on your smartphone.

Then, there’s the security and privacy issues. Do you know what information is being sent from any particular smartphone app back to its “command base?” Probably not. Most people do not pay attention to the “permissions” granted to each individual app that they install on their smartphone, let alone what data is shared and with whom. This places things like contact lists, geolocation, photos, documents … just about anything stored on your smartphone … at risk. That’s placing an awful lot of “trust” in the app creator that they don’t funnel all of your available data to some central “command” server. Of course, each app installed increases the risk of a virus or other security vulnerability, as well.

Most users probably couldn’t care less. They blindly and blissfully just install these apps without giving any regard to their security or the security of their data (if they were truly concerned about their privacy, they wouldn’t be on platforms like Facebook and X to start with). And then, they get to endure all of the “push notifications” that typically come with these apps. Frankly, I don’t have the patience or stomach to deal with all of those interruptions. And, with private personal data being vacuumed up by every entity on the planet like a herd of animals on a voracious feeding frenzy, I’m not all that eager to give up my privacy and the security of my data. It’s NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS where I go, what I do when I’m there, who I do it with, who I talk to, when I do it, what websites I visit and when, or any other datasets collected by these so-called “smartphones.”

Whenever I have the choice, I prefer to use my computer over my smartphone. At least with my computer, I have a lot more control over my data and how I secure it. I simply do not have anything close to that level of control of my data on a smartphone. Unfortunately, there are times when I must use the apps on my smartphone (like when I attend a Kansas City Royals game).

Yep. I’m there. I’ve reached my threshold for “app fatigue.”

This month’s cover image comes from PCLinuxOS’s resident shutterbug, The CrankyZombie. With Spring in full swing, his image of the Yellow Flag Iris (a.k.a. the Bog Iris) seemed fitting.

Until next month, I bid you peace, happiness, serenity, prosperity, and continued good health!