In a socialist society perhaps this would be less of a concern, but my main gripe with this type of approach is the centralization of data and the havoc it would wreak on digital privacy. As it stands, I can compartmentalize what companies have access to this information or that information, and have exceptions in my security modeling for specific services. If one company has a data breach, that’s more tolerable because they have the minimal amount of data necessary on me and I gave them a unique email and password. If all my apps were combined, then I’m at the mercy of one company to maintain my security, and if there’s a leak then everything is compromised. Additionally, I pick and choose who I trust and what data is exposed to which parties under the individual app per service model. With a super app, if they are spying on metadata or god forbid not using encryption and just reading my messages etc, then they have all of it and I have no protection
I don’t think the idea has to be implemented in this way though. The key difference in my mind is that instead of having each app be its own isolated thing, you treat them more as services with APIs. One way this can be handled at the UI toolkit in the OS that could generate a something like a JSON API for each app based on the UI to query the app. This way apps could be trivially composed into custom UIs and workflows, or even scripted. This would follow the whole Unix philosophy where you have a bunch of utils that can be piped together to produce whatever functionality you need.
I don’t believe that super apps are inherently good, especially mobile ones. Why does your payment app also need to message, view maps, book doctor appoinments, order stuff online and more? Who cares if another app opens when you click on a google maps link. Pressing the back button will bring you back to the messenger app, or to the messenger ‘window’ in the super app. So no real changes, but the super apps tend to have clustered UIs
We-chat = Bad
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Wow, a “one app for everything” model, how horribly inconvenient and obnoxious!
I would much rather download multiple apps on my phone, each from a tech company that has a monopoly on their pertinent share of the market. Although this may be inconvenient to some who have a disdain for American freedom and enterprise, I will not be shaken by CCP propaganda or anything that might shake the country I hold dear!!! #RESIST #HARRIS2028
Not sure what’s the point here, do you prefer to have one private company providing you everything over multiple companies?
The name “super app” alone terrifies me. I’m explicitly avoiding apps from private companies that are not privacy friendly, so I really don’t get why I would like something like wechat.
libs were trying to tell me exactly this completely unironically here https://lemmygrad.ml/post/6805581
I would be joyous if the US is forced to accept losing its power as the world hegemon and has to be helped with reindustrializing itself by China’s aid and to use their apps. I seriously doubt this is how events will play out, and I believe the future will be messy, but it would be nice and satisfying punch to the ruling class and tech oligarchs/chuds’ comically large ego.
