I'll probably have to upgrade my phone soon anyway, as it's starting to get a bit glitchy, and the battery barely lasts a day even with light use. But I'll be darned if I buy a new phone just for an app.

For Boots and John Lewis I'll just have to remember to log in to my accounts using a browser to see what offers and competitions etc. there are. More long-winded, but it's what we had to do before apps came along (and, incredible though it must seem to the younger generation, we even managed to live just fine before the Internet and mobile phones). It's scary how quickly we can get accustomed to convenience, and how aggressively digital options only are being pushed by corporate and governmental forces. Great Western Railways no longer produce printed timetables, not for all services anyway, and certainly not for my local branch line - instead you have to use their website or app (or hope that the counter staff will have one of the copies that they've thoughtfully printed out).

As for the eBay app, the platform and some sellers potentially lose out. Now that I can no longer receive app notifications about auctions I'm interested in ending soon, I'm more likely to forget to bid, and it's perfectly possible that I would have bid more than the actual winning bid.