You want to order coffee. There's a line, but if you use the app, you can skip it. So you download the app. It asks for your email, your phone number, your birthday, and permission to send notifications. You just wanted coffee.

This scene repeats everywhere. The parking meter wants an app. The restaurant menu is a QR code that leads to an app. Your new light bulb requires an app. The gym check-in is an app. Even ordering at a counter has become "download our app for rewards."

Your phone is cluttered with apps you used once, from businesses that insisted their service required dedicated software on your device. You're not imagining the absurdity. App creep is real.

The Problem People Keep Running Into

Every app requires space on your phone. Each one asks for permissions. Most want to send notifications. Many require accounts with passwords to remember. The cognitive load of managing all these apps has become its own burden.

The alternative is often punishment. Don't want to use the app? Pay full price instead of the app-only discount. Wait in the longer line. Miss out on the loyalty points. The choice isn't really a choice.

What should be simple transactions have become software installations. A basic exchange of money for goods or services now requires downloading, registering, configuring, and maintaining another piece of software.

How Modern Systems Created This

Apps became ubiquitous because they serve businesses more than customers:

Apps capture data. A website visitor is anonymous. An app user is identified. Every tap, every purchase, every location check-in becomes data the business owns. This data has enormous value for marketing and sales.

Apps create lock-in. Once you've downloaded an app, created an account, and loaded your payment information, switching to a competitor requires starting over. The app becomes a tiny commitment that keeps you coming back.

Push notifications are marketing gold. An app can send you messages directly, appearing on your lock screen. No email filter catches them. No ad blocker stops them. It's direct access to your attention, for free.

Apps bypass the web's openness. On a website, you can compare prices, read reviews, and leave easily. An app creates a controlled environment where the business controls what you see.

Why It Keeps Getting Worse

Success breeds imitation. When one coffee chain reports that app users spend more and visit more frequently, every competitor rushes to launch their own app. The competitive pressure makes apps mandatory for businesses, which makes them feel mandatory for customers.

The technology has also become easier to build. Creating an app used to require significant investment. Now, off-the-shelf solutions let any business launch an app quickly. The barrier to adding another app to the world is near zero.

Venture capital accelerated this trend. Investors valued apps because they demonstrated "engagement" and "user acquisition" in ways that traditional businesses couldn't. Having an app became a sign of being a modern company.

And once apps became expected, not having one seemed like falling behind. Customers started asking "do you have an app?" The absence of an app began to signal that a business wasn't keeping up.

How People Cope Today

People manage app overload in various ways. Some ruthlessly delete apps after single use, accepting they'll re-download if needed. Others create folders full of rarely-used apps, hiding the clutter without eliminating it.

Many simply accept the trade-offs. They download the app, give up the data, endure the notifications, and move on. The friction of resistance exceeds the annoyance of compliance.

Some businesses are slowly realizing that forcing apps on reluctant customers creates resentment. Web-based alternatives are appearing more often. QR codes that lead to mobile websites rather than app downloads are becoming more common.

The app-for-everything trend reflects a broader tension in technology: what's good for businesses (data collection, engagement, lock-in) often isn't what's good for users (simplicity, privacy, choice). Until customers start actively choosing businesses that don't require apps, the proliferation will continue.