They (e.g. reddit the company) want you to do more than read. They want you to subscribe and follow and user-generate content (and not block ads.) They build a

They (e.g. reddit the company) want you to do more than read. They want you to subscribe and follow and user-generate content (and not block ads.) They build an app because apps. Then they compare behavior between app and website. And there's a stupid, stupid analytics datapoint that shows "Users of the app browse/subscribe/follow/post 2x more!" That only happens because the only people willing to download and use the app are the power users. But they just worked hard creating an app, and nobody questions analytics data that tells them their hard work was worthwhile. So now, armed with their supporting data, they begin pushing people to the app because they think it will lead to more pageviews/subscribes/follows/posts and eyeballs on ads.