5 ms·

I gave up on read Quora when they forced logins I will give up on reddit if they do the same. Isn't visits a valid criteria? Why force a mobile app?

Freak_NL 7y ago
Browsers are agents of the user, apps are agents of the company behind the app. With a browser the user can install extensions and do things that benefit them, in an app you get exactly what the app owner gives you. If monetization is your only purpose, you would choose apps exclusively if your users are willing to accept it.
- majewsky 7y ago
  > Browsers are agents of the user The most-used browsers, too, are agents of the company making them.
  - gsich 7y ago
    Compared to most company apps: yes, they are at least somewhat user focused.
- tobr 7y ago
  > Browsers are agents of the user, apps are agents of the company behind the app. Alas, browsers are also apps.
duiker101 7y ago
I think the engagement and ad revenue is higher in the mobile app. fewer ad block and more places to put them.
codedokode 7y ago
A website cannot silently read a phone number and list of nearby WiFi access points for geolocation, scan local drive for interesting files, show annoying notifications every hour to return user back to the app.
- andybak 7y ago
  Neither can an app without the relevant permissions. Which of those things can the official Reddit app do currently? If you're saying "the Reddit app will slowly change to do bad things" then say that and don't imply it already does those things.
  - labawi 7y ago
    Let's not kid ourselves about the safety or comprehensiveness of android permissions, or people clicking without reading. To be clear, I'm not claiming it does those things, but are you claiming it does not? And will not or could not?
    - lathiat 7y ago
      Maybe you should try iOS :-) it’s quite different here honestly. I’m not saying there aren’t holes they’ve had to patch [like recently adding a popup for Bluetooth LE permissions] but they are pretty good at closing them.
      - luma 7y ago
        I don't see how the permissions requested here would be substantially different in IOS. This isn't a matter of the OS, both Android and IOS offer fine-grained controls that are accessible to the user. It's up to the application developer what they request and what they do with it. I think people are right not to trust Tencent with this kind of access.
        JimDabell 7y ago
        > both Android and IOS offer fine-grained controls that are accessible to the user. iOS doesn't allow apps to read the user's phone number or scan local Wi-Fi access points. The only files sandboxed apps can read on iOS are ones created by the app, explicitly passed to the app, or made available by the user, which is also possible on the web. The only thing mentioned that has the slightest bit of merit is being able to spam push notifications, and this is something that a) requires the user to grant permission, b) is easily disabled by the user if it's annoying, and c) explicitly forbidden by Apple: > 4.5.3 Do not use Apple Services to spam, phish, or send unsolicited messages to customers, including Game Center, Push Notifications, etc. […] > 4.5.4 Push Notifications must not be required for the app to function, and should not be used for advertising, promotions, or direct marketing purposes or to send sensitive personal or confidential information. Abuse of these services may result in revocation of your privileges.
felipelemos 7y ago
Digg was once a force in the internet. Reddit is not exempt from this, no one is.
- naravara 7y ago
  Reddit was an alternative Digg for them to flee to. I’m not sure what an alternative reddit is. What’s more, the scale of Reddit today blows Digg, in its heyday, completely out of the water. So any transition would take much longer. There’s just too many niche subreddits where they people wouldn’t know where to go. It’s similar to how Facebook has a vice-grip on people because everyone seems to have one group or community that puts notices on the group page.
terminaljunkid 7y ago
Basically I have some toy accounts for those sites, in names that read somewhat like Fortran variables, sans meaning. Currently using this thing called 33mail. Temp-mail works most times too, but 33mail forwards me the emails so I can even use forgot password option. On a relevant note, there are few websites that provide temporary phone numbers if you're from US/Canada, or in contexts US/Canada temporary phone number helps.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
newscracker 7y ago
> I gave up Quota when they forced logins If you were using it just to read answers, you can still do that with a tiny bit of effort and avoid logging in. Just put a ? at the end of the URL (it’s originally a parameter called “shared”, which would be added as ?shared=1). It will then assume you’re coming from a search engine link and let you in without the login popup.
- acdha 7y ago
  It’s better to avoid companies like Quora entirely - they have highly SEO-ed but increasingly low quality content and just clicking on the link will tell Google to promote it to other people. I stopped using it when they started search cloaking and have never had cause to reconsider.
  - paulgb 7y ago
    I wish Google took a harder line against sites that make content available to their scraper that isn't available to the end user. It's one of the things that pushed me over to using DDG. (I'm not sure if DDG takes a more active approach, but I think less energy goes into gaming DDG's algorithm by the SEO-driven companies who do things like this.)
- thewhitetulip 7y ago
  I use this trick once in a while when only Quora has what I am looking for But it doesn't work for 2 consequitive requests Luckily, Quora doesn't have quality content these days, like it used to back in the day when experts wrote answers
  - newscracker 7y ago
    It always works for me for multiple requests. You have to add the "?" at the end of the link once again and refresh to make that popup go away.
kianigreycliff 7y ago
Just an fyi if you take the slug from any answered quora question and plug it into google you can view the page. They only require login if you are coming from another quora page. It's not convenient and they are certainly slimy but it does allow you to view any question without login.

Freak_NL 7y ago

Browsers are agents of the user, apps are agents of the company behind the app. With a browser the user can install extensions and do things that benefit them, in an app you get exactly what the app owner gives you. If monetization is your only purpose, you would choose apps exclusively if your users are willing to accept it.

majewsky 7y ago
> Browsers are agents of the user The most-used browsers, too, are agents of the company making them.
- gsich 7y ago
  Compared to most company apps: yes, they are at least somewhat user focused.
tobr 7y ago
> Browsers are agents of the user, apps are agents of the company behind the app. Alas, browsers are also apps.

duiker101 7y ago

I think the engagement and ad revenue is higher in the mobile app. fewer ad block and more places to put them.

codedokode 7y ago

A website cannot silently read a phone number and list of nearby WiFi access points for geolocation, scan local drive for interesting files, show annoying notifications every hour to return user back to the app.

andybak 7y ago
Neither can an app without the relevant permissions. Which of those things can the official Reddit app do currently? If you're saying "the Reddit app will slowly change to do bad things" then say that and don't imply it already does those things.
- labawi 7y ago
  Let's not kid ourselves about the safety or comprehensiveness of android permissions, or people clicking without reading. To be clear, I'm not claiming it does those things, but are you claiming it does not? And will not or could not?
  - lathiat 7y ago
    Maybe you should try iOS :-) it’s quite different here honestly. I’m not saying there aren’t holes they’ve had to patch [like recently adding a popup for Bluetooth LE permissions] but they are pretty good at closing them.
    - luma 7y ago
      I don't see how the permissions requested here would be substantially different in IOS. This isn't a matter of the OS, both Android and IOS offer fine-grained controls that are accessible to the user. It's up to the application developer what they request and what they do with it. I think people are right not to trust Tencent with this kind of access.
      - JimDabell 7y ago
        > both Android and IOS offer fine-grained controls that are accessible to the user. iOS doesn't allow apps to read the user's phone number or scan local Wi-Fi access points. The only files sandboxed apps can read on iOS are ones created by the app, explicitly passed to the app, or made available by the user, which is also possible on the web. The only thing mentioned that has the slightest bit of merit is being able to spam push notifications, and this is something that a) requires the user to grant permission, b) is easily disabled by the user if it's annoying, and c) explicitly forbidden by Apple: > 4.5.3 Do not use Apple Services to spam, phish, or send unsolicited messages to customers, including Game Center, Push Notifications, etc. […] > 4.5.4 Push Notifications must not be required for the app to function, and should not be used for advertising, promotions, or direct marketing purposes or to send sensitive personal or confidential information. Abuse of these services may result in revocation of your privileges.

felipelemos 7y ago

Digg was once a force in the internet. Reddit is not exempt from this, no one is.

naravara 7y ago
Reddit was an alternative Digg for them to flee to. I’m not sure what an alternative reddit is. What’s more, the scale of Reddit today blows Digg, in its heyday, completely out of the water. So any transition would take much longer. There’s just too many niche subreddits where they people wouldn’t know where to go. It’s similar to how Facebook has a vice-grip on people because everyone seems to have one group or community that puts notices on the group page.

terminaljunkid 7y ago

Basically I have some toy accounts for those sites, in names that read somewhat like Fortran variables, sans meaning. Currently using this thing called 33mail. Temp-mail works most times too, but 33mail forwards me the emails so I can even use forgot password option. On a relevant note, there are few websites that provide temporary phone numbers if you're from US/Canada, or in contexts US/Canada temporary phone number helps.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

newscracker 7y ago

> I gave up Quota when they forced logins If you were using it just to read answers, you can still do that with a tiny bit of effort and avoid logging in. Just put a ? at the end of the URL (it’s originally a parameter called “shared”, which would be added as ?shared=1). It will then assume you’re coming from a search engine link and let you in without the login popup.

acdha 7y ago
It’s better to avoid companies like Quora entirely - they have highly SEO-ed but increasingly low quality content and just clicking on the link will tell Google to promote it to other people. I stopped using it when they started search cloaking and have never had cause to reconsider.
- paulgb 7y ago
  I wish Google took a harder line against sites that make content available to their scraper that isn't available to the end user. It's one of the things that pushed me over to using DDG. (I'm not sure if DDG takes a more active approach, but I think less energy goes into gaming DDG's algorithm by the SEO-driven companies who do things like this.)
thewhitetulip 7y ago
I use this trick once in a while when only Quora has what I am looking for But it doesn't work for 2 consequitive requests Luckily, Quora doesn't have quality content these days, like it used to back in the day when experts wrote answers
- newscracker 7y ago
  It always works for me for multiple requests. You have to add the "?" at the end of the link once again and refresh to make that popup go away.

kianigreycliff 7y ago

Just an fyi if you take the slug from any answered quora question and plug it into google you can view the page. They only require login if you are coming from another quora page. It's not convenient and they are certainly slimy but it does allow you to view any question without login.