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This, incidentally, is why I strongly resist installing apps onto my phone. Because once you let an app run on your phone, you really don't know what it's doing

This, incidentally, is why I strongly resist installing apps onto my phone. Because once you let an app run on your phone, you really don't know what it's doing. At least with a browser, it's somewhat sandboxed/limited. I don't have nearly as much confidence that I've correctly twiddled whatever settings I needed to, to limit data sharing for an app, and even if I did, I don't have any confidence the company didn't find some way to get around those settings.

amatecha 6y ago
Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I mean, not only did deleting the FB iOS app years ago actually mess up my phone and necessitate a full system restore (super sketchy IMO), I'm pretty suspicious of how hard some sites pressure you into installing their mobile app (Reddit is a definite offender here). Considering, no, actually just looking at this one search result on a page in the browser I'm already in is _definitely easier and more convenient_, it is not "best in the app!!111"
- mrzimmerman 6y ago
  Reddit is SO irritating with it's constant push to have you download their app. There's nothing on the site that requires it—Reddit is just listed content of text, video, images, and links. They also limit what you can post from their mobile site which I believe is just further pressure to get you into their unnecessary app. But my god, they are SO pushy.
  - prdonahue 6y ago
    Agreed, they're super annoying with this though LinkedIn might be even worse.
  - mostlysimilar 6y ago
    If you're on iOS, try Apollo. It's a third party Reddit app and it's outstanding. Top-notch user experience and an engaged and friendly developer. More on topic: I'm curious why we tolerate these horrible experiences on the web. Technically savvy people can't be the only ones infuriated by these dark patterns, yet I don't often see my non-tech friends complaining about it. I also don't understanding the motive on Reddit's part. Let's broadly categorize users into two buckets: those who actively don't want to use the app, and those that do. In most cases a native app experience "feels" better than a web app experience, so your average user is probably happy to see the "please use our app instead" popup. Those users will probably click it on the first try, and never have to deal with it again on the web. The remainder who specifically want to use the browser version are doing so probably for technical reasons: don't want to be tracked, etc. Those people are never going to click to download the app, no matter how many times Reddit nags at them to do it. So why continue to force-feed the popup? All it's doing is creating ill will from the people who see it every time, and those people are arguably the more technically savvy and know it's intentionally being annoying. It's just making technical people dislike the platform and the company. I guess I'm missing where the benefit of trying to force people into the app is. Is the disdain from techies worth the tiny amount of people who initially click no and then eventually click yes?
    - treebornfrog 6y ago
      I'd also suggest Baconreader premium. Its fast and lightweight. A superb third party reddit client.
  - URfejk 6y ago
    Use https://old.reddit.com/ https://old.reddit.com/ instead.
etaioinshrdlu 6y ago
The funny thing is that web apps were preferred by Apple on iOS pre-App store for this reason. Probably, security was the main driver for pushing web. I don't know what made Apple switch gears so hard and focus on promoting native. It could be they just wanted that App Store revenue and 30% cut, as well as in-app purchase revenue. It could also be Apple was interested in promoting apps that only work on iOS, or work best on iOS. I do think they made the wrong choice for the user's benefit however.
- gowld 6y ago
  Web apps were promoted because Apple didn't have App Store yet,and Jobs always make grand statements to discredit things Apple doesn't have, until the day they have them, (like mice with two buttons, or phones with working antennas)
  - musicale 6y ago
    > Web apps were promoted because Apple didn't have App Store yet,and Jobs always make grand statements to discredit things Apple doesn't have In 2007 many developers wanted a native SDK, similar to the one that Apple used internally, and were extremely disappointed at WWDC when Jobs announced Apple's "sweet" solution of web apps on the iPhone. In retrospect, two things have become clear: 1) the iPhone's support for web apps was surprisingly good and pointed to a future of responsive, standalone web apps that look and feel like native apps, and web technology as an alternative for implementing standalone apps 2) devs asked for a native SDK, and Apple said no; a year later, Apple gave them the App Store, which wasn't just an SDK but a new marketplace for mobile apps which led to "there's an app for that", millions of iPhone apps...and eventual complaints about Apple's terms > until the day they have them, (like mice with two buttons, or phones with working antennas) The trackpad on my Apple laptop actually has zero buttons. The clicking feature is a haptic and auditory illusion. Jobs was technically correct that the iPhone 4 antenna worked properly when you didn't bridge it with your finger, and as I recall the low tech fix was a piece of insulating plastic to prevent you from doing so.
0xCMP 6y ago
In this case it didn't matter because they still sent everything to Facebook. It seems like unless you block Facebook entirely it won't matter.
celeritascelery 6y ago
My hope is that as PWA's get better, I will have less need for apps on my phone all around.
cbsmith 6y ago
Although apps get unique IDs and are isolated from each other. When you use your browser it's much easier to connect the dots. What you do want to be careful about is following links from browsers that load applications, because they are typically tagged with information that links the app to the browser (and from there to everything else).

amatecha 6y ago

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I mean, not only did deleting the FB iOS app years ago actually mess up my phone and necessitate a full system restore (super sketchy IMO), I'm pretty suspicious of how hard some sites pressure you into installing their mobile app (Reddit is a definite offender here). Considering, no, actually just looking at this one search result on a page in the browser I'm already in is _definitely easier and more convenient_, it is not "best in the app!!111"

mrzimmerman 6y ago
Reddit is SO irritating with it's constant push to have you download their app. There's nothing on the site that requires it—Reddit is just listed content of text, video, images, and links. They also limit what you can post from their mobile site which I believe is just further pressure to get you into their unnecessary app. But my god, they are SO pushy.
- prdonahue 6y ago
  Agreed, they're super annoying with this though LinkedIn might be even worse.
- mostlysimilar 6y ago
  If you're on iOS, try Apollo. It's a third party Reddit app and it's outstanding. Top-notch user experience and an engaged and friendly developer. More on topic: I'm curious why we tolerate these horrible experiences on the web. Technically savvy people can't be the only ones infuriated by these dark patterns, yet I don't often see my non-tech friends complaining about it. I also don't understanding the motive on Reddit's part. Let's broadly categorize users into two buckets: those who actively don't want to use the app, and those that do. In most cases a native app experience "feels" better than a web app experience, so your average user is probably happy to see the "please use our app instead" popup. Those users will probably click it on the first try, and never have to deal with it again on the web. The remainder who specifically want to use the browser version are doing so probably for technical reasons: don't want to be tracked, etc. Those people are never going to click to download the app, no matter how many times Reddit nags at them to do it. So why continue to force-feed the popup? All it's doing is creating ill will from the people who see it every time, and those people are arguably the more technically savvy and know it's intentionally being annoying. It's just making technical people dislike the platform and the company. I guess I'm missing where the benefit of trying to force people into the app is. Is the disdain from techies worth the tiny amount of people who initially click no and then eventually click yes?
  - treebornfrog 6y ago
    I'd also suggest Baconreader premium. Its fast and lightweight. A superb third party reddit client.
- URfejk 6y ago
  Use https://old.reddit.com/ https://old.reddit.com/ instead.

etaioinshrdlu 6y ago

The funny thing is that web apps were preferred by Apple on iOS pre-App store for this reason. Probably, security was the main driver for pushing web. I don't know what made Apple switch gears so hard and focus on promoting native. It could be they just wanted that App Store revenue and 30% cut, as well as in-app purchase revenue. It could also be Apple was interested in promoting apps that only work on iOS, or work best on iOS. I do think they made the wrong choice for the user's benefit however.

gowld 6y ago
Web apps were promoted because Apple didn't have App Store yet,and Jobs always make grand statements to discredit things Apple doesn't have, until the day they have them, (like mice with two buttons, or phones with working antennas)
- musicale 6y ago
  > Web apps were promoted because Apple didn't have App Store yet,and Jobs always make grand statements to discredit things Apple doesn't have In 2007 many developers wanted a native SDK, similar to the one that Apple used internally, and were extremely disappointed at WWDC when Jobs announced Apple's "sweet" solution of web apps on the iPhone. In retrospect, two things have become clear: 1) the iPhone's support for web apps was surprisingly good and pointed to a future of responsive, standalone web apps that look and feel like native apps, and web technology as an alternative for implementing standalone apps 2) devs asked for a native SDK, and Apple said no; a year later, Apple gave them the App Store, which wasn't just an SDK but a new marketplace for mobile apps which led to "there's an app for that", millions of iPhone apps...and eventual complaints about Apple's terms > until the day they have them, (like mice with two buttons, or phones with working antennas) The trackpad on my Apple laptop actually has zero buttons. The clicking feature is a haptic and auditory illusion. Jobs was technically correct that the iPhone 4 antenna worked properly when you didn't bridge it with your finger, and as I recall the low tech fix was a piece of insulating plastic to prevent you from doing so.

0xCMP 6y ago

In this case it didn't matter because they still sent everything to Facebook. It seems like unless you block Facebook entirely it won't matter.

celeritascelery 6y ago

My hope is that as PWA's get better, I will have less need for apps on my phone all around.

cbsmith 6y ago

Although apps get unique IDs and are isolated from each other. When you use your browser it's much easier to connect the dots. What you do want to be careful about is following links from browsers that load applications, because they are typically tagged with information that links the app to the browser (and from there to everything else).