Earlier quoted context omitted.
The compact view is even cleaner. Try adding `.compact` at the end of any reddit url.
Awesome! Thanks for the tip.
Alternatively, you can replace the 'www' with 'i'.
Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
111–120 of 657 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#112Other people are saying "ads," but the story is probably more expansive. Mobile apps have better hooks for pulling people back into the app, like popup notifications. Reddit has natural lifecycle points where they can do this: when people respond to your comments or comment on your posts. They could also notify users of events like their yearly Secret Santa. I wouldn't be surprised if their engagement numbers were mu…
There are so many mobile apps out there that are little more than wrappers around the mobile site -- but it's vital that they be apps for precisely this reason. Neverthless, as a user, it drives me crazy; I just want to access the site in my browser.
What we are starting to see is web push notifications becoming fully supported by browsers, and I think it's only a matter of time before iOS and Android start allowing app-like websites to notify users without them having to download a full-fledged app.
It would be interesting to see what this does for the iOS and Android development landscape. They're in a golden age now where every major property needs both a mobile site and a dedicated app on both platforms. But if the mobile site can handle more features that were previously the sole provenance of native apps, that seems likely to shift the landscape.
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#113That and the layout of their "new" redesign where you go to a post and it'll show the post, 2 comments (out of 500), not even the full threads of those comments either and then just some unrelated posts and you have to click on more links just to read the actual comments and you can feel your browser choke under the weight of whatever framework they use trying to render a few bits of text. Noticed Twitter switching t…
I really hate that aspect of Reddit.
When does it ever make sense to hide thread comments?
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yet all of this could also be easily done with a PWA that could present with a much less intrusive "add to homescreen" bar.
Not on iOS! PWAs can't send push notifications on that platform, ever.
It’s been under consideration recently, though what the current internal consensus is is anyone’s guess.
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
I still use old.reddit.com. Such an improved experience, even on mobile where the format doesn’t fit. So maybe that’s why they want you in the app? They know their website is terrible?
Their website is fine, but no website works as nice on mobile as a native app does.
Speak for yourself.
My eyesight’s not great. If I can’t pan&scan your content (or continuously vary text size to suit my needs in the moment), you wont have me as a user. Very few native apps on mobile work this way, so I don’t use most of them.
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
You mean like when ethernal october hit, the internet was doing something right to attract all these wonderful people? Just because the masses like something doesn't mean it is good.
So what should they use as a standard of success? How many Usenet poseurs give them the thumbs up? That don't pay the bills.
What's the point in producing trash if your only reason is to have enough money to pay for the trash?
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#117Use an RSS reader. You will like the lack of feeling of being forced to comment on things you don't care much about in retrospection. No tracking or ads, only content. You can filter shady sites or posts from appearing. Here are some readers. 0] https://github.com/GetStream/Winds 1] https://github.com/FreshRSS/FreshRSS 2] https://github.com/feedbin/feedbin 3] https://github.com/yang991178/fluent-reader If you like so…
This. If you want something already hosted try Innoreader (https://www.inoreader.com). I like having software I can just support with money instead of seeing garbage ads and having my personal information sold because it's "free" (though they do have a free plan if you can't afford or don't want to support them).
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#118Use an RSS reader. You will like the lack of feeling of being forced to comment on things you don't care much about in retrospection. No tracking or ads, only content. You can filter shady sites or posts from appearing. Here are some readers. 0] https://github.com/GetStream/Winds 1] https://github.com/FreshRSS/FreshRSS 2] https://github.com/feedbin/feedbin 3] https://github.com/yang991178/fluent-reader If you like so…
Yup. RSS is the way to go for browsing Reddit without all the dark patterns. Self plug - you can try my app Plenary on Android (no ads/trackers) - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spians.ple... that has Reddit as one of the RSS Assistant option. It basically creates RSS feed for subreddits, users, search terms etc for you.
A feature of the app that you can't use without buying a monthly subscription or paying £10.49, to whom it may concern.
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#119Apps means it's easier to hook up privacy-violating analytics that can both do a lot more than web-analytics and is harder to block for the user.
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#120I’ve given up on reddit on mobile. From time to time I drop in on it using Safari on the desktop, but it’s not worth it to me to deal with their engagement-ification in their mobile app, or obvious crippleware of their mobile web experience.
I’m not pissed off about this: It’s like dropping in on a bar I used to enjoy a decade ago, to find out it has been redesigned a few times and everyone’s a new face.
Sometimes, that’s a really cool experience: “Say, this is neat.” Sometimes, not. But times must change, and we either change with them, or get left behind.
I am not going to change and become an engagement addict, clicking on shiny baubles out of boredom. So in reddit’s case, I am a part of its past, not its present, and I must accept being left behind in its wake.