Why Does Everything Need an App?

I genuinely don't understand this modern fascination with tying every service to an app, when it works perfectly fine without one. Over the last maybe 10 years, I've encountered various necessities where my access is determined by whether I have the required technology.

In 2018, when I started studying, fresh out of the military, I moved into a shared apartment. In this apartment, the landlord utilized a digital keypad lock on the handle of the doors. You needed to know the code to get in the front door, into the apartment, and into my own room.

One day the front door ran out of power, meaning the battery in the keypad lock died, and we had to get in touch with the landlord so they could send a caretaker to replace the battery. That caretaker didn't show up for a while, and without power, the door locked itself completely and didn't respond when we entered the code. We therefore had to make sure someone was always home, so they could let in whoever knocked. So if the battery had died during a holiday, when everyone was out of town, we would have been standing there like question marks when we came back.

Where I live now, the landlord values the physical security of their tenants. So much so that I need my own chip that I have to scan on a reader outside the front door, the door into the hallway, and the door into my room. Plus to get into the room with the washing machines. So every time I go downstairs to start a load of laundry, I have to bring that chip. Both to get into the laundry room, and to get back into my own room.

I also, as it happens, need a separate app to pay for and start a wash. So I can't do laundry without a smartphone.

Fair enough. The problem of course arises when I forget the chip in my room, because I'm extremely exhausted, and lock myself out. Usually you can walk over to a nearby service center and ask them for help, but more recently they've decided to centralize all customer support for housing into one service center that's 5km away from me.

I can of course call the center, if I happen to have my smartphone with me to wash/dry clothes, and it's between 07:00 and 22:00. The probability that I don't have my smartphone with me, which I need to start a wash, is 50%, since I don't need a smartphone to start a dryer that's in the same room as the washing machine.

But then if I call the center, I get told that they can arrange access all the way into my room; I just have to download an app first and enter my phone number. Then they set up the access through the app on their end. The app then works by me going into the app, tapping "unlock" and holding my smartphone up to the reader. For every door I need to go through.

And the reason I know this is because this recently happened. I was told over the phone, by the person who helped me, that they have now removed the physical chip as a way of unlocking, and that I can only unlock with the app going forward. When I asked how long this lasts, I was told that "it lasts for the rest of the rental agreement". When I asked how I can switch back to chip, I was told that I "can fill out a contact form on the website for that".

So I filled out a form right away, but never got a reply. So I showed up at the counter of the service center where all customer support had been centralized, and asked face to face. They could gladly arrange it, but that it wasn't really possible since they were going to switch to only using an app to get into housing(!). Because it was a security risk to have access through both a physical chip and an app at the same time.

This made me ask the question you might be asking yourself now: "What if my smartphone runs out of battery?". And to that I was told that they would have dedicated "emergency charging stations" outside the building, which of course solves this problem. On top of that, if I lose my phone there's no way for me to either get into my room, or call the service center and ask for help. What do I do then?

Beyond this there are other cases I observe, like Norwegian banks phasing out the physical 2-step verification token provider, to have BankID exclusively through an app. Or that the only valid way, at least at UiB, to verify your student status, is through an app (Sikt). Or perhaps the Generation Party's initiative, where they have developed an app, which they intend to be the way everyone can vote on issues in society. Not to mention age verification for social media that the government is talking about introducing in Norway. That'll probably need yet another app to verify that you're old enough, provided by the EU.

I don't understand why this is allowed to be legal. These actors in society force every single citizen to use a specific type of technology in order to have access to basic, necessary services, or services I have a legal right to access.

And what's the rationale? The measure cuts operating costs, it streamlines operations, and it becomes easier for the administration to deal with requests. There's no thought for what's best for the consumer, that is, the citizen, in this equation. In their mind, The individual shouldn't have the option to choose for themselves. It opens the door to total surveillance of your life.

The inverse of this is analogue alternatives, which need neither power, sophisticated hardware, nor internet to work. Like a key for your room, or a plastic card with a photo of your face, name and date of birth for identification.

The difference between these two approaches is that the individual has autonomy over access to services and goods. Through electricity-free, physical verification, the individual is "self-sufficient" in producing proof of their own identity and access. As opposed to through an app, where the individual depends on having a smartphone with the right hardware, internet and power at all times. As well as a centralized service that stores all necessary information about you.

But I guess the lesson has been learned. I need an app to have a place to live. I need an app to verify that I'm a student. I need an app to access my money. I need an app to participate on social platforms. I need an app to exercise my right to vote. Looking forward to the future.