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Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

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Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#171

Post by stevula »

Benjammer wrote: post #140
AmericanChopper wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any time I’ve worked with somebody who had to implement deep links, I’ve always heard them continuously complain about how ridiculous it is to get working.

Deep links are only hard because the base concept is semantic organization of your content, so you can deep link to one thing in an organized way. If your app isn't structured to present content like this, if it has many deep workflows or ordered stages of screens/states, then yeah it's gonna be hard to deep link into page 5 of the 11 page workflow you built, that also requires authentication and a bunch of data load…

I think we can safely say that Reddit content is organized in a way that should be conducive to deep linking (each post and comment thread has a unique and permanent URL). Their deep links generally work well for me though, unlike some other apps.

I once had to implement deep links for a React Native app and, while I’m by no means a great mobile dev there were plenty of thorny bits. For example, I think iOS doesn’t open a deep link in app if you type the url directly into the address bar. It will only open in the app if the user taps a link. Another complexity is making sure a deep link opens in the app for app users and opens the App Store for other users.

iOS also has two different systems for deep linking, custom protocols (eg myapp://) and universal links (a server side manifest that you register with Apple). These each have their pros and cons.

To be sure, those should be solvable problems for a company with even a fraction of Reddit’s resources.

Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#172

Post by ryandrake »

cmdshiftf4 wrote: post #99
jstgord wrote: post #87

Dear Reddit, for the love of Mike .. PLEASE treat reddit as a web-first platform. You are killing the golden goose by trying to force people toward the app - by gradually removing features and usability from the mobile web site and constantly reminding people they "should" use the app. I don't want reddit as an 'app', I want reddit to be readable/scrollable on mobile and web without any form of coercion.

>constantly reminding people they "should" use the app. It's not merely suggestions though. They have one button - stay in your mobile browser - greyed out and one bright and active - open the mobile app. It also uses a native-ish looking UI that pops up as the sharing UI does. It feels like they're trying to trick people into using the app, over merely reminding people that they "should".

It feels as though there is a poor product manager or someone over there whose bonus depends on getting as many users off the mobile web and into the app as possible--whether the users actually want to or not. In a past life as a product manager, I've had the "make users do this thing they don't want to do" job and it truly sucks.

Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#174

Post by OGWhales »

rmason wrote: post #145
_jal wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I barely use Reddit anymore. The UI on mobile is intentional garbage and I do not want the bloody app. But the desktop UI is getting worse; navigation is ridiculous and the pages are so junked up that it is actively repellant. It is too bad. I used to actually enjoy browsing and (gasp) commenting sometimes. Now I tend to hit a single page via search and leave. Can't remember the last time I actually logged in.

Try https://old.reddit.com for a vastly superior experience.

FYI, one can toggle this in settings with an account. So no need for the URL

Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#175

Post by balladeer »

codq wrote: post #122
paulcole wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re using Reddit on iOS or iPadOS and you’re not using Apollo, you’re doing yourself a disservice. https://apolloapp.io/ As an added bonus if you subscribe to the subreddit, /r/ApolloApp it’s like /r/ChoosingBeggarsLite with the complaints and feature requests for a free app.

I find Narwhal for Reddit a superior experience on iOS, ESPECIALLY on iPadOS, FWIW. http://getnarwhal.com/

I've tried narwhal and few other apps, but none comes close to reddit (mobile) site when it was usable and light. I specially dislike narwhal's fixed gesture options. The app forces you to get used to something you don't want/like in the first place.

Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#176

Post by berberous »

paulcole wrote: post #105
jstgord wrote: post #87

Dear Reddit, for the love of Mike .. PLEASE treat reddit as a web-first platform. You are killing the golden goose by trying to force people toward the app - by gradually removing features and usability from the mobile web site and constantly reminding people they "should" use the app. I don't want reddit as an 'app', I want reddit to be readable/scrollable on mobile and web without any form of coercion.

If you’re using Reddit on iOS or iPadOS and you’re not using Apollo, you’re doing yourself a disservice. https://apolloapp.io/ As an added bonus if you subscribe to the subreddit, /r/ApolloApp it’s like /r/ChoosingBeggarsLite with the complaints and feature requests for a free app.

I prefer the official app over Apollo. I used to use Apollo and just assumed it must better, but the official app has gotten very good and Apollo, while excellent, has many bugs.

Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#177

Post by baddox »

sushid wrote: post #92
jstgord wrote: post #87

Dear Reddit, for the love of Mike .. PLEASE treat reddit as a web-first platform. You are killing the golden goose by trying to force people toward the app - by gradually removing features and usability from the mobile web site and constantly reminding people they "should" use the app. I don't want reddit as an 'app', I want reddit to be readable/scrollable on mobile and web without any form of coercion.

Moreover, if I relent and click "View on app" while on mobile, it directs me to the App Store instead of opening the app to the thread I was attempting to read. At least handoff correctly if you're going to force me to use your stupid app.

Me too. It’s fascinating how that level of incompetence can persist for so long. I can’t believe that someone who is in charge of their visitor numbers hasn’t realized that they are surely missing out on an utterly huge number of visits due to that broken flow.

Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#178

Post by baddox »

Benjammer wrote: post #140
AmericanChopper wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any time I’ve worked with somebody who had to implement deep links, I’ve always heard them continuously complain about how ridiculous it is to get working.

Deep links are only hard because the base concept is semantic organization of your content, so you can deep link to one thing in an organized way. If your app isn't structured to present content like this, if it has many deep workflows or ordered stages of screens/states, then yeah it's gonna be hard to deep link into page 5 of the 11 page workflow you built, that also requires authentication and a bunch of data load…

I don’t think that’s the only difficulty. There’s something else going on in iOS. YouTube links don’t even open in the YouTube app on my iPhone (I have to load the safari page, add them to Watch Later, then switch to the YouTube app). It does, however, work on my iPad.

Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#179

Post by bigiain »

stevewillows wrote: post #23

This could also be an excellent move if they're planning to expand RPAN into a proper streaming platform. There's definitely potential for it.

Right. With Twitch just having given in to copyright trolls and deplatformed all the DJs with multiple strikes against 2-3 year old content and no tools for the Twitch users to practically deal with the new punishments in a timely enough fashion to not get auto-permabanned? I cannot see "a proper streaming platform" happening under his watch. :sigh:

Re: Reddit Welcomes Michael Seibel to Board of Directors

#180

Post by OGWhales »

austenallred wrote: post #95
jstgord wrote: post #87

Dear Reddit, for the love of Mike .. PLEASE treat reddit as a web-first platform. You are killing the golden goose by trying to force people toward the app - by gradually removing features and usability from the mobile web site and constantly reminding people they "should" use the app. I don't want reddit as an 'app', I want reddit to be readable/scrollable on mobile and web without any form of coercion.

The app is much, much better than the site. I think you might be in the minority.

Than the old site? Ehhhh. Than the new site? Yes, much better.

The new site looks like someone was told to design a generic social media app for mobile. It doesn’t make any sense. The old site was pretty ugly, but at least used screen real estate effectively and allowed for quick browsing.

Depending on what exactly I’m looking at, I will prefer mobile or web. That said, I am not a fan of the official app and prefer third party ones.

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