> I'm not sure I've ever seen a contact page that wasn't like this.

Click the “Contact” link at the bottom of this HN page. It’s a mailto link.

mailto:[email protected]

Reeder has a simple contact form on the page.

https://reederapp.com/classic/

Overcast list an email and social media to contact.

https://overcast.fm/contact

Alfred points to the forum and lists email addresses to contact.

https://www.alfredapp.com/help/contact/

iA Writer lists emails.

https://ia.net/about-us

SnippetsLab list an email.

https://www.renfei.org/snippets-lab/manual/mac/share-your-fe...

iTerm2 list an email.

https://iterm2.com

Those are just a few off the top of my head. Indie developers tend to be more respectful of their customers.

> I'm perfectly happy with "speaking to a human" being the last port of call to fix a problem. as long as it is available somewhere

Yet, too often, it simply isn’t.