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by korginator
895 days ago
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I'd love to have a low-cost, low-end phone that can just handle basic communication requirements. However, life has changed so much over the past two decades that I believe it's no longer possible to live our lives without a smartphone and without serious compromises. There are just too many basic necessities that require a smartphone these days, starting with multi-factor authentication apps, cab booking and navigation. In my country, government services, banking and financial services can work to some extent without an app, but it is becoming increasingly impractical to hold out. Banks have replaced physical 2FA tokens with new features in their banking apps. The financial services I use require me to authenticate via faceID on my phone for specific transactions. Our government services use a biometric authentication scheme - not mandatory but it is terribly inconvenient to get your work done if you don't have a smart phone. It's reached a point where I cannot function normally beyond a week or so, without a smart phone and relevant financial, government, and other apps. |
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The one time a client required MFA they had me install an app for my laptop + SMS.
The local cab company (I live in a small city) accepts phone calls and has a web interface.
The few times I've visited another city without my wife in the last few years, I used a paper map. Paper maps are getting harder to find.
I can access government services and banking via BankID, which exists as a desktop app. I've also found that some places don't fully support using BankID, over the smart phone version "Mobile BankID". In one case where we had to sign things jointly, I had to log in with BankID then have her confirm with Mobile BankID, because the other way around does not work.
To log into the bank, I have a physical authenticator, and I see the bank staff use a physical authenticator internally for their operations, so I do not think that will be changing soon. I suspect that companies also use a physical authenticator to log in, so that access is gated on easily observable possession rather than on personal or corporate smart phones.
What's getting more difficult is minor money transactions. Many people use "Swish", a mobile payment system and don't carry or use cash, and Swish is also common at smaller businesses. My barber, for instance, got rid of his card terminal in favor of Swish, though he does accept cash. I wonder when I'll have to deal with a "Swish-only / no cash" event.
I can see that parking is increasingly hard to do without a smart phone, as the payment points are being removed in favor of a sign telling people to use the app.
OTOH, my wife is getting annoyed how Google wants her to do 2FA verification. She's logged into several devices, including tablets for the kids. Yesterday the 4 year old wanted help opening the Google Video app, which for some reason wanted 2FA verification saying it was a new device. I could not provide it, but luckily my wife was also home and could deal with it. Still, that situation has clearly gotten a bit worse for us, and there's no solution where our baby sitter could have resolved it were she alone with the kids.
(To make things more annoying, Google was trying to send the verification to an old tablet, which we rarely use because of a cracked screen and nearly zero battery life. She was able to go in via her phone and figure it out instead.)