Forced app download: Difference between revisions

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Forced app download experience is an experience where the user is forced by a business or government entity to download an app to their phone to perform basic tasks that could have otherwise been done on a standard web browser (e.g. adding a credit card for payments) or in real life (e.g. ordering a coffee).<!-- Although this is a theme article, and therefore has more relaxed editorial guidelines, i'm going to put a 'needs more verification' notice on this page to encourage the use of more citations. Have also put some comments throughout to highlight tonal issues/any questions I have. Very solid start on the whole though!

Forced app download experience is an experience where the user is forced by a business or government entity to download an app to their phone to perform basic tasks that could have otherwise been done on a standard web browser<ref>[https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9380491 D. Tian, Y. Ma, A. Balasubramanian, Y. Liu, G. Huang and X. Liu, "Characterizing Embedded Web Browsing in Mobile Apps," in IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, vol. 21, no. 11, pp. 3912-3925, 1 Nov. 2022, doi: 10.1109/TMC.2021.3065945.]</ref> (e.g. adding a credit card for payments) or in real life (e.g. ordering a coffee).<!-- Although this is a theme article, and therefore has more relaxed editorial guidelines, i'm going to put a 'needs more verification' notice on this page to encourage the use of more citations. Have also put some comments throughout to highlight tonal issues/any questions I have. Very solid start on the whole though!

-Keith -->

The forced app download experience is becoming increasingly popular in many countries pushing ~~digitalization~~. A prime example is Singapore whose government is all-in on digital everything, where it is impossible for anyone to have a bank account without using the bank's app and everyone must have a device that runs stock iOS or Android in order to download various government and business apps from their respective official app stores. Devices must also be running stock operating systems since most government and business apps conduct intrusive checks and ~~will not~~ run if a device is jailbroken or rooted.

The forced app download experience is becoming increasingly popular in many countries pushing digitization. A prime example is Singapore whose government is all-in on digital everything, where it is impossible for anyone to have a bank account without using the bank's app and everyone must have a device that runs stock iOS or Android in order to download various government and business apps from their respective official app stores. Devices must also be running stock operating systems since most government and business apps conduct intrusive checks and require extensive technical knowledge<ref>https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/8330-app-compatibility-with-grapheneos</ref><ref>https://github.com/chiteroman/PlayIntegrityFix</ref> to run if a device is jailbroken or rooted.

Most companies (and likely most governments too) would love for this to happen in more countries across the globe because the forced app download experience allows for:

Most companies<ref>https://cybernews.com/news/facebook-spying-snapchat-youtube-amazon-installing-kits/</ref> (and likely most governments<ref>https://lunduke.substack.com/p/the-pokemon-go-spying-conspiracy</ref> too) would love for this to happen in more countries across the globe because the forced app download experience allows for:

# '''Identification and tracking of users''' - not just on an account level and payments, but through deep device identifiers, location, network connection

# '''Identification and tracking of users''' - not just on an account level and payments, but through deep device identifiers, location, and network connection

# '''Push of the cashless agenda''' - digital-only payments typically go hand-in-hand with app-only experiences

# '''Increased digital integration''' - endless possibilities of integrating and sharing data with payment processors, ad providers,

# '''Increased centralization and dependency on big companies''' - putting more power in the hands of big tech (Apple and Google) with mandatory official app store downloads and big payments (Visa and ~~Mastercard~~) with forced digital payments

# '''Increased centralization and dependency on big companies''' - putting more power in the hands of big tech (Apple and Google) with mandatory official app store downloads and big payments (Visa and MasterCard) with forced digital payments

== Characteristics ==

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=== Mandatory use of "approved devices" and big tech operating systems ===

~~Apps~~ are only available for download from official app stores, meaning consumers must use a device running iOS or Android.

Most apps are only available for download on official from official app stores, meaning consumers must use a device running stock iOS or Android, or else jump through hoops to run them<ref>https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Android#Run_Android_apps_on_Arch_Linux</ref><ref>https://stackoverflow.com/a/18003462</ref>.

Devices must also be running stock operating systems since most government and business apps conduct intrusive checks and will not run if a device is jailbroken or rooted.

Devices must also be running stock operating systems since most government and business apps conduct intrusive checks<ref>https://developer.android.com/google/play/integrity/setup#default</ref> and will not run if a device is jailbroken or rooted.

Some companies such as big banks in Singapore have also started incorporating checks for "unverified apps" in their app. This means their app will scan your phone and check for sideloaded apps (anywhere that is not the official app store. For example, an app downloaded directly from APK Mirror or an unofficial app repository like F-Droid) as part of "anti-scam security measures that include restricting customers from accessing the banks’ digital services on their mobile phones if apps from unverified app stores – also known as sideloaded apps – are detected"<ref>https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/dbs-uob-anti-scam-sideloaded-app-malware-measure-latest-bank-restrict-app-access-3796806</ref>

=== Surge pricing ===

So far, the implementation of surge pricing in the context of businesses that have the forced app download experience has not yet been seen. However, trust that the enterprising individuals and ecommerce platform providers (especially "modern headless ecommerce" companies<ref>https://www.forrester.com/blogs/doing-selling-and-being-headless-commerce/</ref>) looking to maximize clean out of consumers' wallets will quickly develop and deploy surge pricing once businesses with forced app download experiences gain sufficient footing both in their respective industries and in general market penetration.

So far, the implementation of surge pricing in the context of businesses that have the forced app download experience has not yet been seen. However, trust that the enterprising individuals and ecommerce platform providers (especially "modern headless ecommerce" companies<ref>https://www.forrester.com/blogs/doing-selling-and-being-headless-commerce/</ref>) looking to maximize clean out of consumers' wallets will quickly develop and deploy surge pricing once businesses with forced app download experiences gain sufficient footing both in their respective industries and in general market penetration.

Since ordering and payments are entirely digital, it is very possible to see surge pricing (similar to what we've seen from ride hailing companies like Uber, Lyft and Grab) implemented across other industries.

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 {{incomplete}}
-Forced app download experience is an experience where the user is forced by a business or government entity to download an app to their phone to perform basic tasks that could have otherwise been done on a standard web browser (e.g. adding a credit card for payments) or in real life (e.g. ordering a coffee).<!-- Although this is a theme article, and therefore has more relaxed editorial guidelines, i'm going to put a 'needs more verification' notice on this page to encourage the use of more citations. Have also put some comments throughout to highlight tonal issues/any questions I have. Very solid start on the whole though!
+Forced app download experience is an experience where the user is forced by a business or government entity to download an app to their phone to perform basic tasks that could have otherwise been done on a standard web browser<ref>[https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9380491 D. Tian, Y. Ma, A. Balasubramanian, Y. Liu, G. Huang and X. Liu, "Characterizing Embedded Web Browsing in Mobile Apps," in IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, vol. 21, no. 11, pp. 3912-3925, 1 Nov. 2022, doi: 10.1109/TMC.2021.3065945.]</ref> (e.g. adding a credit card for payments) or in real life (e.g. ordering a coffee).<!-- Although this is a theme article, and therefore has more relaxed editorial guidelines, i'm going to put a 'needs more verification' notice on this page to encourage the use of more citations. Have also put some comments throughout to highlight tonal issues/any questions I have. Very solid start on the whole though!
 -Keith -->
-The forced app download experience is becoming increasingly popular in many countries pushing digitalization. A prime example is Singapore whose government is all-in on digital everything, where it is impossible for anyone to have a bank account without using the bank's app and everyone must have a device that runs stock iOS or Android in order to download various government and business apps from their respective official app stores. Devices must also be running stock operating systems since most government and business apps conduct intrusive checks and will not run if a device is jailbroken or rooted.
+The forced app download experience is becoming increasingly popular in many countries pushing digitization. A prime example is Singapore whose government is all-in on digital everything, where it is impossible for anyone to have a bank account without using the bank's app and everyone must have a device that runs stock iOS or Android in order to download various government and business apps from their respective official app stores. Devices must also be running stock operating systems since most government and business apps conduct intrusive checks and require extensive technical knowledge<ref>https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/8330-app-compatibility-with-grapheneos</ref><ref>https://github.com/chiteroman/PlayIntegrityFix</ref> to run if a device is jailbroken or rooted.
-Most companies (and likely most governments too) would love for this to happen in more countries across the globe because the forced app download experience allows for:<!-- tone needs to be a little calmer here. Still persuasive, but calmer. -->
+Most companies<ref>https://cybernews.com/news/facebook-spying-snapchat-youtube-amazon-installing-kits/</ref> (and likely most governments<ref>https://lunduke.substack.com/p/the-pokemon-go-spying-conspiracy</ref> too) would love for this to happen in more countries across the globe because the forced app download experience allows for:<!-- tone needs to be a little calmer here. Still persuasive, but calmer. -->
-# '''Identification and tracking of users'''  - not just on an account level and payments, but through deep device identifiers, location, network connection
+# '''Identification and tracking of users'''  - not just on an account level and payments, but through deep device identifiers, location, and network connection
 # '''Push of the cashless agenda''' - digital-only payments typically go hand-in-hand with app-only experiences
 # '''Increased digital integration''' - endless possibilities of integrating and sharing data with payment processors, ad providers,
-# '''Increased centralization and dependency on big companies''' - putting more power in the hands of big tech (Apple and Google) with mandatory official app store downloads and big payments (Visa and Mastercard) with forced digital payments
+# '''Increased centralization and dependency on big companies''' - putting more power in the hands of big tech (Apple and Google) with mandatory official app store downloads and big payments (Visa and MasterCard) with forced digital payments
 == Characteristics ==
@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 === Mandatory use of "approved devices" and big tech operating systems ===
-Apps are only available for download from official app stores, meaning consumers must use a device running iOS or Android.
+Most apps are only available for download on official from official app stores, meaning consumers must use a device running stock iOS or Android, or else jump through hoops to run them<ref>https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Android#Run_Android_apps_on_Arch_Linux</ref><ref>https://stackoverflow.com/a/18003462</ref>.
-Devices must also be running stock operating systems since most government and business apps conduct intrusive checks and will not run if a device is jailbroken or rooted.<!-- How prevalent is this outside singapore? also seems like a direct restatement of what was said earlier -->
+Devices must also be running stock operating systems since most government and business apps conduct intrusive checks<ref>https://developer.android.com/google/play/integrity/setup#default</ref> and will not run if a device is jailbroken or rooted.<!-- How prevalent is this outside singapore? also seems like a direct restatement of what was said earlier --><!-- The following block should include info about common apps that integrate these invasive measures. -->
 Some companies such as big banks in Singapore have also started incorporating checks for "unverified apps" in their app. This means their app will scan your phone and check for sideloaded apps (anywhere that is not the official app store. For example, an app downloaded directly from APK Mirror or an unofficial app repository like F-Droid) as part of "anti-scam security measures that include restricting customers from accessing the banks’ digital services on their mobile phones if apps from unverified app stores – also known as sideloaded apps – are detected"<ref>https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/dbs-uob-anti-scam-sideloaded-app-malware-measure-latest-bank-restrict-app-access-3796806</ref>
 === Surge pricing ===
-So far, the implementation of surge pricing in the context of businesses that have the forced app download experience has not yet been seen. However, trust that the enterprising individuals and ecommerce platform providers (especially "modern headless ecommerce" companies<ref>https://www.forrester.com/blogs/doing-selling-and-being-headless-commerce/</ref>) looking to maximize clean out of consumers' wallets will quickly develop and deploy surge pricing once businesses with forced app download experiences gain sufficient footing both in their respective industries and in general market penetration.<!-- rather than making this assertion, maybe try and find come companies who have proposed/patented systems to this end? Also tone gets a bit strong here -->
+So far, the implementation of surge pricing in the context of businesses that have the forced app download experience has not yet been seen. However, trust that the enterprising individuals and ecommerce platform providers (especially "modern headless ecommerce" companies<ref>https://www.forrester.com/blogs/doing-selling-and-being-headless-commerce/</ref>) looking to maximize clean out of consumers' wallets will quickly develop and deploy surge pricing once businesses with forced app download experiences gain sufficient footing both in their respective industries and in general market penetration.<!-- rather than making this assertion, maybe try and find come companies who have proposed/patented systems to this end? Also tone gets a bit strong here --><!-- I'll come back later and finish this up once I have more time to look at relevant examples. -->
 Since ordering and payments are entirely digital, it is very possible to see surge pricing (similar to what we've seen from ride hailing companies like Uber, Lyft and Grab) implemented across other industries.