So I joined a new gym last year and was pleasantly surprised. They gave me a smart card to get in and out, that’s it, no app, no accounts, no nothing. Well, today I got to the gym and saw the announcement that they are phasing out the access with the smart card and starting to use, you guessed it, an app.
Now, I know this is not such a big deal in the grand scheme of things. But I’m just tired of this trend of replacing perfectly functioning systems with apps (public transport tickets come to mind). Just more ways to harvest people’s data, I guess…
Ah and by the way, in my previous gym they not only required an app for accessing the place, they also incentivized people to track their workouts, meals and bodyweight using the gym’s app (of course I never used any of these features).
Bring them a dumb phone. Ask them to install the app on it for you. Tell then you are not buying a new phone just to use the gym.
And they will say you can’t go to the gym, then. I agree this is enshittification but this isn’t a magic trick that lets you bypass the app
It’s not, but I pushed back on my gym and they got me a barcode key tag. The app just shows a barcode anyway so I lucked out. I took a picture of the barcode and use that to get into the gym. Doesn’t hurt to try
Assume they’d let ask you to have staff let you in every time, same as someone whose battery died. Pretty soon they’d recognize you and quickly buzz/wave you along, I figure.
This isn’t a magic trick. This is more about pushing and seeing how far they would bend.
Like what you said, if all else it’s a way out of the stupid agreements with gyms.
Isn’t what illegal? They are allowed to determine how you access their gym.
Sometimes the app just shows a barcode that they scan. I always screenshotted the barcode and deleted the app. Better yet, save the barcode in catima https://catima.app/
Or Barcodes on iOS
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/reward-card-wallet-barcodes/id1610894014
First time i hear of this, sounds handy, although I’ve seen some of those “loyalty card” thingies with chips for hands-free usage, i tend to avoid them as a general principle as they’re the opposite of privacy-oriented but for the few that you do want (like the store where you always buy your groceries from, to get extra discounts) might be handy
This would be the best way. Unfortunately they made it the other way around. A screen at the door shows the code, and you scan it with the app.
In my previous gym the code was on the app, but I’m not sure anymore if it was static or it changed over time. But the reader on the door was awful, I used to spend a good 3 minutes trying different angles with my phone to make it recognize the code.
This desperately needs to become an illegal industry. Perfectly legitimate businesses are letting their real business fall to the wayside as they convert their profits to a fucking consumer spying business. I’m sick of it. I’m sick of all the tracking, and I’m sick of ads popping up in new places all the freaking time. You go to pump gas and a commercial starts blaring in your face. You can’t escape it. You can’t get a moment of peace to sit with your thoughts. It’s negatively affecting our entire society, yet every business is pursuing it with zeal and the politicians aren’t doing jack shit to protect the people. Matter of fact the government is buying the data too. I never imagined this is what the future would look like when I was growing up.
Well ads themselves aren’t that big of an issue for me (though they can be a pain for people with photosensitive epilepsy which can be used as an argument for restricting them btw) but other than that I agree. Unfortunately governments won’t shut it down because it’s not just an amazing data source and optimization of human resources (because they can just buy data instead of hiring a lot of agents) but also a lot of income in taxes when the data is sold
My old college dorm did this, I told them I don’t have a smartphone (lie) and they gave me an access card that works 100% of the time without needing a charge. They might do the same at your gym.
I’d speak to management and voice your concerns regarding the app, and ask if there is another method available for entry. If not, I’d cancel my membership and look for another gym that respects my privacy.
