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Reddit's redesign could kill discussion subreddits

changemyview.net

201–210 of 286 posts

Re: Reddit's redesign could kill discussion subreddits

#201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's okay. You, like me, are starting to realize that our way of computing is becoming obsolete. How many kids are using keyboard and mouse vs touch screens? They grow up thinking "this is how you use a computer". To them the mouse/keyboard ruins the whole touch(mobile) experience. One day we'll be the old men yelling at internet clouds while sitting behind an old PC or some kind of open source terminal running an op…

Obsolete is a bit of an exaggeration. As far as I know, almost all programming (including for mobile devices) is still done with a keyboard and a mouse, and I honestly don't see this changing anytime soon (the only way I personally can see changing this is if voice recognition combined with enough AI to make dictating instructions to a computer a reality... or if a visual programming environment actually succeeds, de…

Development (in basically every variety) has always been a niche use of computers. It's the niche that produces all the software that everyone else uses, of course, but most people aren't going to program a computer, outside of (perhaps) some school class that'll touch on it.

Productivity's less niche, but it's becoming more and more realistic to imagine someone using a tablet with attached keyboard as their sole computing device (besides the omnipresent smart phone, I mean).

I'd say that the input method doesn't matter so much, although it's interesting to talk about how the commonly used devices are shifting. I'm more worried about native software development sliding into impossibility and content-creation becoming an afterthought.

Re: Reddit's redesign could kill discussion subreddits

#202

Two reasons why Reddit isn't "digg-ing" their own grave right now: 1. This change is much smaller and less destructive than digg's big change (although the long term effects can be just as destructive). 2. When Digg's redesign caused an exodus, Reddit was extremely well known as "that ugly digg clone" and "this digg link was on Reddit yesterday". Reddit doesn't have a well known established "number two" the way digg…

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Re: Reddit's redesign could kill discussion subreddits

#203
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well yes, that's what I meant. I keep forgetting there are still mobile devices with LCD screens...

Which makes AMOLED still not old enough to enter the general consciousness of the designers. They're optimizing for the screens they (and everyone they know) are used to.

Looking at older screen technologies, CRTs also use less power for dark screens.

Re: Reddit's redesign could kill discussion subreddits

#204
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On Android, use the "Reddit if fun" application - classic Reddit, fit for mobile: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andrewshu....

"Relay" is also amazing. I realized just today that I browse HN from mobile Firefox, but reddit from Relay, and I realized that that's because Relay is so much better than any HN mobile app. It really makes a difference.

Another excellent mobile client for Android is Slide for Reddit.

Re: Reddit's redesign could kill discussion subreddits

#205
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make it sound like this came out of nowhere. Reddit has been letting people beta test this for months.

And I told them it is terrible and stopped beta testing within minutes.

And you were wrong. Time to admit it.

Re: Reddit's redesign could kill discussion subreddits

#206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dropped the mobile app because it was occupying over 200MB of space, and my inadequately equipped iPhone ran out of space. I switched to the mobile site, but now avoid that as well due to the constant, in-your-face app promotion. Every website with a mobile app these days: "I get it, you have an app, I don't want the app, stop telling me to download it." Edit: Thanks for the helpful replies - however staying comple…

If you're on iOS, use Apollo instead: https://apolloapp.io/ Hands down the best Reddit app for iOS.

Neither this nor the alternatives in the replies to you mention anything about moderator tools.

Even the official reddit mobile app only finally got things like viewing mod queue, and approve/remove/spam, very recently. Which means until recently using the actual site on my phone was the only way I could use reddit.

This may seem like a niche request, but it holds back the ability of moderators to use reddit mobile apps, and in turn prevents that class of "power users" from being able to recommend an app to friends.

(and even the site itself isn't great; on desktop I use multiple browser extensions to add functionality reddit itself should be providing)

Re: Reddit's redesign could kill discussion subreddits

#207
post #4

Sadly, the reddit website has become a travesty - especially on mobile. A huge "DOWNLOAD THE REDDIT APP" banner obscures literally 30% of the page. There is a teeny-tiny "view on mobille site" link in small, low-contrast text that can be used to dismiss the annoying banner. Due to its size and user-hostile design, the Reddit banner is even worse than most news sites that try to push their newsletter/app/subscription…

Hit https://old.reddit.com Unfortunately intra-reddit links cause all the usual problems. But yes, mobile behaviour is rage-inducing.

You can ask to always recieve the desktop website via the hamburger menu. Really the best option IMO.

Re: Reddit's redesign could kill discussion subreddits

#209

Mobile phones. Again. It's always mobile phones that ruin good websites these days. They optimise for swipe, scroll and tap. Look, like, emoji. They don't optimise for text. In fact they are increasingly hostile to it. The Tinderfication of online dating has been a depressing race to the bottom. The internet was never going to be as great as we thought it was. No other technology has been. Folks thought the telegraph…

I'd hazard a guess that quite a significant proportion of their audience probably come through a mobile or tablet device

Re: Reddit's redesign could kill discussion subreddits

#210
Reddit gave me the opportunity to try the new layout, and I lasted exactly 1 minute before reverting. The log in page was broken. I could see where to sign up for a new account, but could not see area to log in for existing users.

The problem appeared to be one of resizing the old log in page correctly for the new layout. Regardless, not my issue as a stupid user to have to debug log in pages for a major website.

If this sort of basic thing is missing in the redesign, they have big problems ahead.

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