I'd say you're both correct. The app-based ride hailing system is much much more convenient, which definitely played a role in its success. But the most important ingredient was definitely the exploitation of laborers. A "fair" ride sharing system (fair in the confines of capitalism) would be an 'app' with protected & salaried drivers at the expense of higher customer costs.

There are important "innovations" that take place in global capitalism that do have certain apolitical value, like the internet for example. The problem isn't so much the tools, it's that these tools are currently under the direct control of capitalists, who by nature are exploiters, and the trend seems to be towards even more technocratic capitalist control over these tools.

So in other words, it's a fair position to not be against 'apps' as a whole. But to your point, almost all app-based service companies are successful mainly because of the ease of exploitation they provide.