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Did Reddit just destroy mobile browser access?

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Re: Did Reddit just destroy mobile browser access?

#41

Post by baby »

john-n wrote: post #8

I was part of this test - I've refused to install the app for years (I prefer websites and the option to open tabs for later browsing). It was extremely annoying for a site I've used for 12+ years to treat me like that. It did massively cut my usage of Reddit (which I would consider to be quite high), I primarily access it from my phone and I all but stopped using it for the week or so I was in the "experiment".

> I prefer websites and the option to open tabs for later browsing

The number of times I lost a post because when I switched app or didn’t use my phone for a while reddit would just reset to the home page… I think they really didn’t realize how much the shitty UX would enrage people against them.

Re: Did Reddit just destroy mobile browser access?

#42

Post by bink »

brucethemoose2 wrote: post #5
barbazoo wrote: post #2

That's so lame. It's an ass move to have a web app but deny access on certain platforms. But whatever gets the numbers up for an IPO I guess.

Its so stupid that this is all "for" an IPO. I can't imagine huge investing houses, retirement funds, analysts and such investigating Reddit, and missing the massive user retention issues these changes precipitate. Its not like the stock market is littered with social media website corpses or anything...

It makes sense if the mobile app provides more "monetizable" users. Shift everyone to the mobile app (or try to) and juice those numbers for advertisers and provide better revenue numbers for the IPO.

Unlike the API change though, I think they do risk losing users with this who still see ads and provide some return.

Re: Did Reddit just destroy mobile browser access?

#43

Post by faangsticle »

> It looks like you’re part of one of our experiments. The logged-in mobile web experience is currently unavailable for a portion of users. To access the site you can log on via desktop, the mobile apps, or wait for the experiment to conclude.

Wow. Most companies at least have the grace to allow users to opt out of these kind of experiments via a "labs" kind of configuration.

Re: Did Reddit just destroy mobile browser access?

#45

Post by MarcoZavala »

FormerBandmate wrote: post #36

They are desperately trying to be TikTok. It will not work and has no chance of working. Look at their hilariously terrible acquisition of Dubsmash for $50 million (they converted it to a subreddit with 1.5k subscribers when they had 200 million users at their peak and touted having 25% of black teens in their acquisition press release. Every post is people saying the Reddit app sucks and asking where Dubsmash went)

[dead]

Re: Did Reddit just destroy mobile browser access?

#46

Post by plagiarist »

onionisafruit wrote: post #27
sacnoradhq wrote: post #11

If you want piece-of-mind, don't build sandcastles on a corporation's beach with the waves lapping at your feet.

Here we are in a lovely sandcastle built on a venture capital firm’s beach.

I guess you can get karma here? But it is not as if anyone is attempting to build communities on the HN platform. I'm not even generating worthwhile content, let alone doing tens or hundreds of hours a month of free moderating. I don't think it is the same at all.

Re: Did Reddit just destroy mobile browser access?

#47

Post by hayst4ck »

I have been in this A/B test group and I have been in the A/B test group that tries to show a TikTok style feed (one that gets new content based on the content you spent time observing) rather than a normalized upvote based one.

Without old.reddit.com, I would have not used reddit. I think it is important to never comply with these forced changes.

I think there is a larger discussion on professional ethics to be had. Is it ethical to implement dark patterns and "force" users into behavior or to degrade experience, not as a cost saving measure, but as an effort to force compliance?

We implement these things we would probably not tolerate ourselves. We implement ads but use ad blockers. We try to force app usage but allow old.reddit.com for ourselves. How is that ethical?

Re: Did Reddit just destroy mobile browser access?

#49

Post by wanderingstan »

baby wrote: post #41
john-n wrote: post #8

I was part of this test - I've refused to install the app for years (I prefer websites and the option to open tabs for later browsing). It was extremely annoying for a site I've used for 12+ years to treat me like that. It did massively cut my usage of Reddit (which I would consider to be quite high), I primarily access it from my phone and I all but stopped using it for the week or so I was in the "experiment".

> I prefer websites and the option to open tabs for later browsing The number of times I lost a post because when I switched app or didn’t use my phone for a while reddit would just reset to the home page… I think they really didn’t realize how much the shitty UX would enrage people against them.

This is what keeps me on old.reddit. The new web version and the app are always losing my place.

Re: Did Reddit just destroy mobile browser access?

#50

Post by shmatt »

freddie_mercury wrote: post #20
alwayslikethis wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is for every person like you and me, there are 10 or 100 others who put up with this crap, and reddit attracts people, centralizing communities, giving you little option for alternatives. It drains activities from forums, etc, toward itself as it is presented as a more convenient solution. I for one will try to undo my past contributions to accelerate its decline. The blackout is unlikely to work, but I hop…

I lurk in a few subreddits that have well established forums outside of Reddit (decades old with tens of thousands of users) that are the top Google results and I'm always a bit amazed that people will still post on Reddit instead of using those other forums where they will get much, much better answers.

They need to create a username and password to ask that question? If they already have a Reddit account that wins
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