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by NoMoreNicksLeft 310 days ago
Granted that these particular apps require personal information, but why should a general-purpose app ever need it in the first place?

A few weeks ago, I wanted a walk-tracking app that would show me a map of where I'd been, the distance, not much else (maybe the time it took to walk it). Looks nice, download the first one I find... wants me to register and sign in. Why? This should all remain local on my iPhone. I think I went through 5 of them before I realized they were all junk. It's bad enough that I'd consider a monthly subscription (none were "it costs this much, once" up front), but the idea that I want them data-mining me trying to be a little less fat was absurd to the point of lunacy.

This was all thoroughly broken long before "vibe coding".