As a user, I am unsure that is a positive. There are near-daily stories about how feature X of a program was removed/hidden/etc for seemingly no reason. Using an offline only program ensures some UI developer does not get to swap buttons on me for "engagement".

This is why I am still using an arse-old version of Mailwasher - the newer versions started sharing data with the mothership, including your eMail passwords, just so it could transparently sync that data to their iOS & Android apps.

My passwords are between me and my eMail server. No-one else should get that data, for any reason whatsoever.

Button change for KPI is a Company problem not a Technical problem. That BS happens on all the platforms

Sure, but it has a technical solution if you're using a desktop application — just keep using the old version.

i think most folks allow auto-updates because we want new features and security fixes. So, while you're technically correct i think the practical result is that it's no different on this axis than a webapp.