Aliexpress weirdness between website and mobile app

2026-05-10T12:00:00+10:00

As a regular Aliexpress shopper, I have noticed some changes over recent months and some new differences between the website and mobile app.

The biggest change relates to bundle deals.

On the website, bundle deal items you add to your selections can be checked out separately. Select any three and you get free shipping. Select six and you usually get some money off.

But in recent months, the separate bundle deals checkout seems to have disappeared only on the mobile app. Bundle deals items I added on the website on my desktop don't appear in the bundle deals cart on the mobile app -- the app seems to show my normal cart.

Then you have choice items. Once you reach the minimum spend for choice items ($15 here in Australia), you qualify for free shipping. That works fine on both.

However, the shopping cart encourages you to buy three items for an extra discount ($2 here). But once you add three items there is no discount on the website, despite the offer showing on the same page.

View the same shopping cart on the mobile app, and the discount does get applied. So weird.

So if you are buying bundle deals you should use the website, and if you are buying choice items you should use the app.

Encounters with mysterious creatures in Blue Mountains

2024-02-12T12:00:00+10:00

I have had a few interesting encounters while on bush walks in Sydney's Blue Mountains.

Our house backs onto bushland and I can walk straight out of the back of the house and into the bush and then on to a series of fire trails.

I can recall one incident not long after we moved here about ten years ago. I was heading back home after a short walk and heard footsteps in the bushland beside me. I thought it must be a person as that is what it sounded like. I stopped and looked in the direction of the sound. The footsteps had stopped too.

I continued walking and so did the footsteps. I stopped again and so did they.

I became immediately aware of how I was alone in bushland with a person or possibly what sounded like a large animal nearby so I briskly headed home and didn't hear or see anything further.

A few years later when I was watching YouTube videos about mysterious creatures I came across a video about Yowies and they talked about how they have been known to shadow people, which they described the same as my experience.

Do I believe in Yowies? I kind of have to. My father claims to have seen one clearly many decades ago and I have no reason to doubt him.

Over the next few years I had a few other experiences. Several times, I heard movement in the bush but never saw anything and presumed it was the wallabies who live in the area.

Once I heard knocking on a tree near by, and then immediately a similar knocking from further away. I have heard that this could be a way for Yowies to communicate, but I suspected it was birds.

I had also heard about Yowies bending, breaking or placing branches in particular ways and I often came across some strangely bent or broken branches.

For a while I was using the phone app Randonautica which is meant to guide you to nearby places based on a subject that you think about, called an "intention". Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but it was a fun way to choose a random bush walking destination.

I had a few interesting experiences with the app such as one time when I chose "history" as my intention and came across a cave with hand prints inside, and another time when I came across some digging tools out in the bush.

One day I used the app with the intention "Yowies" and came across an interesting formation of bent or broken branches that didn't seem natural. Those tree knocks I mentioned before were actually also heard when I had used the app with the intention "Yowie".

But in July 2023 I had the strangest experience so far. I was well off the track at a nice cliff top rock formation that I had recently discovered, quietly taking in the view for five minutes or so.

Suddenly I heard something loudly crashing through the bush and coming close me. I could hear hear distinct footsteps, and assumed it was a wallaby or kangaroo.

When it got quite close to me – within ten metres – it stopped. I assumed it had seen me and frozen. However, I could not see anything to explain the noise.

Still assuming it was a kangaroo or wallaby, I pulled out my phone and started a video recording, and waited in silence for it to continue moving. I waited a couple of minutes but nothing moved.

I decided to move toward where I last heard the sound and make a bit of noise to flush it out. But still nothing moved.

At that point I started to get a little concerned and thought that I probably didn't want to be around if it was a large animal or a person not wanting to be seen, and one that was not scared by my presence. I started to head back in the direction of the nearest trail.

But after just a few metres, I convinced myself that if I didn't find out now, I was always going to wonder what it was, and that it was unlikely to be anything dangerous, assuming it was an animal. If it was a person, I chose not to consider why they would hide and not say hello.

So, phone still in hand and recording, I turned around and headed straight into the bush where I last heard the sound. With some trepidation, I walked in a few different directions expecting to see something or scare it away.

But there was nothing. No sound, no movement, nothing to see. The strange part was that the bush was not even thick bush - there was no reason why I wouldn't have been able to see even a small wallaby in any direction.

I looked around for a minute or two and then left the area completely perplexed and still concerned. The sound it made was like loud footsteps - definitely a reasonable large creature with legs. I thought it sounded more like a Kangaroo or wallaby hopping than a human running or walking.

I have no explanation, other than what I have heard watching Yowie videos. Some people claim that Yowies can move in and out of dimensions. Could that explain this encounter?

The videos I took at the time (4m18s) - not very interesting because nothing happened after I started recording.

johna's blog

Aliexpress weirdness between website and mobile app

Encounters with mysterious creatures in Blue Mountains