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"This community is available in the app"

reddit.com

141–150 of 234 posts

Re: "This community is available in the app"

#141
post #77

I started seeing this a few days ago. What is even more exasperating is that the default Reddit doesn't support tabs and it is INSANELY slow. I can stream 4K content on YouTube comfortably but I have to wait multiple seconds to open a text thread. Maybe I should try the Boost client...

If you're after tabs, there is, of course, a workaround. I use firefox on desktop and mobile, with extensions to redirect to old.reddit.com and i.reddit.com respectively. Because logins are saved, everything just... works. Opening links in a new tab included. At least until only Reddit's new design is allowed, and I stop using the site.

I can't edit it now but I was talking about the default Reddit app for Android, not the new mobile website. The website was pretty fast for me. But because of these new changes you can't even view a subreddit without using the app.

I just installed Boost for Reddit and it is pretty fast. But thanks for letting me know about i.reddit.com, I didn't even know that exists. The old Reddit is still the best on desktops, I hope they don't kill it.

Re: "This community is available in the app"

#142

I gave up on read Quora when they forced logins I will give up on reddit if they do the same. Isn't visits a valid criteria? Why force a mobile app?

> I gave up Quota when they forced logins If you were using it just to read answers, you can still do that with a tiny bit of effort and avoid logging in. Just put a ? at the end of the URL (it’s originally a parameter called “shared”, which would be added as ?shared=1). It will then assume you’re coming from a search engine link and let you in without the login popup.

It’s better to avoid companies like Quora entirely - they have highly SEO-ed but increasingly low quality content and just clicking on the link will tell Google to promote it to other people.

I stopped using it when they started search cloaking and have never had cause to reconsider.

Re: "This community is available in the app"

#143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A website cannot silently read a phone number and list of nearby WiFi access points for geolocation, scan local drive for interesting files, show annoying notifications every hour to return user back to the app.

Neither can an app without the relevant permissions. Which of those things can the official Reddit app do currently? If you're saying "the Reddit app will slowly change to do bad things" then say that and don't imply it already does those things.

Let's not kid ourselves about the safety or comprehensiveness of android permissions, or people clicking without reading.

To be clear, I'm not claiming it does those things, but are you claiming it does not? And will not or could not?

Re: "This community is available in the app"

#145

Reddit has been a/b testing behavior like this for months. Multiple different popups with variations on "view this in the app"; in some cases the popup is on every single page load, sometimes only once. They started blurring images on select subreddits with a message that you could only view the sub in their app. Okay, I know they're chasing one of two things here: a higher level of revenue from the advertising they…

Its an interesting design problem ie UX. If I force log-ins or abusive pop-ups I end up making the problem worse. What Reddit needs is a very creative UX solution. Something of value that gets presented in the app but is not inthe mobile-web version delivered via browser. Some app interaction rather than some extra content. Something interactive that is exclusive to the mobile app. Not something big interaction wise…

It’s abusive to tell people they need an app to get access to something when there’s no technical reason for the requirement. Everyone knows the real reason is better ad targeting / data resale but that’s not something a user should care about – users aren’t your shareholders and there are plenty of formerly big companies which spent too much time on things which didn’t benefit their users.

If you’re thinking UX, the question should be how the user benefits. There are some potential answers like better performance, offline support, etc. which generally come back to how badly their current SPA developers failed at networking and error handling but that’s probably just restating that they should take the web UI seriously rather than ignoring it in the hopes that people will install the app.

Re: "This community is available in the app"

#147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A website cannot silently read a phone number and list of nearby WiFi access points for geolocation, scan local drive for interesting files, show annoying notifications every hour to return user back to the app.

Neither can an app without the relevant permissions. Which of those things can the official Reddit app do currently? If you're saying "the Reddit app will slowly change to do bad things" then say that and don't imply it already does those things.

> Which of those things can the official Reddit app do currently?

Looking at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.reddit.fro..., scroll down and click the 'View Details' under Permissions. It shows that the app can read your contacts, network connections, approximate location, contents of your USB storage plus much more which would cover all of codedokode's points adequately I think? (I'm not sure of the annoying notifications, perhaps all apps can do that..)

The list in full:

  This app has access to:
  Photos/Media/Files

    read the contents of your USB storage
    modify or delete the contents of your USB storage

  Location

    approximate location (network-based)

  Storage

    read the contents of your USB storage
    modify or delete the contents of your USB storage

  Microphone

    record audio

  Camera
    take pictures and videos

  Contacts

    find accounts on the device

  Device & app history

    read sensitive log data

  Identity

    add or remove accounts
    find accounts on the device

  Other

    receive data from Internet
    view network connections
    prevent device from sleeping
    run at startup
    read Google service configuration
    draw over other apps
    read sync settings
    full network access
    create accounts and set passwords
    use accounts on the device
    toggle sync on and off
    install shortcuts

Re: "This community is available in the app"

#148
post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither can an app without the relevant permissions. Which of those things can the official Reddit app do currently? If you're saying "the Reddit app will slowly change to do bad things" then say that and don't imply it already does those things.

Let's not kid ourselves about the safety or comprehensiveness of android permissions, or people clicking without reading. To be clear, I'm not claiming it does those things, but are you claiming it does not? And will not or could not?

Maybe you should try iOS :-) it’s quite different here honestly. I’m not saying there aren’t holes they’ve had to patch [like recently adding a popup for Bluetooth LE permissions] but they are pretty good at closing them.
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