Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

321–330 of 657 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?

#321

Post by wonderlg »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #184
m0guz wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ads only one of the reasons. Reddit also updated Reddit Coins [0] with their new design. With this new "in-app" economy, you can use real money to buy reddit coins and give an award to post. Another revenue stream for reddit. [0] https://www.reddit.com/coins

They give me Reddit coins because I donate every month. I don’t use their app and have no trouble giving out coins for posts that I like. Sort of fun, BTW. Now, I really wish Twitter would let me pay a monthly fee for no advertisements.

Lol why do you donate to a company that made $120 million in ads last year?

Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?

#322

Post by spenczar5 »

mbesto wrote: post #317
Ozzie_osman wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is correct. It's about retention more than monetization. With the app, you can not only send notifications, but you also have the app icon which reminds people of the apps existence. Even little things like "badging" (when the app icon shows a dot or number to indicate new notifications) and even that can have a noticeable impact on retention (we're all programmed to click into anything with a notification). Als…

> retention more than monetization FWIW, retention is monetization.

I don’t see how. Can you explain how a company makes revenue purely by retaining users? I think they still need a monetization scheme separately. [edited for clarity]

Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?

#323

Post by tzs »

RankingMember wrote: post #262
teekert wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually forcing the whole thing in 1 minute will get you piles, afaik?

Give a Squatty Potty a try and you'll only need that 1 minute with no forcing.

For those wondering what "Squatty Potty" is, the company that makes it has a video that explains it well, featuring a pooping unicorn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbYWhdLO43Q

Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?

#324

Post by johnwheeler »

polote wrote: post #319
yodon wrote: post #295

As a conversion optimization question, I suspect Reddit would get better conversion on their "do you want the mobile app" banner if they only showed it randomly about 10-15% of the time. By showing it every time, they cause viewers to remember their "why would I want that - I don't" decision from the previous time they saw the question. Reducing the frequency would likely result in more people considering the questio…

I have nothing against you, but this is always super funny when you get some random people suggesting how to improve the conversation rate of an app, which probably have several people working full time on the issue. Yes there are always ways to improve, but some people working there are expert on this specific topic, if the topic is important for the company they probably already do what is the best

Ah, but you discount the fact that sometimes people and companies do stupid things

Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?

#325

Post by ebg13 »

polote wrote: post #319
yodon wrote: post #295

As a conversion optimization question, I suspect Reddit would get better conversion on their "do you want the mobile app" banner if they only showed it randomly about 10-15% of the time. By showing it every time, they cause viewers to remember their "why would I want that - I don't" decision from the previous time they saw the question. Reducing the frequency would likely result in more people considering the questio…

I have nothing against you, but this is always super funny when you get some random people suggesting how to improve the conversation rate of an app, which probably have several people working full time on the issue. Yes there are always ways to improve, but some people working there are expert on this specific topic, if the topic is important for the company they probably already do what is the best

> if the topic is important for the company they probably already do what is the best

Having worked at many companies, I find that statement very bizarrely naive. I don't understand how anyone with any real world experience could possibly actually believe what you said.

Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?

#326

Post by bitsoda »

leokennis wrote: post #35
outadoc wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apollo is pretty much iOS's only good Reddit client, Android has a few great ones. I personally use Boost. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rubenmayay...

Apollo is definitely the best (as in, it's so feature complete, stable, integhrated with the OS UI/UX and awesome I don't see any reason why anyone would want to use an alternative) but there are alternative's, for example Narwhal.

Narwhal is criminally underrated. It's so fast and fluid, and you always have access to subreddits by swiping from the right. Apollo is good, but Narwhal deserves more love IMO.

Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?

#328

Post by ssivark »

ebg13 wrote: post #325
polote wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have nothing against you, but this is always super funny when you get some random people suggesting how to improve the conversation rate of an app, which probably have several people working full time on the issue. Yes there are always ways to improve, but some people working there are expert on this specific topic, if the topic is important for the company they probably already do what is the best

> if the topic is important for the company they probably already do what is the best Having worked at many companies, I find that statement very bizarrely naive. I don't understand how anyone with any real world experience could possibly actually believe what you said.

Yeah, vaguely reminiscent of... something something “burning platform”... :-?

Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?

#329

Post by yomly »

akerro wrote: post #54
yomly wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I need that on HN :p

Go to your profile settings and play with maxvisit, minaway and delay.

I am giving this a try - it has been great so far!

I like to think of myself as an adult with agency and yet I log into HN on reflex probably over 100 times a day...

Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?

#330

Post by cvhashim »

polote wrote: post #319
yodon wrote: post #295

As a conversion optimization question, I suspect Reddit would get better conversion on their "do you want the mobile app" banner if they only showed it randomly about 10-15% of the time. By showing it every time, they cause viewers to remember their "why would I want that - I don't" decision from the previous time they saw the question. Reducing the frequency would likely result in more people considering the questio…

I have nothing against you, but this is always super funny when you get some random people suggesting how to improve the conversation rate of an app, which probably have several people working full time on the issue. Yes there are always ways to improve, but some people working there are expert on this specific topic, if the topic is important for the company they probably already do what is the best

Trust me. Some Product Manager is leading these design decisions and product experience, probably against the advice of Devs or UX folks.
Post reply on HN