I have just been reading on a different thread about car parking charges being cashless in future.
Apps for parking - whatever next? Almost everything I do nowadays seems to involve someone trying to persuade me to upload an app - "To make the system more efficient". Oh yeah?!
I do have a smartphone - what is considered now to be an outdated Apple iPhone 6s. I bought it used/reconditioned and have never been able to upload apps onto it! However it really doesn't bother me, as I read somewhere (reliable: bank website I think) that customers need to be aware that apps are easier to hack than many people realise, so your security is compromised if you use them.
As I have no intentions of making life easier for the low-life scammers, hackers and thieves I shall carry on regardless, parking on the outside of town where there are no charges, and walk the rest of the way. Even easier, catch a bus into town!
Where I live a new dial-a-ride type bus service has started. It's nice to be able to speak to a human being to book a bus ride, even if each time, I am asked to download the app. The answer is NO! I wouldn't, even if I could. The same goes for all the other services that try to get you to use their app.
------------- Life without dogs? I don't think so!
There is a whole section of society which is being disenfranchised in this way. I do have a smart phone and do use a lot of apps. However, I know plenty of people who don't for a variety of reasons. And they are not all oldies.
------------- Freedom is a light caravan and an open road.
I have a fairly old smartphone, passed on to me by a friend after she upgraded. I'm living without apps so far! Car parks all seem to be cashless now, but round here they do have a contactless payment option which I use. The only app I think I'd enjoy is that one where you hold the phone up to a starry sky and it shows you which constellations you're looking at. I only know a few and would like to learn more. Other than that, I'm happy to live appless while I can!
------------- Always edited for sloppy typing - when I spot it!
It’s only really banking Apps that you need to be concerned about. Parking Apps shouldn’t be a problem and if someone did hack it, all they would find out is where you have parked recently.
We use all kinds of useful Apps and particularly like parking Apps. For example, a few weeks ago we were in Wells and paid for 2 hours in the car park using the App, assuming that for a tiny city, 2 hours would be enough to have a look around. We quickly discovered that Wells is an extremely interesting place and we wanted to stay for longer. If we had just use the coin machine to buy a ticket, we would’ve had to return to the car, buy another ticket and then return to the town. However, on the app, you can extend your parking time if you find yourself running short without having to go back to the car. This is a great feature if you don’t know how long you might stay at a place. Just pay for an hour and then extend it as needed.
How do you know which parking app to use? There seem to be loads. I don't have any as you can guess. Usually if we go to a town we park in a supermarket car park.
An interesting mix of replies! Thanks for your comments folks. Interesting also the comment by JoannaLesley about not all non-app users being oldies.
Part of my problem with apps (even if I could upload them) is my distrust and yes, fear, of the techy aspect of modern life but also the fact that I am almost being forced to use apps etc, because there is less demand for 'old tech'. Ok, so I'm a dinosaur. rrrrRRRRRRrrrrr!
It seems to me nowadays that commodities change, whether there is need for that change or not. If it ain't broke, why fix it, and make life more complicated than it need be? Oh, apart, of course, from the fact that upgrading everything creates new markets, and the opportunity for manufacturers to make loads more dosh!
Cynic? Moi?
------------- Life without dogs? I don't think so!
Quote: Originally posted by CyberCynth on 29/5/2023
An interesting mix of replies! Thanks for your comments folks. Interesting also the comment by JoannaLesley about not all non-app users being oldies.
Part of my problem with apps (even if I could upload them) is my distrust and yes, fear, of the techy aspect of modern life but also the fact that I am almost being forced to use apps etc, because there is less demand for 'old tech'. Ok, so I'm a dinosaur. rrrrRRRRRRrrrrr!
It seems to me nowadays that commodities change, whether there is need for that change or not. If it ain't broke, why fix it, and make life more complicated than it need be? Oh, apart, of course, from the fact that upgrading everything creates new markets, and the opportunity for manufacturers to make loads more dosh!
Cynic? Moi?
I'm with you all the way there! I don't have a smart-phone and have no intention of getting one. I won't use pay-car-parks if I can avoid them anyway, I much prefer to park a way out and walk the rest of the way, or go by bus or train if I can. Failing that I'll look for a supermarket.
I'm not a complete technophobe, I have built computers as a hobby, But I just prefer not to have a smart-phone. It's extra expense I can do without. I do have an old mobile though, mainly for emergencies. I've had it years and it costs me next to nothing. I hardly ever use it since I retired except when I go out so it's normally switched off.
Please correct me if wrong, but if my understanding of apps is correct, the phone needs an internet connection (or data credit) to connect.
As I have no data credit, (or internet connection when out of home). How could I use a parking app?
------------- Knowledge is recognising that a tomato is a fruit: experience is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Quote: Originally posted by starcraft on 29/5/2023
Please correct me if wrong, but if my understanding of apps is correct, the phone needs an internet connection (or data credit) to connect.
As I have no data credit, (or internet connection when out of home). How could I use a parking app?
Quite! My ancient Motorola doesn't take apps anyway.
we attempted to use "the parking app: at Kilve Beach in Somerset, wifi not that hot, at least for us, by the time we had paid after getting connected, we found out some 10 days later we had underpaid our stay by 8 minutes===£60:00, there is a facebook page dedicated to this carpark, it's comments are basically the same of cursing the "spy in the air" camera,no warning of that, many have contested their fines , but not sure how many have got their money back , but i now have a memento of the car number plate entering and exiting the car park. never to return again
------------- That's not a dog....... That's a Schnauzer
MiPermit & RingGo apps work well for me in the areas they are used. They work with Apple Pay. The Just Park app charges you an extra 20p on top of whatever the parking charge is & does not take Apple Pay so that one I will not use. All the car parks that use JustPark that I have used all allowed contactless on the machine so no need of app anyway.
I really cannot see why anybody worries about banking app security though. Millions use them without trouble. Using phone for everything makes life so much easier for this lazy old septuagenarian. Just ensure you never ever click on links to unsolicited texts & emails & never engage with scam or junk callers just ring off.
Quote: Originally posted by billy on 29/5/2023
MiPermit & RingGo apps work well for me in the areas they are used. They work with Apple Pay. The Just Park app charges you an extra 20p on top of whatever the parking charge is & does not take Apple Pay so that one I will not use. All the car parks that use JustPark that I have used all allowed contactless on the machine so no need of app anyway.
I really cannot see why anybody worries about banking app security though. Millions use them without trouble. Using phone for everything makes life so much easier for this lazy old septuagenarian. Just ensure you never ever click on links to unsolicited texts & emails & never engage with scam or junk callers just ring off.
Post last edited on 29/05/2023 18:56:20
Billy i dont think you understand ok, like the OP i cant use the apps either, i have an iphone 4! its not that the phone cant do it, it that apple for some reason wont allow us to do it. no matter what you try to do to get it working it simply wont. not that i am that bothered by it as i wont use them anyway. as for parking well if i cant pay by using cash then i go elsewhere even if that meant going to a different town
Let’s not get too het up about apps, they’re just the equivalent of a short cut on your phone to a website that you’d otherwise access at home on a laptop (and my laptop is ancient) or computer. Folks with older phones can look up the information on the local library computer if they want. Indeed, some of my “apps” are just shortcuts to websites on my screen.
I look at (strictly non-financial) apps every day for my BBC news; for Met Office weather or tides exactly where I am (handy for camping); to enjoy BBC music programs that I’ve missed through my car speakers; Google maps instead of a Sat nav (don’t have one) when my OS map isn’t detailed enough or I’m walking to a church in Hamburg; GeoNet for the NZ earthquakes that might affect my family there; my Covid passport! - still needed; learning Norwegian on Duolingo; my GP (frankly, a dreadful app); checking the Forestry Commission map for free MH parking overnight; checking what that ship is out in the Clyde (niche interest, I know); reporting red or grey squirrel sightings (another niche interest, sorry); and the AA - brilliant for call-outs as they can see where you are, you don’t have to spell it out while the phone battery gets weaker. And when I’m flying home from NZ, the Emirates app tells me what gate to go to next in the huge Dubai airport when I arrive, I need that after 15 near-sleepless hours in the air.
I love having a tiny computer in my bag but I do also make notes on actual paper & I use my phone as a tool, to take a photo of a poster for an event I’m interested in, to check what that monument is about, to see if some castle is open today. But it’s essential for me for “lone working” safely, in case something bad happens while I’m on my own: a job requirement that I’ve continued into retirement.
I’m on a SIM only rate, equates to £1/day. I don’t drink takeaway coffee (Other lifestyle choices are available).
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Topic: The Ubiquitous Phone App
The answer is NO! I wouldn't, even if I could. The same goes for all the other services that try to get you to use their app. 
via mobile 29/5/2023 at 9:03am
