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The situation with mobile reddit got out of control. It is impossible to browse anything without the app unless it is a post on r/popular or r/all. Out of spit

The situation with mobile reddit got out of control. It is impossible to browse anything without the app unless it is a post on r/popular or r/all. Out of spite I downloaded 'a' free reddit client and bought the full version. The constant stream of useless notifications of the official app is just disgusting.

Guthur 6y ago
I've no idea what the official app is like, but they're pushing it so hard that I can't imagine it's for my benefit :)
- PartiallyTyped 6y ago
  My cynicism backed hypothesis is that they want telemetry, location tracking and all that kind of stuff. Also knowing Tencent has a stake on Reddit [1], I am even more inclined to avoid it. [1] https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/02/08/tencent-invests-social-platform-reddit.aspx https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/02/08/tencent-invests-so...
- trey-jones 6y ago
  I'm not a heavy reddit user - I don't subscribe to any subreddits or anything like that. But I do have an account and I occasionally post and comment. I had the mobile app installed for a few months and I thought it was pretty good. I uninstalled it because I was using it to kill time on my phone, and it was becoming habitual (nothing going on? open reddit app). My solution to those types of things is to cut the cord, and I don't ever miss them. I would call it an upside actually, that I don't even want to browse the site on my phone.
- pbhjpbhj 6y ago
  I just assumed because most people don't be able to block ads. Is the app anything more than a webview that doesn't get sent the 'make it crappy' parts from the server?
harryf 6y ago
https://old.reddit.com https://old.reddit.com is still out there and everything seems to work
- forgotmypw17 6y ago
  Everything seems to work on the surface, until you actually start using it. Many newer features are half-implemented or not implemented at all. Some features which previously worked are broken. The setting for preference of the old.reddit interface is not stable, and gets reset sometimes. Even when the setting is preserved, there are nag messages to switch to the new one and/or the app. Also, I think just calling it "old." feels a bit condescending and patronizing to the user. It certainly communicates that its days are numbered, so why would I want to invest any more of my time into it?
  - oldHN 6y ago
    Just use the old reddit extension for Firefox.
    - forgotmypw17 6y ago
      a) I don't use Firefox. I use a particular browser with accessibility accommodations which Firefox does not offer. b) I doubt that the extension you reference solves most of the issues I mentioned, in particular the broken features. c) I think beginning your advice with the word "Just" makes it sound condescending and dismissive. Please consider reading this article: http://archive.is/J2ODQ http://archive.is/J2ODQ
      - jcims 6y ago
        I'm guessing it was coming from a place of frustration, but as an impartial observer I found your response just as condescending. They should add 'a bullet-list of critiques' to the article.
        forgotmypw17 6y ago
Macha 6y ago
Yeah, when they follow Twitter and lock down third party apps will end half my Reddit usage and turning off old Reddit the other half. I would have said in the past that users like me who are resistant to introducing engagement mechanics/monetisation are why they're valued less than the likes of Twitter but recent stats I saw indicated old Reddit was like 15% of desktop users and the official app also had the majority of mobile users so looks like their plan to wait our the dilution of the long term user base is working so maybe that all changes in a few years. The unbundling suggestions seem like it'd hurt the long tail, a lot of the value that Reddit has to me is the smaller specialised communities which are able to get users because people can eventually get introduced to smaller subreddits from larger subreddits. Cut off that traffic growth path and many of these communities have a much reduced reason to set up on Reddit Vs elsewhere. The suggestions to move the focus from subreddits to users - it's something Reddit are subtly trying with redesigned profiles and more emphasis on people posting to profiles or following them, but to me it seems counter productive to what I like about Reddit. A subreddit can be kept on topic in a way a user cannot, and actually in many social circles there are pressures on people to make their views known on e.g. politics in twitter, where staying on whatever topic is actually discouraged
- PartiallyTyped 6y ago
  I too am one of those users. I migrated to hackernews, but as you said, reddit offers much more in terms of communities around topics. These communities are absolute goldmines and, to me, it appears that they are the remnants of late 90s to late 2000s internet. I really liked the warez, infosec and hacker* communities of those times, unfortunately, I was too young and to be honest, I haven't gotten around to looking for such communities again.
  - ethbr0 6y ago
    Reddit is a monetization of Usenet. The farther they drift away from admitting that, the more tenuous their value proposition is going to be.
- Mindwipe 6y ago
  > but recent stats I saw indicated old Reddit was like 15% of desktop users I have to believe that's the vast majority of the active userbase, and that Reddit just gets a lot of one off visits from Google search referrals.
bullfightonmars 6y ago
I was a relatively happy user of the app until they started making text blink in comments. The endless stream of awards was bad enough, but blinking text is where I draw thr line.
lovegoblin 6y ago
> The constant stream of useless notifications of the official app is just disgusting. I cannot imagine a world where I would allow reddit to send me any push notifications ever.
lostmsu 6y ago
It's OK on Firefox for Android if you log in.

Guthur 6y ago

I've no idea what the official app is like, but they're pushing it so hard that I can't imagine it's for my benefit :)

PartiallyTyped 6y ago
My cynicism backed hypothesis is that they want telemetry, location tracking and all that kind of stuff. Also knowing Tencent has a stake on Reddit [1], I am even more inclined to avoid it. [1] https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/02/08/tencent-invests-social-platform-reddit.aspx https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/02/08/tencent-invests-so...
trey-jones 6y ago
I'm not a heavy reddit user - I don't subscribe to any subreddits or anything like that. But I do have an account and I occasionally post and comment. I had the mobile app installed for a few months and I thought it was pretty good. I uninstalled it because I was using it to kill time on my phone, and it was becoming habitual (nothing going on? open reddit app). My solution to those types of things is to cut the cord, and I don't ever miss them. I would call it an upside actually, that I don't even want to browse the site on my phone.
pbhjpbhj 6y ago
I just assumed because most people don't be able to block ads. Is the app anything more than a webview that doesn't get sent the 'make it crappy' parts from the server?

harryf 6y ago

https://old.reddit.com https://old.reddit.com is still out there and everything seems to work

forgotmypw17 6y ago
Everything seems to work on the surface, until you actually start using it. Many newer features are half-implemented or not implemented at all. Some features which previously worked are broken. The setting for preference of the old.reddit interface is not stable, and gets reset sometimes. Even when the setting is preserved, there are nag messages to switch to the new one and/or the app. Also, I think just calling it "old." feels a bit condescending and patronizing to the user. It certainly communicates that its days are numbered, so why would I want to invest any more of my time into it?
- oldHN 6y ago
  Just use the old reddit extension for Firefox.
  - forgotmypw17 6y ago
    a) I don't use Firefox. I use a particular browser with accessibility accommodations which Firefox does not offer. b) I doubt that the extension you reference solves most of the issues I mentioned, in particular the broken features. c) I think beginning your advice with the word "Just" makes it sound condescending and dismissive. Please consider reading this article: http://archive.is/J2ODQ http://archive.is/J2ODQ
    - jcims 6y ago
      I'm guessing it was coming from a place of frustration, but as an impartial observer I found your response just as condescending. They should add 'a bullet-list of critiques' to the article.
      - forgotmypw17 6y ago

Macha 6y ago

Yeah, when they follow Twitter and lock down third party apps will end half my Reddit usage and turning off old Reddit the other half. I would have said in the past that users like me who are resistant to introducing engagement mechanics/monetisation are why they're valued less than the likes of Twitter but recent stats I saw indicated old Reddit was like 15% of desktop users and the official app also had the majority of mobile users so looks like their plan to wait our the dilution of the long term user base is working so maybe that all changes in a few years. The unbundling suggestions seem like it'd hurt the long tail, a lot of the value that Reddit has to me is the smaller specialised communities which are able to get users because people can eventually get introduced to smaller subreddits from larger subreddits. Cut off that traffic growth path and many of these communities have a much reduced reason to set up on Reddit Vs elsewhere. The suggestions to move the focus from subreddits to users - it's something Reddit are subtly trying with redesigned profiles and more emphasis on people posting to profiles or following them, but to me it seems counter productive to what I like about Reddit. A subreddit can be kept on topic in a way a user cannot, and actually in many social circles there are pressures on people to make their views known on e.g. politics in twitter, where staying on whatever topic is actually discouraged

PartiallyTyped 6y ago
I too am one of those users. I migrated to hackernews, but as you said, reddit offers much more in terms of communities around topics. These communities are absolute goldmines and, to me, it appears that they are the remnants of late 90s to late 2000s internet. I really liked the warez, infosec and hacker* communities of those times, unfortunately, I was too young and to be honest, I haven't gotten around to looking for such communities again.
- ethbr0 6y ago
  Reddit is a monetization of Usenet. The farther they drift away from admitting that, the more tenuous their value proposition is going to be.
Mindwipe 6y ago
> but recent stats I saw indicated old Reddit was like 15% of desktop users I have to believe that's the vast majority of the active userbase, and that Reddit just gets a lot of one off visits from Google search referrals.

bullfightonmars 6y ago

I was a relatively happy user of the app until they started making text blink in comments. The endless stream of awards was bad enough, but blinking text is where I draw thr line.

lovegoblin 6y ago

> The constant stream of useless notifications of the official app is just disgusting. I cannot imagine a world where I would allow reddit to send me any push notifications ever.

lostmsu 6y ago

It's OK on Firefox for Android if you log in.