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I really can't understand why Reddit is pushing the app so hard. I mean, keep that as an option, but why creating an awful UX for the mobile web users? You gath

I really can't understand why Reddit is pushing the app so hard. I mean, keep that as an option, but why creating an awful UX for the mobile web users? You gather more data but the product is worse, less users are staying and you're losing value at the end...

usrn 4y ago
Push notifications. Once someone is hooked on the site a notification can get them back into the dopamine feedback loop very easily. I think this is why restaurant chains have started giving people free food to install their apps too (along with all the data they can sell now.) I think smartphones would be much less popular if people understood why corporations love "apps" so much. It's nothing like the older PC world full of software more or less for its own sake.
- sva_ 4y ago
  > Push notifications. Do people not turn these off? When I get an unwanted notification, I immediately withdraw permissions to send notifications, or even uninstall the app
  - OtmaneBenazzou 4y ago
    bold of you to assume that the average user knows how to disable anything on their phone
    - sva_ 4y ago
      I suppose you need to have some idea of how the system is structured to even consider turning certain "features" off.
    - doliveira 4y ago
      Kind of scary to imagine the experience of such an average user. "Evil" is not a bad word to describe the attitudes of such apps and services.
  - pixl97 4y ago
    If your on HN you're already in a very filtered group that is less likely to be passive on abusive technology.
saagarjha 4y ago
Increased engagement and better tracking.
propogandist 4y ago
You drive high ad revenue with their mobile app, with all the data mining. The old reddit experience was destroyed to drive ad revenue, they don’t care about UX. also, beware of reddit URLs bouncing through out.reddit.com — which tracks all link clicks on reddit across mobile and desktop (profiling interests), regardless of login state
dawnerd 4y ago
Easy, harder for users to block the ads in apps. Apple / Google should allow add blockers for the entire OS.
- pixl97 4y ago
  Heh, Google adding ad blockers.... I think you might be on the wrong timeline.
- vorpalhex 4y ago
  Pihole works well here but obviously not end user friendly.
- jawline 4y ago
  It is possible with SNI blocking to adblock on Android, even when apps use custom DNS revolvers (though not as effective). I built https://github.com/jawline/Puffer https://github.com/jawline/Puffer a while ago but haven't had the time to improve it much past proof of concept.
- nyolfen 4y ago
  i use this on ios: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id691121579?pt=425087&ct=in-app-share&mt=8 https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id691121579?pt=425087... it’s a vpn profile that just intercepts dns requests locally and screens with a hosts file
Zambyte 4y ago
> You gather more data That's it. That's the whole story. Mobile apps provide more opportunity to spy on the user.
kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
Series F funding. They don't know how to run lean and make themselves profitable so they run a grift on investors and sweet talk them with stories about high value data collection.

usrn 4y ago

Push notifications. Once someone is hooked on the site a notification can get them back into the dopamine feedback loop very easily. I think this is why restaurant chains have started giving people free food to install their apps too (along with all the data they can sell now.) I think smartphones would be much less popular if people understood why corporations love "apps" so much. It's nothing like the older PC world full of software more or less for its own sake.

sva_ 4y ago
> Push notifications. Do people not turn these off? When I get an unwanted notification, I immediately withdraw permissions to send notifications, or even uninstall the app
- OtmaneBenazzou 4y ago
  bold of you to assume that the average user knows how to disable anything on their phone
  - sva_ 4y ago
    I suppose you need to have some idea of how the system is structured to even consider turning certain "features" off.
  - doliveira 4y ago
    Kind of scary to imagine the experience of such an average user. "Evil" is not a bad word to describe the attitudes of such apps and services.
- pixl97 4y ago
  If your on HN you're already in a very filtered group that is less likely to be passive on abusive technology.

saagarjha 4y ago

Increased engagement and better tracking.

propogandist 4y ago

You drive high ad revenue with their mobile app, with all the data mining. The old reddit experience was destroyed to drive ad revenue, they don’t care about UX. also, beware of reddit URLs bouncing through out.reddit.com — which tracks all link clicks on reddit across mobile and desktop (profiling interests), regardless of login state

dawnerd 4y ago

Easy, harder for users to block the ads in apps. Apple / Google should allow add blockers for the entire OS.

pixl97 4y ago
Heh, Google adding ad blockers.... I think you might be on the wrong timeline.
vorpalhex 4y ago
Pihole works well here but obviously not end user friendly.
jawline 4y ago
It is possible with SNI blocking to adblock on Android, even when apps use custom DNS revolvers (though not as effective). I built https://github.com/jawline/Puffer https://github.com/jawline/Puffer a while ago but haven't had the time to improve it much past proof of concept.
nyolfen 4y ago
i use this on ios: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id691121579?pt=425087&ct=in-app-share&mt=8 https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id691121579?pt=425087... it’s a vpn profile that just intercepts dns requests locally and screens with a hosts file

Zambyte 4y ago

> You gather more data That's it. That's the whole story. Mobile apps provide more opportunity to spy on the user.

kevin_thibedeau 4y ago

Series F funding. They don't know how to run lean and make themselves profitable so they run a grift on investors and sweet talk them with stories about high value data collection.