I have been using Sync and joey on android for years. Never used the official app. I dunno if eventually Reddit removes all api eventually that makes these app not work anymore. If that happens I will probably not use reddit again.
Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
381–390 of 657 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#382The fundamental answer to what changed with Reddit over the last 3-5 years – an IPO became the main goal of the company[1](2017): > Reddit may go public by 2020, said CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman during a keynote conversation at the Internet Association’s Virtuous Circle Summit on Monday. “The time frame is pretty far out,” he admitted. However, he also argued that going public was inevitable for Reddit to both r…
Interesting that this was before the most recent Chinese funding round. I wonder if an IPO is still 3 years away.
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#383It is pretty offensive that they say "reddit works better on the app" when the only reason for that is that they broke everything on mobile (on purpose?) in a series of badly-implemented redesigns. I'm never going to install it, and I have all but stopped reading it because these prompts are so obnoxious. That's probably +$ for Reddit though. I don't understand why companies constantly do stuff that serves only _them…
What's equally absurd is that I assumed they ruined the web experience with their redesign in order to make it mobile compatible. It just goes to show they're ruining both web and mobile experience to pigeonhole users into environments where they can force feedback loops of their users so they have to spend more time in either platform.
Wait, you are saying that they redesigned their web experience for mobile usability to then show users a popup that they should use the app?
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#384Other 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…
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…
Also worth mentioning that there is no official API for Reddit's chat feature. You have no choice but to use the website or official app if you're on mobile and want or need to use their chat.
Also the chat feature is extremely watered down and doesn't even have support for attaching images. But that doesn't matter if someone on Reddit chooses to contact you via chat and you want to respond. It compels you to use their platforms instead of a third-party client.
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#385I’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, t…
Me too. I used to frequent Reddit occasionally on mobile web. I didn't, and still don't want the app for similar reasons, but also so I wouldn't get addicted. These days I just don't visit it at all because the friction is too high.
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#386The fundamental answer to what changed with Reddit over the last 3-5 years – an IPO became the main goal of the company[1](2017): > Reddit may go public by 2020, said CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman during a keynote conversation at the Internet Association’s Virtuous Circle Summit on Monday. “The time frame is pretty far out,” he admitted. However, he also argued that going public was inevitable for Reddit to both r…
Are there any other tech companies that have IPOed with the same amount of pornography content as reddit has?
Reddit tries ridiculously hard to hide its porn, even though it's 5% of the posts on rising and more than 20% of the posts on new.
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#387Imgur recently got the _exact_ same ui doing the _exact_ same stupid shit.
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#388It is pretty offensive that they say "reddit works better on the app" when the only reason for that is that they broke everything on mobile (on purpose?) in a series of badly-implemented redesigns. I'm never going to install it, and I have all but stopped reading it because these prompts are so obnoxious. That's probably +$ for Reddit though. I don't understand why companies constantly do stuff that serves only _them…
I use Redreader on android. The experience is magnitudes better than the "real" app It's free and opensource, available on f-droid or if you are so inclined google playstore. https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.quantumbadger.redreader/
Reddit Is Fun app gang represent!
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#389It is pretty offensive that they say "reddit works better on the app" when the only reason for that is that they broke everything on mobile (on purpose?) in a series of badly-implemented redesigns. I'm never going to install it, and I have all but stopped reading it because these prompts are so obnoxious. That's probably +$ for Reddit though. I don't understand why companies constantly do stuff that serves only _them…
The most enraging thing is Reddit took over video hosting themselves, but simply declined to have a mobile/text share option.
Links from any 3rd party service show up in the phone as the content i want to share.
Reddit? You try to send someone a Reddit video link and they get affronted by a pop up banner to download the mobile app when they click through. WTF!
I sent a reddit link to a video to my dad, once. He replied 'cant open it.' So f* off reddit. Allow rehosting or change your content policies. Stop making the internet worse.
Re: Ask HN: Why is Reddit on mobile so obsessed with making me use their app?
#390They're kinda going in the opposite direction of the industry. Properties that were app only at one point, such as nextdoor, robinhood, instagram and tinder, now have mobile and desktop interfaces that are almost nearly all there. It's a very 2013 era move
That's because they need to drive growth, and in established markets, desktop still represents like half of all web traffic.
Venmo moved back to a mobile-preferred;crippled-desktop experience. So it is possible that most of these properties will pull a similar move. Especially IG and Tinder. Like with Venmo & Paypal, IG is the mobile-first version of Facebook, and Tinder doesn't make much sense as a desktop product, outside of maybe some messaging capabilities.