7 ms·

Apollo is not the defacto reddit client. Reddit's own app is.

by zbowling 5y ago

Nextgrid 5y ago
Reddit's own app is an adware & malware that happens to display some Reddit content.
- hibern8 5y ago
  Source for the malware claim?
  - whydoyoucare 5y ago
    I believe (s)he wanted imply reddit's official app displays a lot of inline advertisements and other stuff that makes it difficult to determine what is legit subscribed content and what is sneakily inserted by reddit. Maybe I am wrong.
  - blendergeek 5y ago
    From Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia: > Programs are also considered malware if they secretly act against the interests of the computer user. There are two criteria that software must meet to fit this definition: 1. The software must act against the interests of the computer user. 2. This must be done "secretly". I unfortunately do not know much about the Reddit App for iOS so I can't make a judgement as to whether it fits definition 2. I think I can say with confidence it fits definition 1.
  - Nextgrid 5y ago
    It tracks you for advertising purposes. That's malicious in my book.
    - colejohnson66 5y ago
      It doesn’t advertise to you in secret (how would that even work?). The ads are front and center. It’s user hostile, but not malware.
      - Nextgrid 5y ago
        The ads are. The data being collected to target those ads is not. I guess a non-malicious way of collecting the data for ad purposes could be to collect it locally and offer the user to review it before sending it off.
- pndy 5y ago
  I'd be happy if someone would bake mobile teddit or other "proxies" app. I know site still works but this could be done more handy and with aiming at additional features, like pushing yt videos through invidious "pipe".
joshstrange 5y ago
> Apollo is not the defacto reddit client. Reddit's own app is. Reddit's is the official client. > Defacto: in fact, or in effect, whether by right or not I think in this case the validity of the word "defacto" depends on your sample population. Apollo is very popular (and a fantastic reddit client, I wish there was an equivalent for HN) but I can't imagine it's marketshare is anywhere close to even 50%. Among tech enthusiasts I'll bet it ranks pretty high. Similar to an app like Overcast. If you poll HN or other tech communities I bet it's well represented but in the broader ecosystem it's a small fish.
- eli 5y ago
  Reddit pushes the official client hard from the mobile website. I'm sure its marketshare is huge.
  - joshstrange 5y ago
    100% agree. Thanks to Safari extensions (and the afore mentioned AMP redirector) you can now jump right into Apollo from a Reddit link and it's the best experience.
  - hbn 5y ago
    I hope the marketshare of the official client is at the very least high enough to prevent them from crippling APIs so third-party clients are gimped, like Twitter has done. God forbid they add a token limit
SllX 5y ago
Nah. Reddit’s client is the official Reddit client, but Apollo is the de facto one for people who want to actually use Reddit. Also Apollo now has a Safari extension which will automatically redirect Reddit links to Apollo. Previously this was a manual process after the page already loaded after telling Reddit for the umpteen-billionth time you want Safari, not the official Reddit client.
- jamil7 5y ago
  This. I think I would actually give up on reddit without apollo, the official app and website are user-hostile. I wonder if they will tighten the API up and eventually kill third-party clients.
  - toomuchtodo 5y ago
    If Apollo is the interface, what is Reddit besides a JSON document store and object storage for media? Once Apollo is big enough (network effects, critical mass, whatevs), it could spin off of Reddit as the backend (Cloudflare R2 for objects, workers and KV for comments). You can even backfill from the numerous Reddit archives (Internet Archive, Pushshift, etc) out there. (Apollo user with an interest in a distributed web platform)
    - SllX 5y ago
      > If Apollo is the interface, what is Reddit besides a JSON document store and object storage for media? A community, or if you prefer, a community of communities. That part is essential.
      - toomuchtodo 5y ago
        Yeah, agree. I'm arguing for disintermediation of the community from the corporate entity attempting to squeeze as much value out of the community as possible (and in the process, being a hot potato from one company to the next). Communities deserve better (Stackoverflow and Wikipedia come to mind), and the technology primitives are stupid simple. Perhaps I've been reading too much Neal Stephenson and Cory Doctorow lately!

Apollo is not the defacto reddit client. Reddit's own app is.

Nextgrid 5y ago

Reddit's own app is an adware & malware that happens to display some Reddit content.

hibern8 5y ago
Source for the malware claim?
- whydoyoucare 5y ago
  I believe (s)he wanted imply reddit's official app displays a lot of inline advertisements and other stuff that makes it difficult to determine what is legit subscribed content and what is sneakily inserted by reddit. Maybe I am wrong.
- blendergeek 5y ago
  From Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia: > Programs are also considered malware if they secretly act against the interests of the computer user. There are two criteria that software must meet to fit this definition: 1. The software must act against the interests of the computer user. 2. This must be done "secretly". I unfortunately do not know much about the Reddit App for iOS so I can't make a judgement as to whether it fits definition 2. I think I can say with confidence it fits definition 1.
- Nextgrid 5y ago
  It tracks you for advertising purposes. That's malicious in my book.
  - colejohnson66 5y ago
    It doesn’t advertise to you in secret (how would that even work?). The ads are front and center. It’s user hostile, but not malware.
    - Nextgrid 5y ago
      The ads are. The data being collected to target those ads is not. I guess a non-malicious way of collecting the data for ad purposes could be to collect it locally and offer the user to review it before sending it off.
pndy 5y ago
I'd be happy if someone would bake mobile teddit or other "proxies" app. I know site still works but this could be done more handy and with aiming at additional features, like pushing yt videos through invidious "pipe".

joshstrange 5y ago

> Apollo is not the defacto reddit client. Reddit's own app is. Reddit's is the official client. > Defacto: in fact, or in effect, whether by right or not I think in this case the validity of the word "defacto" depends on your sample population. Apollo is very popular (and a fantastic reddit client, I wish there was an equivalent for HN) but I can't imagine it's marketshare is anywhere close to even 50%. Among tech enthusiasts I'll bet it ranks pretty high. Similar to an app like Overcast. If you poll HN or other tech communities I bet it's well represented but in the broader ecosystem it's a small fish.

eli 5y ago
Reddit pushes the official client hard from the mobile website. I'm sure its marketshare is huge.
- joshstrange 5y ago
  100% agree. Thanks to Safari extensions (and the afore mentioned AMP redirector) you can now jump right into Apollo from a Reddit link and it's the best experience.
- hbn 5y ago
  I hope the marketshare of the official client is at the very least high enough to prevent them from crippling APIs so third-party clients are gimped, like Twitter has done. God forbid they add a token limit

SllX 5y ago

Nah. Reddit’s client is the official Reddit client, but Apollo is the de facto one for people who want to actually use Reddit. Also Apollo now has a Safari extension which will automatically redirect Reddit links to Apollo. Previously this was a manual process after the page already loaded after telling Reddit for the umpteen-billionth time you want Safari, not the official Reddit client.

jamil7 5y ago
This. I think I would actually give up on reddit without apollo, the official app and website are user-hostile. I wonder if they will tighten the API up and eventually kill third-party clients.
- toomuchtodo 5y ago
  If Apollo is the interface, what is Reddit besides a JSON document store and object storage for media? Once Apollo is big enough (network effects, critical mass, whatevs), it could spin off of Reddit as the backend (Cloudflare R2 for objects, workers and KV for comments). You can even backfill from the numerous Reddit archives (Internet Archive, Pushshift, etc) out there. (Apollo user with an interest in a distributed web platform)
  - SllX 5y ago
    > If Apollo is the interface, what is Reddit besides a JSON document store and object storage for media? A community, or if you prefer, a community of communities. That part is essential.
    - toomuchtodo 5y ago
      Yeah, agree. I'm arguing for disintermediation of the community from the corporate entity attempting to squeeze as much value out of the community as possible (and in the process, being a hot potato from one company to the next). Communities deserve better (Stackoverflow and Wikipedia come to mind), and the technology primitives are stupid simple. Perhaps I've been reading too much Neal Stephenson and Cory Doctorow lately!