Learning motivation

Learning motivation 

I've been using a smartphone app to learn a new language but I'm considering giving it up - the app, not learning the language. Already my frequency of use has dropped so low that the app is giving up on me: it no longer sends me regular motivational messages.
Ironically, it's exactly this motivational approach that's getting on my nerves. In general, I can live with the learning approach of the app and its limitations. I've nothing against the repetition of words and phrases or the abrupt introduction of new stuff that reduces me to guessing, although the further I go, the more evident it becomes that the underlying database of the app is rather limited. I can also tolerate the adverts, even when they interrupt the flow of a lesson. What irritates me is the constant game-like urging to achieve high scores, to compete for a high listing, the silly rewards and the nagging reminders.
My objection is that all that amounts to noise that distracts me from learning and discourages me from using the app. I'm not learning a language to show off by collecting virtual rewards; I want to be able to speak the language. My true reward would be the ability to read or listen to something and understand it. Why not treat me to an interesting short story or a humorous dialogue that I could appreciate with my current, limited appreciation of the language?
The same silliness extends to all kinds of learning, I fear. Rather than empowering the learners and letting them realize it, there are always some trivial pursuits that supposedly modernize learning but in fact distract from the purpose and effects of learning.