first off, i live in a small apartment. bed, bath, kitchen, living. there's no great place to put it in the first place [it's in the bathroom rn]
every time i see it it feels like a chore. it gives me anxiety, it is a constant chore, endless, does not stop. it will never stop. i cannot finish the chore, ever.
^ and to that point -- if i were to scoop every day or even less frequently, it is disgusting 100% of the time, no matter what. touching it at all is disgusting, putting my face or body near it is disgusting, i don't want to see or interact with it in any way. every time i interact with it, it's a mental barrier to break down. no amount of cutesy names or molded plastic will make it not fucking disgusting.
none of the self cleaning ones really work properly, do they?
it's bad for the cats if you don't maintain it properly
i mean ok whatever. if this is the worst part of their lives, fine, they don't have to work or pay rent or worry.
Sounds like you don't understand that you have a responsibility to take care of them. The cat didn't choose to live in your small apartment. You chose to adopt a cat and house it. That makes you responsible for it's well-being.
People have this illusion that cats are an "easy" pet because they don't require as much time/effort as dogs, for example. This is a common misconception from people who don't understand that cats are intelligent, communicative, empathetic, and loving.
If you feel that having a cat is a burden on you and the act of cleaning the catbox is too much, you should probably see if someone can adopt the cat from you. It's not going to get easier.
Pets are a lot of work. They require time and energy to keep them healthy and happy.