This is madness.
I bought a ticket. I paid money. Now you want me to:
- Download your app
- Create an account
- Verify my email
- Set a password
- Log in
- Find my ticket
- Show it at the door
Are you having a laugh?
Welcome to App Download Hell
Here's what's really happening: Event tech companies care more about their app download numbers than your experience.
They don't need an app for ticketing. Nobody does.
But their investors want "user growth" and "app engagement metrics."
So they force you through this nightmare just to attend an event.
Your phone storage? Not their problem.
Your time? Don't care.
Your sanity? Definitely not their concern.
We've Had the Solution Since 1991
It's called email.
Remember email? That thing that works on every device ever made?
Buy ticket. Get email. Show email at door. Done.
No app. No account. No password reset when you forget it three months later.
Why are we making this harder than it needs to be?
The Real Reason They Want Apps
Let's be brutally honest here.
Apps give them:
- Your location data
- Your browsing habits
- Your contact list access
- Push notification permissions
- Marketing opportunities forever
They're not building apps for YOU. They're building apps to harvest YOUR data.
That ticket you bought? Just the excuse to get you locked into their ecosystem.
What About PWAs?
For the technical folks: Progressive Web Apps exist.
They work like apps. They feel like apps. They live in your browser.
No download. No app store. No storage eaten up.
But event platforms don't use them because PWAs don't show up in their "monthly active app users" reports.
Enter PEA: Presso Event Access
We built something different. Something sane.
PEA = Presso Event Access.
Buy ticket. Get link. Tap link. Show screen. Enter event.
No app download. No profile creation. No password nonsense.
Works on any device with a browser. iPhone. Android. Your nan's ancient tablet. Doesn't matter.
How It Actually Works
Customer buys ticket through payment link.
They get an email with their unique PEA link.
At the door, they tap the link. Shows their ticket. QR code scans. They're in.
That's it. That's the whole process.
Why make it more complicated?
But What About Offline Access?
"What if there's no signal at the venue?"
Good question. Here's the answer: PEA tickets cache locally.
Open it once, it's saved. No signal needed at the door.
All the benefit of an app. None of the download faff.
The App Store Tax
Here's something else nobody talks about.
Know what it costs to maintain an app?
- Apple Developer: £79/year
- Google Play: £20/year
- Development updates: thousands
- Bug fixes: more thousands
- App store approval delays: your sanity
All so someone can show a ticket at a door.
Mental.
What Customers Actually Want
We asked people. Shocking concept, right?
They want:
- Buy ticket easily
- Access ticket quickly
- Get into event fast
Nobody said "I really wish this required an app download and account creation."
Nobody.
The Storage Problem
Average smartphone has 64GB storage.
Average event app? 50-200MB.
You attend 10 events a year. That's potentially 2GB of apps you'll use once.
For ticket companies who don't care about you after you've entered the venue.
Delete. Delete. Delete.
Presso's Approach
We believe in radical simplicity.
Email works. Links work. Browsers work.
These technologies are 30+ years old. They're not broken. They don't need fixing.
Stop forcing apps on people who just want to attend your event.
The Future is Actually the Past
Remember when things were simple?
Click link. Thing happens. Everyone's happy.
That's still the best way. It always was.
Event tech has spent billions making ticketing worse, not better.
Time to go back to basics.
Make It Easy or Make It Elsewhere
If your ticketing system requires an app download, you're doing it wrong.
If it needs profile creation for a one-time event, you're doing it wrong.
If customers need to remember passwords to show tickets, you're definitely doing it wrong.
The Bottom Line
Apps are for things you use daily. Social media. Banking. Messaging.
Event tickets? You use them once.
Stop treating one-time transactions like they need permanent apps.
Use PEA. Use email. Use the bloody internet the way it was designed.
Stop the app download madness.
👉 Experience ticketing without the tech bloat: pressonetwork.com
How many event apps are currently wasting space on your phone? Time for a clear-out.