On The Any Distance – Workout Tracker

Reading Time: 2 minutes
I watched the Apple keynote and thought “This is demonstrating a dystopia, with the Pure Vision Goggles, rather than a eutopia. A dystopia where everyone is alone, working in VR, rather than surrounded by people. The dystopia continued on with an app. In the age of two factor authentication they want to authenticate users by SMS, rather than free Two Factor Authentication. They’re losing users they almost seduced.

The Apple App store has promoted the winners of the design awards but they forgot about the most important detail. They’re promoting apps that are impossible to use if you’re not in the US, within the ecosphere of the market they’re in. This is a negative experience.

I am especially critical of the Any Distance – Workout Tracker for a number of reasons. The first is that there are hundreds of tracking apps, so one more, or one less doesn’t change a thing. The second issue is that the app makes a big deal about privacy, but then asks for your e-mail, and your phone number. Those are two of the most personal things we can give. It then wants the geo-data from our activities. So much for privacy.

These things don’t really bother me, since so many fitness trackers are already getting that data. What bothers me is being told “we value your privacy” but blocking registration, despite providing our phone numbers, because we’re in Switzerland rather than one of the countries they support. They invade my privacy by requiring phone numbers, and then say “computer says no” because their app is to cheap, or too stupid to recognise swiss numbers.

Don’t promote or discuss an app that people can’t use. You’re wasting their time, and their good will. You grab their attention, they download the app, and then they’re blocked because SMS are expensive. At least other apps limit reach, in the Apple Store, by country, rather than waste space on a mobile phone, for nothing.

I deleted the app. They missed their chance. Now they will be forgotten, and fail, because they require sms authentication and they’re too cheap to support Switzerland. They should have used two factor authentication.