5 ms·

When old.reddit.com dies, it’s over.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
alasdair_ 6y ago
I agree. The new UI is utterly obnoxious on mobile - they keep trying to force me to use the app, including making it impossible to read the rest of a forum without using the app instead. It's horrible.
- alexmcc81 6y ago
  If you're on Android, I can't recommend RedReader enough [1] . It's open source and customisation (also installable via F-Droid). I browse with a compact display and thumbnails turned off. [1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.quantumbadger.redreader https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.quantumbad...
  - yreg 6y ago
    And for iOS, Apollo[1] is delightful. The most thought-out app I know about in general. [1] https://apps.apple.com/sk/app/apollo-for-reddit/id979274575 https://apps.apple.com/sk/app/apollo-for-reddit/id979274575
  - imglorp 6y ago
    I wonder how long the API will remain supported. It's really not serving the master's will. Then all these open source readers will be dead as well.
    - baby 6y ago
      the day they stop supporting RSS feeds I'll be really sad : (
  - klyrs 6y ago
    No. I do not want to install an app to read a website. That is what my browser is for.
    - e_proxus 6y ago
      While I agree with your sentiment, Reddit is becoming less and less a website over time.
  - neurostimulant 6y ago
    Reddit Sync Dev is the best reddit client on android imo. It has a lot of features I didn't know I would need, and the developer regularly pushes updates every few days. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.laurencedawson.reddit_sync.dev&hl=en&gl=US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.laurenceda...
- morcheeba 6y ago
  It's obnoxious on a giant screen, too. I get 10 headlines on the old version, but the new version only shows me one story -- so much scrolling.
  - nvrspyx 6y ago
    I prefer the old version too, but have you tried using the classic or compact layout option on the new version? I personally use the classic layout and have been much less frustrated with it. https://imgur.com/a/SBifQIB https://imgur.com/a/SBifQIB
    - slowmovintarget 6y ago
      The problem is the conversation threads. You can't read them in the new format. They constantly elide them so you have to click on them and it jumps around on the screen. In the old view, I can read a page full of threaded comments on a thread I've clicked into. In the new layout, you get maybe five comments, and a scroll to the next thread. It is awful.
      - benhurmarcel 6y ago
        I don't get what you're mentioning. If you open a thread (in a desktop browser tab), you get the discussions just like before.
        effingwewt 6y ago
        Not true at all. It'll only show some of the comments others will be hidden until you click on them, making the screen jump around the screen as gp said. old.reddit.com alleviates this but not for much longer I'm sure. Then the lovely firefox will periodically decide not to allow 'trusted site exceptions' disallowing you from visiting old.reddit.com. All in all I find it's too much work most of the time.
        benhurmarcel 6y ago
- spicybright 6y ago
  RedditIsFun is a fantastic app with a great dual pane mode. It almost feels like the desktop and having multiple tabs open.
- blck 6y ago
  I also find the new UI to be awful on desktop. Just disastrously slow. I hardly use Reddit anymore part of it the community and me just having different priorities but the other part is this new Mobile first mentality. I’ll use old.Reddit.com until they finally kill it.
  - fgonzag 6y ago
    The new version of reddit bogs down FF to where I have to restart if I want to keep scrolling. This is on a TR3960X with 64GB of memory. I haven't checked the resource manager when that happens but I probably should.
- jeremymcanally 6y ago
  I agree, hence why I live on https://i.reddit.com https://i.reddit.com on mobile. It lacks some of the features of the new UI, but I don't use those anyhow since I just lurk/read.
netsharc 6y ago
As someone who spends too much time on reddit, I do hope they do that soon, so that the UX disaster of the new interface discourages me from spending more than 2 minutes per day there..
jmclnx 6y ago
Same for me, and for people using mobile, not for me. Screen to small, and I will not get into spywhere on smart phones. So, if I cannot get to old.reddit, I stop going there, very simple. I am glad hackernews/ycombinator still has what I consider the best WEB/Comment setup I have ever seen.
- MeinBlutIstBlau 6y ago
  Old reddit is still superior to hacker news. It was the perfect forum. Now it's a social media laced whale driven place filled with a single viewpoint. To the point that negative comments don't even show up anymore.
tootie 6y ago
https://i.reddit.com https://i.reddit.com has been around for a very long time and hasn't changed at all. It can't play video but you can browse threads and it's lightning fast. Especially without thumbnails.
- kayson 6y ago
  This is my goto. It's just so much faster!
baby 6y ago
I don't understand why they're doing this: 1. Why are they forcing me to use their app so much? it's just not practical: for example if I quit the app and come back it doesn't return me to the page I was looking at; worse it often doesn't display comments for me (infinite loading). 2. Why is the web redesign so bad? Who are they trying to cater for? There's just so much friction in reading comments from multiple posts now, when I click on a post to read the comments an then outside it scroll back up to the beginning. Why can't I read comments if I'm not signed in?
- Agustus 6y ago
  Metrics: It is easy for them to keep track of metrics, including the following: * did someone pause on a post, mark it * time on page, * whatever other crazy metric you can show to advertisers * in-line advertisements Also, the walled garden makes it so you get the endorphin hit of clicking the button and it can algorithmically entice you back with notifications and other engagements.
- zests 6y ago
  I understand it in the sense that I can conceptualize it. I just have a hard time believing it is really best for business. They determine how much money they make per user and find that signed in users make more money. Signed in users on their mobile app (users inside of their walled garden) make the most money. If they lose a couple users trying to convert everyone to using their mobile app, so be it. Having an account and using their mobile app makes it easier to track you, easier to show you ads and likely worth more per advertisement.
- WillPostForFood 6y ago
  I prefer old reddit for the same reason as you, I like to read and comment. But I can tell you who they are catering to: People who scroll through subreddits scanning photos. If you go to meme focused subreddit, the new version is pretty good. If you go to a discussion focused subreddit, the old version is better. Try https://www.reddit.com/r/Watches/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Watches/ in an incognito window to see it in the new Reddit, then try it old reddit.
nxmnxm99 6y ago
If you have to force your users into a new UI, it's a shit UI
sercand 6y ago
I have started using old interface since yesterday because the new interface is extremely slow on Desktop. I just don’t understand how showing bunch of images can be this slow.
mariusor 6y ago
I keep hoping some of the cool communities would be willing to move to ActivityPub based aggregators.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

I agree. The new UI is utterly obnoxious on mobile - they keep trying to force me to use the app, including making it impossible to read the rest of a forum without using the app instead. It's horrible.

alexmcc81 6y ago
If you're on Android, I can't recommend RedReader enough [1] . It's open source and customisation (also installable via F-Droid). I browse with a compact display and thumbnails turned off. [1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.quantumbadger.redreader https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.quantumbad...
- yreg 6y ago
  And for iOS, Apollo[1] is delightful. The most thought-out app I know about in general. [1] https://apps.apple.com/sk/app/apollo-for-reddit/id979274575 https://apps.apple.com/sk/app/apollo-for-reddit/id979274575
- imglorp 6y ago
  I wonder how long the API will remain supported. It's really not serving the master's will. Then all these open source readers will be dead as well.
  - baby 6y ago
    the day they stop supporting RSS feeds I'll be really sad : (
- klyrs 6y ago
  No. I do not want to install an app to read a website. That is what my browser is for.
  - e_proxus 6y ago
    While I agree with your sentiment, Reddit is becoming less and less a website over time.
- neurostimulant 6y ago
  Reddit Sync Dev is the best reddit client on android imo. It has a lot of features I didn't know I would need, and the developer regularly pushes updates every few days. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.laurencedawson.reddit_sync.dev&hl=en&gl=US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.laurenceda...
morcheeba 6y ago
It's obnoxious on a giant screen, too. I get 10 headlines on the old version, but the new version only shows me one story -- so much scrolling.
- nvrspyx 6y ago
  I prefer the old version too, but have you tried using the classic or compact layout option on the new version? I personally use the classic layout and have been much less frustrated with it. https://imgur.com/a/SBifQIB https://imgur.com/a/SBifQIB
  - slowmovintarget 6y ago
    The problem is the conversation threads. You can't read them in the new format. They constantly elide them so you have to click on them and it jumps around on the screen. In the old view, I can read a page full of threaded comments on a thread I've clicked into. In the new layout, you get maybe five comments, and a scroll to the next thread. It is awful.
    - benhurmarcel 6y ago
      I don't get what you're mentioning. If you open a thread (in a desktop browser tab), you get the discussions just like before.
      - effingwewt 6y ago
        Not true at all. It'll only show some of the comments others will be hidden until you click on them, making the screen jump around the screen as gp said. old.reddit.com alleviates this but not for much longer I'm sure. Then the lovely firefox will periodically decide not to allow 'trusted site exceptions' disallowing you from visiting old.reddit.com. All in all I find it's too much work most of the time.
        benhurmarcel 6y ago
spicybright 6y ago
RedditIsFun is a fantastic app with a great dual pane mode. It almost feels like the desktop and having multiple tabs open.
blck 6y ago
I also find the new UI to be awful on desktop. Just disastrously slow. I hardly use Reddit anymore part of it the community and me just having different priorities but the other part is this new Mobile first mentality. I’ll use old.Reddit.com until they finally kill it.
- fgonzag 6y ago
  The new version of reddit bogs down FF to where I have to restart if I want to keep scrolling. This is on a TR3960X with 64GB of memory. I haven't checked the resource manager when that happens but I probably should.
jeremymcanally 6y ago
I agree, hence why I live on https://i.reddit.com https://i.reddit.com on mobile. It lacks some of the features of the new UI, but I don't use those anyhow since I just lurk/read.

netsharc 6y ago

As someone who spends too much time on reddit, I do hope they do that soon, so that the UX disaster of the new interface discourages me from spending more than 2 minutes per day there..

jmclnx 6y ago

Same for me, and for people using mobile, not for me. Screen to small, and I will not get into spywhere on smart phones. So, if I cannot get to old.reddit, I stop going there, very simple. I am glad hackernews/ycombinator still has what I consider the best WEB/Comment setup I have ever seen.

MeinBlutIstBlau 6y ago
Old reddit is still superior to hacker news. It was the perfect forum. Now it's a social media laced whale driven place filled with a single viewpoint. To the point that negative comments don't even show up anymore.

tootie 6y ago

https://i.reddit.com https://i.reddit.com has been around for a very long time and hasn't changed at all. It can't play video but you can browse threads and it's lightning fast. Especially without thumbnails.

kayson 6y ago
This is my goto. It's just so much faster!

baby 6y ago

I don't understand why they're doing this: 1. Why are they forcing me to use their app so much? it's just not practical: for example if I quit the app and come back it doesn't return me to the page I was looking at; worse it often doesn't display comments for me (infinite loading). 2. Why is the web redesign so bad? Who are they trying to cater for? There's just so much friction in reading comments from multiple posts now, when I click on a post to read the comments an then outside it scroll back up to the beginning. Why can't I read comments if I'm not signed in?

Agustus 6y ago
Metrics: It is easy for them to keep track of metrics, including the following: * did someone pause on a post, mark it * time on page, * whatever other crazy metric you can show to advertisers * in-line advertisements Also, the walled garden makes it so you get the endorphin hit of clicking the button and it can algorithmically entice you back with notifications and other engagements.
zests 6y ago
I understand it in the sense that I can conceptualize it. I just have a hard time believing it is really best for business. They determine how much money they make per user and find that signed in users make more money. Signed in users on their mobile app (users inside of their walled garden) make the most money. If they lose a couple users trying to convert everyone to using their mobile app, so be it. Having an account and using their mobile app makes it easier to track you, easier to show you ads and likely worth more per advertisement.
WillPostForFood 6y ago
I prefer old reddit for the same reason as you, I like to read and comment. But I can tell you who they are catering to: People who scroll through subreddits scanning photos. If you go to meme focused subreddit, the new version is pretty good. If you go to a discussion focused subreddit, the old version is better. Try https://www.reddit.com/r/Watches/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Watches/ in an incognito window to see it in the new Reddit, then try it old reddit.

nxmnxm99 6y ago

If you have to force your users into a new UI, it's a shit UI

sercand 6y ago

I have started using old interface since yesterday because the new interface is extremely slow on Desktop. I just don’t understand how showing bunch of images can be this slow.

mariusor 6y ago

I keep hoping some of the cool communities would be willing to move to ActivityPub based aggregators.