3 ms·

Recently I've noticed that the Uber app (which I grudgingly use instead of Lyft due to a decline in drivers over the years in various areas near where I've live

by saghm 3y ago

Recently I've noticed that the Uber app (which I grudgingly use instead of Lyft due to a decline in drivers over the years in various areas near where I've lived to the point where it wasn't a viable option most of the time) will show me adds when I open it to check the ETA during a ride. This is something where I'm not paying a subscription but literally paying for the ride itself, because I obviously don't check the ETA of anything when I'm not riding. I guess this is their way of trying to find a path to profitability other than self-driving cars, but I'd genuinely rather pay an extra dollar or two per ride than have an ad take up close to half my screen.

andirk 3y ago
Things that are super time sensitive should never have distractions present. The Uber app trying to get me to buy cold upside down delivery food while I'm trying to get a ride is a terrible UX. Another example is Waze, the once most amazing map app ever made until bought by Google, has Jack n the Box ads (ok yeah I'm eating jack n the box right now, who cares!) overlaying my fkking map while I'm driving.
- octacat 3y ago
  oh, tell it to the tram schedule app, popular in Poland. You pay subscription or you watch unskipable ads. Very cool when you have 3 minutes before your trap. And I am pretty sure just initializing the ads engine takes a half of a second or so. Ah, I guess UX is dead in 2023
  - _thisdot 3y ago
    Much worse with Indian Railways. The website is riddled with ads. And if you need to book an emergency ticket, the portal opens 10AM for everyone in India. Obviously the traffic gets too much. I keep the network tab open and its painful to see requests for ads hogging up the resources when you're trying to book an emergency ticket in a race against the nation. Booking one ticket involves solving 2 captchas. They even tried to involve advertising into these captchas. You had to type out some specific detail from the ad to get past it.
    - zsdfjifdpu 3y ago
      Have you found an optimal way to book Tatkal (emergency) tickets with higher success rate apart from paying private agents or paying a premium on ixigo app ?
    - octacat 3y ago
      oh, polish trains site is made by drunk students for a bottle of vodka... It is just terribly bad and haven't changed to the good side since like 10 years. They added some ads though and broke login for me during this time :D If you need to ride using several changes - just don't. You need to book each ticket separately. German had a lot of useless steps. Austrian was pretty good, but slooow to open initially. LEO express (Czech, but commercial trains/buses) was pretty ok but sometimes having bugs. I am kinda surprised how painful the train booking sites could be :D
DevX101 3y ago
Lyft started doing the same thing. It's slightly annoying. Jet Blue is also showing mandatory ads on the video display in front of you. They last for around 5 minutes and you cannot turn off the display while these ads are showing. This is highly annoying.
- MandieD 3y ago
  I carry black electrical tape for all those eye-piercing LEDs on the hotel TV screens I never turn on - guess I'll add pieces of felt to cover seatback displays because I REALLY don't want my toddler blasted with that when he's actually going to sleep.
- wildrhythms 3y ago
  Now taxi cabs play ads on a screen directly in front of you during the ride, I've seen TVs playing ads in hospital waiting rooms... talk about a captive audience.
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    Every time I've been in a cab that does that, I've asked the driver to turn it off, and they have.
- yummypaint 3y ago
  Complain to the FAA about it as a safety issue. I always do this when flight attendants are forced to read credit card ads over the PA. It just trains passengers to ignore the crew.
timbaboon 3y ago
Yes, I noticed this for the first time last night! I am not amused....

by saghm 3y ago

andirk 3y ago

Things that are super time sensitive should never have distractions present. The Uber app trying to get me to buy cold upside down delivery food while I'm trying to get a ride is a terrible UX. Another example is Waze, the once most amazing map app ever made until bought by Google, has Jack n the Box ads (ok yeah I'm eating jack n the box right now, who cares!) overlaying my fkking map while I'm driving.

octacat 3y ago
oh, tell it to the tram schedule app, popular in Poland. You pay subscription or you watch unskipable ads. Very cool when you have 3 minutes before your trap. And I am pretty sure just initializing the ads engine takes a half of a second or so. Ah, I guess UX is dead in 2023
- _thisdot 3y ago
  Much worse with Indian Railways. The website is riddled with ads. And if you need to book an emergency ticket, the portal opens 10AM for everyone in India. Obviously the traffic gets too much. I keep the network tab open and its painful to see requests for ads hogging up the resources when you're trying to book an emergency ticket in a race against the nation. Booking one ticket involves solving 2 captchas. They even tried to involve advertising into these captchas. You had to type out some specific detail from the ad to get past it.
  - zsdfjifdpu 3y ago
    Have you found an optimal way to book Tatkal (emergency) tickets with higher success rate apart from paying private agents or paying a premium on ixigo app ?
  - octacat 3y ago
    oh, polish trains site is made by drunk students for a bottle of vodka... It is just terribly bad and haven't changed to the good side since like 10 years. They added some ads though and broke login for me during this time :D If you need to ride using several changes - just don't. You need to book each ticket separately. German had a lot of useless steps. Austrian was pretty good, but slooow to open initially. LEO express (Czech, but commercial trains/buses) was pretty ok but sometimes having bugs. I am kinda surprised how painful the train booking sites could be :D

DevX101 3y ago

Lyft started doing the same thing. It's slightly annoying. Jet Blue is also showing mandatory ads on the video display in front of you. They last for around 5 minutes and you cannot turn off the display while these ads are showing. This is highly annoying.

MandieD 3y ago
I carry black electrical tape for all those eye-piercing LEDs on the hotel TV screens I never turn on - guess I'll add pieces of felt to cover seatback displays because I REALLY don't want my toddler blasted with that when he's actually going to sleep.
wildrhythms 3y ago
Now taxi cabs play ads on a screen directly in front of you during the ride, I've seen TVs playing ads in hospital waiting rooms... talk about a captive audience.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  Every time I've been in a cab that does that, I've asked the driver to turn it off, and they have.
yummypaint 3y ago
Complain to the FAA about it as a safety issue. I always do this when flight attendants are forced to read credit card ads over the PA. It just trains passengers to ignore the crew.

timbaboon 3y ago

Yes, I noticed this for the first time last night! I am not amused....