Minor things that bother you

[kphoger]

On behalf of my wife...

She uses the Life360 app, along with two of our sons, her sisters, and her mom.  Lately, she's started getting notifications like this:

You've been here for 37 minutes. 👉 Let your circle know when you leave.

A couple of things that bother us about this...

1.  Why should she have to let them know?  The whole point of the app is so that they can see for themselves where she is without her needing to tell them.

2.  This notification pops up when we're at our own house.  Seriously?  We've been at our own house for 37 minutes and you think that's somehow noteworthy enough for a notification?

[hotdogPi]

3. They can't spell "your".

[kphoger]

3. They can't spell "your".

Nope, that was all me.  Fixed it.

[GaryV]

When you still get reminded that payment on something is due for the month when you've already made a payment on it for the month, and have verified that the payment has cleared.

Or when you have automatic payments set up, and they've previously told you about it, and now they remind you again that it's due.

Corollary: When you have automatic payments set up, and they send you emails telling you that you can set up automatic payments. You can't check my account settings before you send it? Sigh.

[J N Winkler]

She uses the Life360 app, along with two of our sons, her sisters, and her mom.  Lately, she's started getting notifications like this:

You've been here for 37 minutes. 👉 Let your circle know when you leave.

A couple of things that bother us about this...

1.  Why should she have to let them know?  The whole point of the app is so that they can see for themselves where she is without her needing to tell them.

2.  This notification pops up when we're at our own house.  Seriously?  We've been at our own house for 37 minutes and you think that's somehow noteworthy enough for a notification?

None of this is about the needs of the end user (or, in your wife's case, her friend group).  This kind of notification spam is all about pulling eyeballs to the platform.

Related phenomena:

*  Major platforms like LinkedIn and NextDoor offer extensive options for customization of notifications.  This looks user-friendly at first glance.  The real purpose is to confuse and bamboozle you as to the behavior you can expect, and make it easier to sneak in more notifications by creating categories for them you have not yet blocked.

*  Other platforms, like Sam's Club online and Biddingo (a private-sector third-party contracting platform favored by some public agencies in the northwest US and Canada, like Sound Transit), offer unsubscribe functionality that doesn't actually work.  I followed Sam's for long enough to figure out the trick they were using--apparently they avoid running afoul of CAN-SPAM by treating each new purchase as an opt-in for marketing emails.

*  Food ordering services, like ToastTab, ask you to supply a phone number when you place an order.  You must do this even if you are ordering as a guest, since the option to do so does not appear until after you have already entered a number and received a one-time code on your mobile phone (with a resulting notification from your text messaging app that you must then clear).

[gonealookin]

She uses the Life360 app, along with two of our sons, her sisters, and her mom.  Lately, she's started getting notifications like this:

You've been here for 37 minutes. 👉 Let your circle know when you leave.

A couple of things that bother us about this...

1.  Why should she have to let them know?  The whole point of the app is so that they can see for themselves where she is without her needing to tell them.

2.  This notification pops up when we're at our own house.  Seriously?  We've been at our own house for 37 minutes and you think that's somehow noteworthy enough for a notification?

None of this is about the needs of the end user (or, in your wife's case, her friend group).  This kind of notification spam is all about pulling eyeballs to the platform.

Related phenomena:

*  Major platforms like LinkedIn and NextDoor offer extensive options for customization of notifications.  This looks user-friendly at first glance.  The real purpose is to confuse and bamboozle you as to the behavior you can expect, and make it easier to sneak in more notifications by creating categories for them you have not yet blocked.

*  Other platforms, like Sam's Club online and Biddingo (a private-sector third-party contracting platform favored by some public agencies in the northwest US and Canada, like Sound Transit), offer unsubscribe functionality that doesn't actually work.  I followed Sam's for long enough to figure out the trick they were using--apparently they avoid running afoul of CAN-SPAM by treating each new purchase as an opt-in for marketing emails.

*  Food ordering services, like ToastTab, ask you to supply a phone number when you place an order.  You must do this even if you are ordering as a guest, since the option to do so does not appear until after you have already entered a number and received a one-time code on your mobile phone (with a resulting notification from your text messaging app that you must then clear).

I go into Notifications in Settings periodically and shut off almost all the ones that have magically been turned on (which I usually did inadvertently or unthinkingly, such as the ToastTab example).  Or, sometimes I'm alerted to one being on by receiving one of said notifications, for example Priceline trying to sell me a vacation.

I find tracking apps such as Life360 creepy.  You're giving up an awful lot of information there.  I'm sure kphoger's wife will say "But what if...", but until 10 to 15 years ago we were somehow able to reconnect after some black swan event.  It just seems to me that being able to text ought to suffice, that nobody really needs to know where you are, and have been, at all times.

[kphoger]

I find tracking apps such as Life360 creepy.  You're giving up an awful lot of information there.  I'm sure kphoger's wife will say "But what if...", but until 10 to 15 years ago we were somehow able to reconnect after some black swan event.  It just seems to me that being able to text ought to suffice, that nobody really needs to know where you are, and have been, at all times.

It's obviously not a necessity.  But Carrie likes to know that our son didn't miss the bus on his way to work in the morning, or to see when he leaves church if he drove up there for some sort of activity, or whatever.  We also knew through the app the moment her mom got in a car accident, because it alerted her.

I think one funny quirk was that it alerted us that her sister was driving over 100 mph one time, but really she was just on a plane racing down the runway for take-off.

[Scott5114]

One time I took a friend of mine (mid-30s) who was hooked up to one of those things on a roadgeek trip (she was curious to know what we get out of them). She got a text from her mom asking her what the hell she was doing in (whatever town we were in at the time). Of course, it's not like her mom could have done anything about it, nor did she try to once she knew everything was OK. But I couldn't help but think man, I'm glad I don't have to deal with messages like that.

Funnily enough, that sort of thing would actually be more appealing now that I live in the desert, just in case I got into trouble while exploring some remote highway or whatever. But then again those remote highways usually don't have cell service anyway, so it wouldn't be of any actual use.

[gonealookin]

But Carrie likes to know that our son didn't miss the bus on his way to work in the morning...

If my mother had ever called me and said, "I see on the app you missed the bus this morning and were late to work.  You need to start getting up earlier so that doesn't happen."...  Oh.My.God. would I have gone ballistic about that.  That would be an "I'm not speaking to you for a month and we'll figure out a way to proceed then if you've learned how to MYOFB."

Everybody's relationships with their parents are different.  My own mother never would have thought of something like that even if the technology were available.  She was recently divorced when I was in college, I think we were both doing some things that weren't the other's business, and we had an agreement to respect each other's privacy (most specifically a "No Surprise Visits" rule).

[gonealookin]

...that sort of thing would actually be more appealing now that I live in the desert, just in case I got into trouble while exploring some remote highway or whatever. But then again those remote highways usually don't have cell service anyway, so it wouldn't be of any actual use.

T-Mobile offers satellite service (Starlink) for an additional $10 per month.  I wouldn't be in situations to use it very often, as I'm at an age where I'm not really adventurous enough anymore to get out in the middle of nowhere very often.  It would mostly keep my SiriusXM phone app from cutting out.  Ten years ago it would have been a no-brainer for me to buy that, and even now it doesn't seem like much to pay for the insurance.

[Scott5114]

...that sort of thing would actually be more appealing now that I live in the desert, just in case I got into trouble while exploring some remote highway or whatever. But then again those remote highways usually don't have cell service anyway, so it wouldn't be of any actual use.

T-Mobile offers satellite service (Starlink) for an additional $10 per month.  I wouldn't be in situations to use it very often, as I'm at an age where I'm not really adventurous enough anymore to get out in the middle of nowhere very often.  It would mostly keep my SiriusXM phone app from cutting out.  Ten years ago it would have been a no-brainer for me to buy that, and even now it doesn't seem like much to pay for the insurance.

That would be a lot more appealing if it was any satellite provider other than Starlink...

[gonealookin]

...that sort of thing would actually be more appealing now that I live in the desert, just in case I got into trouble while exploring some remote highway or whatever. But then again those remote highways usually don't have cell service anyway, so it wouldn't be of any actual use.

T-Mobile offers satellite service (Starlink) for an additional $10 per month.  I wouldn't be in situations to use it very often, as I'm at an age where I'm not really adventurous enough anymore to get out in the middle of nowhere very often.  It would mostly keep my SiriusXM phone app from cutting out.  Ten years ago it would have been a no-brainer for me to buy that, and even now it doesn't seem like much to pay for the insurance.

That would be a lot more appealing if it was any satellite provider other than Starlink...

I glare at every Tesla I see, but...I'm doing a lot of glaring.  I do like the bumper stickers that say "I bought this car before we knew Elon was crazy."

Think I brought this up about wifi on airplanes.  The airlines that are using Starlink have a good product.  The ones that are using somebody else have a crappy product, and will for the foreseeable future.

[Scott5114]

...that sort of thing would actually be more appealing now that I live in the desert, just in case I got into trouble while exploring some remote highway or whatever. But then again those remote highways usually don't have cell service anyway, so it wouldn't be of any actual use.

T-Mobile offers satellite service (Starlink) for an additional $10 per month.  I wouldn't be in situations to use it very often, as I'm at an age where I'm not really adventurous enough anymore to get out in the middle of nowhere very often.  It would mostly keep my SiriusXM phone app from cutting out.  Ten years ago it would have been a no-brainer for me to buy that, and even now it doesn't seem like much to pay for the insurance.

That would be a lot more appealing if it was any satellite provider other than Starlink...

I glare at every Tesla I see, but...I'm doing a lot of glaring.  I do like the bumper stickers that say "I bought this car before we knew Elon was crazy."

Think I brought this up about wifi on airplanes.  The airlines that are using Starlink have a good product.  The ones that are using somebody else have a crappy product, and will for the foreseeable future.

It may be a good product, but I don't think I could stomach giving its owner any money.

Last week I was driving down Fort Apache Road in northwest Las Vegas, which is a kind of underdeveloped area with semi-rural vibes, at twilight. I was a surprised to see that there was a Cybertruck parked along the shoulder in such an underpopulated area. Until I got closer and realized it was a Republic dumpster.

[vdeane]

When you still get reminded that payment on something is due for the month when you've already made a payment on it for the month, and have verified that the payment has cleared.

My two non-streaming, non-website hosting autopays have started to send me texts for when the payment is made.  Seriously?  I was just fine with the emails, but now I have a text I had to clear each time too.

[kphoger]

Funnily enough, that sort of thing would actually be more appealing now that I live in the desert, just in case I got into trouble while exploring some remote highway or whatever. But then again those remote highways usually don't have cell service anyway, so it wouldn't be of any actual use.

Our friends in Mexico have a Garmin inReach in their vehicle and, whenever they drive out of town, they turn on the location sharing thing, I get a message, and then I can track along with them.

When they first moved down there full-time, I knew when their car broke down between Reynosa and Monterrey because of that, but their cell phone reception was so crappy in that spot that I couldn't reach them anyway.

Another time, it really looked like they got abducted by a cartel or something.  Just south of a big city, they deviated a mile or so off to the west, down unmarked dirt roads, to a complex of old buildings near a railroad.  Later, I found out that they had taken their daughter to a church camp, and those were the camp buildings.  I told he should let me know the destination beforehand next time.

I've also been able to call him when he was leading a bunch of guys from their church in Coahuila on a cross-Mexico mission trip to Veracruz, and I saw that he missed his turn and was headed in the wrong direction.  I had to do that on more than one occasion until he finally started remembering the route.

Ironically, the two times they actually did have a criminal run-in on the highway, it wasn't even a blip on my screen.  The first was when a vehicle tactically forced them over onto the shoulder on the toll bypass around Monterrey.  Because he was driving a Pathfinder with off-road rated tires, he simply drove off the pavement and kept going, leaving the criminal dudes stopped on the shoulder behind them.  The second time was when they passed through a cartel 'checkpoint' on a major federal highway, and then saw the military heading the other direction a few miles down the road to come break it up.  That was just a quick pause and then keep going kind of thing, again not a blip on my screen.

They left Mexico yesterday morning to come up here for a month and a half, to renew some passports and visit family and do some fundraising and stuff.  Here's what I see, and I can zoom in.  Zoom in far enough, and it switches to satellite view.  Click on a dot, and it tells me the time and their speed and stuff.  I can also send a message to them on their Garmin that doesn't require cell phone coverage (I didn't know that back when they were moving and broke down).  As you can see, they stayed the night in Fort Worth (with family) and just crossed into Kansas a few minutes ago.

[gonealookin]

When you still get reminded that payment on something is due for the month when you've already made a payment on it for the month, and have verified that the payment has cleared.

My two non-streaming, non-website hosting autopays have started to send me texts for when the payment is made.  Seriously?  I was just fine with the emails, but now I have a text I had to clear each time too.

The minor thing that would bother me there would be if the company's website didn't give me some ability, usually under Account --> Notifications or similar, to turn off the e-mails and texts.

[vdeane]

When you still get reminded that payment on something is due for the month when you've already made a payment on it for the month, and have verified that the payment has cleared.

My two non-streaming, non-website hosting autopays have started to send me texts for when the payment is made.  Seriously?  I was just fine with the emails, but now I have a text I had to clear each time too.

The minor thing that would bother me there would be if the company's website didn't give me some ability, usually under Account --> Notifications or similar, to turn off the e-mails and texts.

Yeah, I'm not sure how to do that, at least with that level of granularity.  I think I can only disable texts entirely, and I would worry about whether I'd not get notified about something actually urgent.

[TheCatalyst31]

I think one funny quirk was that it alerted us that her sister was driving over 100 mph one time, but really she was just on a plane racing down the runway for take-off.

Apparently amusement parks have had problems with roller coasters triggering apps like that, especially the ones that automatically call 911 if they think you've been in a car crash.

[vdeane]

As a corollary to text/email discussion, I now get "statements" and notifications from the three credit bureaus.  I already get access to my score through a credit card and my bank, and I check the free annual report.  The only reason I have accounts with them is so I can freeze/unfreeze my credit.  I don't need all that other stuff.  The emails were annoying enough, but one of them started texting me.  Really?  That's urgent enough for a text?  My score randomly fluctuates up and down by ~5 points every couple months for reasons I can't figure out.  It's not newsworthy in the least, much less something urgent.

[kphoger]

I've probably mentioned something similar before...

I run a couple of daily or near-daily reports at work that involve exporting into Excel.  Firefox prompts me and asks what I want to do with the file:  Save or Open?  I choose Open.  And it saves it in my Downloads folder anyway.  That should be called 'Save & Open'.  I don't want it to be saved at all.  (Yes, I understand that it has to be saved as a temporary file in order to open it, but it should then immediately be deleted upon my closing the file.)

[hbelkins]

Speaking of LinkedIn...

I recently attended a conference. One of the speakers was pimping her LinkedIn account and welcoming the attendees to connect with her. I had no interactions with the speaker, did not speak with her individually, and did not give her a second thought after the event was over.

Two days later, I got a "I'd like to connect..." email from LinkedIn on her behalf. I thought that was kind of creepy. The only thing I can figure out is that the conference organizer shared the attendee list with her to send out LinkedIn invitations.