I understand having information conveniently available at your fingertips. That's great. My confusion had more to do with someone saying they need over a dozen apps to be able to travel. Sorry, travelling --by any medium-- predates apps and, for the most part, you don't need much more than a few pieces of paper.
I would not dare get on a flight while fully depending on data inside a phone. If anything happens to that phone you are screwed.
I'm Dutch by the way, and I only ever use the 9292 service to check my itinerary and look for alternative routes if a delay or service cancellation occurs (although usually these are announced and/or provided for).
It's great that I am able to open up a web browser or some app before or during a trip to figure out if my itinerary needs changing or if a connection can be made, but I can't imagine having to depend on a dozen apps to figure out something as basic as where my gate is or when I should get out of the bus — buses announce there stops via scrolling text and usually voice, and why would you even get on a bus without knowing how many stops you'll be riding or even which direction it should roughly be heading?
There is a whole generation out there (severely generalizing, but it does feel this way sometimes) who completely lack the skills for even basic navigation. Their awareness shifted from actual to digital surroundings, their dependency on technology gradually increasing.
If people want to live like that; fine. But I find this increasing dependency on information fed to you rather than actively sought out worrying.
I know so many people who have absolutely no idea where they are and how to get places simply because they use a navigation app on their phone. Even simple concepts such as "this is approximately x distance south of our current location" escapes people who lose all positional awareness due to reliance on navigation apps.
Oh, and I don't rely on the apps. They are a convenience. I still have my itinerary on paper and ask for printed boarding passes just in case.
Sarcasm aside. The real answer is: Convenience. There are apps that make my life a lot more convenient. Dutch citizens live on public transport; I have never touched a car in my life. A bus stops at my station every 50 seconds. It is great to be able to quickly plan, get information about delays, allow yourself to take a nap and get woken up by a buzzer etc... It's just convenience. Yes you'll get along fine if you do your daily commute with same train, same bus, same boat. But as soon as you need to do something more exotic, it's nice for an app to have your back
+ It tells me when my stop is coming up and I have to press the button to get out of the bus.
+ It reminds me to checkout.
+ It tells me where to find the bus when I arrive at a train station I don't know.
+ It helps me plan my travel so I can leave on time.
+ It helps me to know when the latest train goes home.
+ It helps me to find the shortest route.
+ It tells me if there are still public bikes available at the station of my destination.
Of course, flying is quite different. Nevertheless I regretfully "did have issues" with flying.
+ I have to buy and print ESTA forms every two years.
+ I have to print boarding passes.
+ I have to print how to go to my hotel after arriving at an airport.
+ I have to look at dumb displays to find my gate.
+ I have to have this paper document called a passport that can be lost and gets you on Interpol if you're unlucky, but that's another story.
+ I almost never get a vegetarian meal because these booking agents are terrible.
+ Try to do the paperwork if you travel with something fancy, e.g. robots. "That doesn't look like a laptop, Sir!"
+ Even making a picture of a carry-on to check if it's the right size might be helpful, because that's the current attack on the passenger.
+ If you travel so often, can you take a bottle of coke with you? No, you're a terrorist.
There are many issues with air travel.