"passengers will no longer be able to download and print a physical paper boarding pass"

Doesn't look like it will be possible. That's a deal breaker for me, I don't need another app spying on me on my phone.

The announcement says no downloads and required use of their app, but the dedicated help page says otherwise:

https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/lp/explore/digital-boarding-pa...

I'm averse to installing any apps. I don't want to use a smartphone, and I don't want companies or governments to mandate their usage. As a consumer you have no real way of knowing which apps are tracking you and selling your data and which are not. Every app is suspect, even if some are legitimately clean. Every single company that says "just use the app" is another roll of the dice: will they get breached and reveal my data? Are they tracking me and selling to advertisers / insurance companies / police? Consumers really have no way of knowing for sure.

It's an unnecessary invasion of privacy for one, and not everyone has or wants a smartphone or to install third party apps, or carry it with them onto the plane. It could also be dead, broken or otherwise incompatible, or the passenger may have a disability or religious reason that prevents them from using it.

In addition to the great reasons others posted, I'll point out another one: Most airline apps won't even install or run on my device anymore. So, even if I wanted to use the airline's app (I don't), their developers have chosen to not support my device, and therefore I cannot even install or run it.

If a company is going to make something a requirement like this, they need to also invest in the effort to support everyone's device, and not block people with old, icky phones.

I don't carry a smartphone.

Excessive surveillance.

Selling my location, list of the installed apps, cookies, whatever they can extract.

That's for starters.

But most importantly why the hell should I be forced to use phone app if having a printed pass was good enough?

I need to reverse your surprising question into: should I be expected to install, update, maintain and use apps of ALL the service providers I use?

Separate app for train provider A, another for train provider B, another for bus provider C.

No paper tickets.

An app to purchase groceries, another app to pay for the parking, another app to buy a coffee, another app to buy a newspaper in the kiosk. And app to check in the hotel, an app to order food in the restaurant, an app to call the tax return website (not the phone, an app).

Can you see now how absurd is to normalise it?

Think about the future ramifications if more companies were to implement this invasive garbage. Do you want to have to install mcdonalds app to order their food? Great clips app to get a hair cut?