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Tell HN: X is opening any tweet link in a webview whether you press it or not

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Re: Tell HN: X is opening any tweet link in a webview whether you press it or not

#31
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Always been like that. Twitter, Instagram, ... None of those platforms have usable UX if you're not logged in.

False. You used to be able to read Twitter fine without being logged in

When was that? Already pre-Elon it was terrible.

Re: Tell HN: X is opening any tweet link in a webview whether you press it or not

#32

Since we're doing PSAs, isn't it also now just a completely broken platform on mobile for everyone who isn't logged in? > Something went wrong, but don't fret - let's give it another shot. This is all I've seen for literally years now. No real error, does not even say to login or install an app, just blames it on my privacy extensions (I don't actually have any) and offers a button to pointlessly try again. No big lo…

Always been like that. Twitter, Instagram, ... None of those platforms have usable UX if you're not logged in.

This is not true, this change is a recent phenomenon, I believe it came into effect sometime around 2021-2023 (maybe earlier even). I believe it changed when OpenAI showed the value of data.

Before, there was no problem using Instagram or Twitter while not logged in. Now there is a dark pattern that forces you to create an account, or log in.

Re: Tell HN: X is opening any tweet link in a webview whether you press it or not

#33
post #24
post #12

That's precisely what Wechat is doing. Most chinese "mega apps" do this. Elon absolutely on his track to copy this important feature [1] The webview works as a traffic faucet. Elon can turn it on or off for every third-party site, you know, for "Internet safety". My take: Next step is X.com proprietary APIs inside the Webview, like payment and everything. The ultimate goal is a "mini-app" framework that use PWA-like…

If there was ever a good reason to stop using Twitter, this is it.

I don't think this would even make it into top 10 good reasons to stop using Twitter.

Re: Tell HN: X is opening any tweet link in a webview whether you press it or not

#34

Since we're doing PSAs, isn't it also now just a completely broken platform on mobile for everyone who isn't logged in? > Something went wrong, but don't fret - let's give it another shot. This is all I've seen for literally years now. No real error, does not even say to login or install an app, just blames it on my privacy extensions (I don't actually have any) and offers a button to pointlessly try again. No big lo…

Always been like that. Twitter, Instagram, ... None of those platforms have usable UX if you're not logged in.

Instagram explicitly tells you need to be logged in. Twitter/X just appears to be broken

Re: Tell HN: X is opening any tweet link in a webview whether you press it or not

#35

Since we're doing PSAs, isn't it also now just a completely broken platform on mobile for everyone who isn't logged in? > Something went wrong, but don't fret - let's give it another shot. This is all I've seen for literally years now. No real error, does not even say to login or install an app, just blames it on my privacy extensions (I don't actually have any) and offers a button to pointlessly try again. No big lo…

remember when part of the commentary was "ha! twitter fired one bajllion people and it's still operating fine". I keep seeing errors, much more than in the flying whale era, just now they appear to be in the frontend.

Re: Tell HN: X is opening any tweet link in a webview whether you press it or not

#36

Since we're doing PSAs, isn't it also now just a completely broken platform on mobile for everyone who isn't logged in? > Something went wrong, but don't fret - let's give it another shot. This is all I've seen for literally years now. No real error, does not even say to login or install an app, just blames it on my privacy extensions (I don't actually have any) and offers a button to pointlessly try again. No big lo…

Always been like that. Twitter, Instagram, ... None of those platforms have usable UX if you're not logged in.

Obviously wrong. The typical user-hostile thing isn't this dumb, you'd see a teaser that's probably vaguely sexual and get some "sign up for the full experience" prodding. Literally any 2-person startup that's a week old would do better than this at being thirsty and awful

Re: Tell HN: X is opening any tweet link in a webview whether you press it or not

#37
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

False. You used to be able to read Twitter fine without being logged in

When was that? Already pre-Elon it was terrible.

Come on, pre-Elon you could click on a Twitter link and read the entire thread as well as the replies, now you just get a single tweet with no context above/below.

And if you click on an account you just get top posts of all time instead of a chronological feed, so it's impossible to even find the context while being logged off.

Re: Tell HN: X is opening any tweet link in a webview whether you press it or not

#38
post #28

Since we're doing PSAs, isn't it also now just a completely broken platform on mobile for everyone who isn't logged in? > Something went wrong, but don't fret - let's give it another shot. This is all I've seen for literally years now. No real error, does not even say to login or install an app, just blames it on my privacy extensions (I don't actually have any) and offers a button to pointlessly try again. No big lo…

Twitter never worked on my on desktop without account since Elon took over. It came down to security settings not allowing 3rd party cookies. If you allow it, it loads up.

change the url to xcancel.com

Re: Tell HN: X is opening any tweet link in a webview whether you press it or not

#39
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Always been like that. Twitter, Instagram, ... None of those platforms have usable UX if you're not logged in.

This is not true, this change is a recent phenomenon, I believe it came into effect sometime around 2021-2023 (maybe earlier even). I believe it changed when OpenAI showed the value of data. Before, there was no problem using Instagram or Twitter while not logged in. Now there is a dark pattern that forces you to create an account, or log in.

People already knew the value of data long before LLMs were popularised and web scraping has been a thing since the very beginnings of the web.

Why you’re describing isn’t a recent phenomenon. Not even remotely.

Facebook has never allowed people read only views to their platform. And Expert Stack Overflow like Quora used the same dark patterns you described too.

Re: Tell HN: X is opening any tweet link in a webview whether you press it or not

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I completely predicted this comment. Maybe give it five minutes and you'll figure it out. Or not. Hint: when you're a politician, you don't have much choice, no matter what your preferences are. But when you're an ordinary person, like you or me you actually have a choice.

It depends. There are other professions that also rely on Twitter for work. Granted it's a shell of its former self, but a better alternative is yet to emerge.
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