The digital toxicity

No One’s Happy recent blog post suggesting not to use native apps:

“Most native apps collect far more data than their website equivalents ever could. They request permissions to hardware, sensors, and background processes that browsers deliberately restrict. The third-party software embedded in these apps frequently transmits your location, device identifiers, and behavioral data to third parties before you even see a consent prompt. This data is in tandem bought, sold, and aggregated by brokers. It has been used to out individuals, track immigrants, and enable prosecution over reproductive healthcare.”

While this is true, refusing to use native apps is surprising advice. One might think the App Store submission process that every developer is subject to prevents bad actors, but it doesn’t. Coupled with the developer’s ordeal with the App Store review process, some developers are suggesting focusing development efforts on web applications instead. And finally, vibe coding might be another factor driving a move toward web application development. Yet the web is a jungle where user tracking is a standard “feature” that mines the browsing experience with bloated web pages that sell you ads and lead you to forced engagement.