4 ms·

Reddit as a point in case. They deliberately break their mobile web version subtly to coerce users to install their app. Shudder.

dasKrokodil 5y ago
I agree with you, except for the word 'subtly'. It's not subtle at all.
- periheli0n 5y ago
  Well, it still works, but the UX is terrible, and usually one has to reload the page after something like 20 clicks or so because it stops responding or UX elements disappear. So yeah, not really that subtle, I agree.
  - edude03 5y ago
    For me recently it hasn't worked at all for example - I'm signed into reddit on the webapp, I click a link on the front page, it renders the page, then overlays a popup saying "this page is only available in the app" and despite having the app, clicking "open in app" takes me to the apple store, so really I can only reliably use reddit if I start my reddit "session" in the app
- paledot 5y ago
  I see it as a feature. Using Facebook's deliberately shitty mobile interface with Firefox Focus, which clears cookies every time I close a browser tab, helped me to kick my Facebook habit by making it too inconvenient to check except for a specific purpose. I now log in about once a month.
qwertyuiop_ 5y ago
Reddit makes life miserable on the mobile web.
- noir_lord 5y ago
  https://i.reddit.com/ https://i.reddit.com/ and https://old.reddit.com https://old.reddit.com still work - when they don't I'll likely stop using reddit entirely. I won't install the app and the mobile experience is broken. Which is a shame since I've used it for 14 years.
  - mrwizrd 5y ago
    There are some great options on mobile from third parties if that might work well for you: Apollo for iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/apollo-for-reddit/id979274575 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/apollo-for-reddit/id979274575 Boost, for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rubenmayayo.reddit&hl=en_GB&gl=US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rubenmayay... Hopefully on desktops old.reddit sticks around forever. https://redditenhancementsuite.com/ https://redditenhancementsuite.com/ is essential.
  - hsdropout 5y ago
    There is also the little-known ". compact". E.g. https://www.reddit.com/.compact https://www.reddit.com/.compact
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
  - pixelpoet 5y ago
    100% agree as a user of 12 years, and I'm getting pretty close to quitting because if the shenanigans they're pulling recently with making links not work for old reddit by inserting slashes. If I wanted a Fisher Price styled social media thing full of user avatars and giant gifs, I'd use Facebook.
- danuker 5y ago
  I used to use RedReader[0]. But I eventually quit, because it works very well and is dangerously addictive. Beware. [0] - https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.quantumbadger.redreader/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.quantumbadger.redreader/
ChrisMarshallNY 5y ago
Facebook does the same thing. I won't install the Facebook app, because I can almost watch the battery drain; even when it's in the background. It's easy for me to prevent any app from listening. I use an external monitor that doesn't have a microphone, and I connect via the DisplayPort, so there's no audio. The only time I use anything with a mic, it's for Zoom, and I explicitly turn on my AirPods.
- vaxman 5y ago
  > my AirPods. You had me until that L0L. Anything with a mic (especially the AirPods) would need to be "unpaired" (or better yet, never paired) to avoid activation by covert code. Apple once sold EarPods that had no microphone (for use on iPods) that do the trick. (However, I would wager that it's possible to remotely activate and pair a set of AirPods laying by your Mac using the Apple protocols designed to make it easier for legit users to set them up.) The Chinese app called "genie" used with devices like cheap Merkury cameras, sold at places like Walmart for impossibly low prices and that livestream thru "Tuya" (which likely provides the inputs to China-based deep learning models) also does this on all Apple Silicon platforms. Yes, the "Terms" for that app would seem to allow for it, just like other Chinese apps: https://www.npr.org/2021/01/05/953515627/facial-recognition-and-beyond-journalist-ventures-inside-chinas-surveillance-sta https://www.npr.org/2021/01/05/953515627/facial-recognition-... Such streams help China develop models that interpret emotions and behaviorally profile all types of people, not just Uyghurs: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57101248 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57101248 They can also be used like https://www.aei.org/articles/chinas-olympics-app-is-pure-spyware-preparing-for-cyber-spillover-simulating-tomorrows-reality/ https://www.aei.org/articles/chinas-olympics-app-is-pure-spy... Pretty sure China has hacked all of the telecom companies to know which IPs (Tuya streams) would go with which Experian® profiles (https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/chinese-hackers-charged-in-equifax-breach-021020 https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/chinese-hackers-charged-in-...) too, though such a hack probably involves somethingStupid™ like keyboard firmware injected into customer service terminals at multi-provider offshore customer/provisioning centers. (Those account number to DHCP lease servers/loggers are probably the least protected part of the consumer networks...BigTech has erybody thinking it's about surveillance capitalism, when it's really about surveillance period.) Apple's iCloud Private Relay service doesn't help much here either, as "Tuya" can associate the Apple-device running the app with the IOT devices that are streaming through the "Tuya" platform, providing a pretty good estimation of the identity of the user of the app on the Apple-device (which, of course, can be passed along in realtime to other apps in the "Tuya" family, even as Private Relay is rotating the IP addresses, so long as the "genie" like app is running in the background enough to phone home with an IP update packet). (Originally posted to someone's duplicate of this thread.)
Ntrails 5y ago
I use the desktop site on mobile because it may be garbage but it at least works
- make3 5y ago
  just use old.reddit.com
druadh 5y ago
^ One of the reasons I stopped using Reddit. Other than it being a toxic dump
tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago
> subtly Nothing subtle about that. Some of the subreddits are completely blocked on mobile web, telling you to get the app. Unfortunately, Android supports this by only letting verified apps respond to URLs by default and making it really hard for users to allowing unofficial apps to do it.
- pja 5y ago
  They're not blocked if you login on the mobile website.
make3 5y ago
I assume that's because of AdBlock

dasKrokodil 5y ago

I agree with you, except for the word 'subtly'. It's not subtle at all.

periheli0n 5y ago
Well, it still works, but the UX is terrible, and usually one has to reload the page after something like 20 clicks or so because it stops responding or UX elements disappear. So yeah, not really that subtle, I agree.
- edude03 5y ago
  For me recently it hasn't worked at all for example - I'm signed into reddit on the webapp, I click a link on the front page, it renders the page, then overlays a popup saying "this page is only available in the app" and despite having the app, clicking "open in app" takes me to the apple store, so really I can only reliably use reddit if I start my reddit "session" in the app
paledot 5y ago
I see it as a feature. Using Facebook's deliberately shitty mobile interface with Firefox Focus, which clears cookies every time I close a browser tab, helped me to kick my Facebook habit by making it too inconvenient to check except for a specific purpose. I now log in about once a month.

qwertyuiop_ 5y ago

Reddit makes life miserable on the mobile web.

noir_lord 5y ago
https://i.reddit.com/ https://i.reddit.com/ and https://old.reddit.com https://old.reddit.com still work - when they don't I'll likely stop using reddit entirely. I won't install the app and the mobile experience is broken. Which is a shame since I've used it for 14 years.
- mrwizrd 5y ago
  There are some great options on mobile from third parties if that might work well for you: Apollo for iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/apollo-for-reddit/id979274575 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/apollo-for-reddit/id979274575 Boost, for Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rubenmayayo.reddit&hl=en_GB&gl=US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rubenmayay... Hopefully on desktops old.reddit sticks around forever. https://redditenhancementsuite.com/ https://redditenhancementsuite.com/ is essential.
- hsdropout 5y ago
  There is also the little-known ". compact". E.g. https://www.reddit.com/.compact https://www.reddit.com/.compact
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- pixelpoet 5y ago
  100% agree as a user of 12 years, and I'm getting pretty close to quitting because if the shenanigans they're pulling recently with making links not work for old reddit by inserting slashes. If I wanted a Fisher Price styled social media thing full of user avatars and giant gifs, I'd use Facebook.
danuker 5y ago
I used to use RedReader[0]. But I eventually quit, because it works very well and is dangerously addictive. Beware. [0] - https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.quantumbadger.redreader/ https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.quantumbadger.redreader/

ChrisMarshallNY 5y ago

Facebook does the same thing. I won't install the Facebook app, because I can almost watch the battery drain; even when it's in the background. It's easy for me to prevent any app from listening. I use an external monitor that doesn't have a microphone, and I connect via the DisplayPort, so there's no audio. The only time I use anything with a mic, it's for Zoom, and I explicitly turn on my AirPods.

vaxman 5y ago
> my AirPods. You had me until that L0L. Anything with a mic (especially the AirPods) would need to be "unpaired" (or better yet, never paired) to avoid activation by covert code. Apple once sold EarPods that had no microphone (for use on iPods) that do the trick. (However, I would wager that it's possible to remotely activate and pair a set of AirPods laying by your Mac using the Apple protocols designed to make it easier for legit users to set them up.) The Chinese app called "genie" used with devices like cheap Merkury cameras, sold at places like Walmart for impossibly low prices and that livestream thru "Tuya" (which likely provides the inputs to China-based deep learning models) also does this on all Apple Silicon platforms. Yes, the "Terms" for that app would seem to allow for it, just like other Chinese apps: https://www.npr.org/2021/01/05/953515627/facial-recognition-and-beyond-journalist-ventures-inside-chinas-surveillance-sta https://www.npr.org/2021/01/05/953515627/facial-recognition-... Such streams help China develop models that interpret emotions and behaviorally profile all types of people, not just Uyghurs: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57101248 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-57101248 They can also be used like https://www.aei.org/articles/chinas-olympics-app-is-pure-spyware-preparing-for-cyber-spillover-simulating-tomorrows-reality/ https://www.aei.org/articles/chinas-olympics-app-is-pure-spy... Pretty sure China has hacked all of the telecom companies to know which IPs (Tuya streams) would go with which Experian® profiles (https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/chinese-hackers-charged-in-equifax-breach-021020 https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/chinese-hackers-charged-in-...) too, though such a hack probably involves somethingStupid™ like keyboard firmware injected into customer service terminals at multi-provider offshore customer/provisioning centers. (Those account number to DHCP lease servers/loggers are probably the least protected part of the consumer networks...BigTech has erybody thinking it's about surveillance capitalism, when it's really about surveillance period.) Apple's iCloud Private Relay service doesn't help much here either, as "Tuya" can associate the Apple-device running the app with the IOT devices that are streaming through the "Tuya" platform, providing a pretty good estimation of the identity of the user of the app on the Apple-device (which, of course, can be passed along in realtime to other apps in the "Tuya" family, even as Private Relay is rotating the IP addresses, so long as the "genie" like app is running in the background enough to phone home with an IP update packet). (Originally posted to someone's duplicate of this thread.)

Ntrails 5y ago

I use the desktop site on mobile because it may be garbage but it at least works

make3 5y ago
just use old.reddit.com

druadh 5y ago

^ One of the reasons I stopped using Reddit. Other than it being a toxic dump

tgsovlerkhgsel 5y ago

> subtly Nothing subtle about that. Some of the subreddits are completely blocked on mobile web, telling you to get the app. Unfortunately, Android supports this by only letting verified apps respond to URLs by default and making it really hard for users to allowing unofficial apps to do it.

pja 5y ago
They're not blocked if you login on the mobile website.

make3 5y ago

I assume that's because of AdBlock