5 ms·

Its not about the revenue, its about forcing everyone to get ads, with endless tracking.

paxys 3y ago
Says who? They are only pushing the "official experience" to make up for lost ad revenue. If I pay Reddit $50/yr why would they care what app I use? YouTube does the same thing with Premium, and it is working out great.
- kitsunesoba 3y ago
  It's about ads and tracking sure, but they're also trying to build a TikTok-style algorithm-powered black hole that keeps you sucked in by way of constantly shoving more things in front of you, including posts from subreddits you're not subscribed to. They also want to be able to force whatever new half-baked features they add to work with prominent positioning in their apps.
  - Spivak 3y ago
    But to what end? You have a bunch of users who you know are willing to pay real dollars for a different experience. You couldn't ask for better segmentation getting people with wildly different desires and expectations to both be hooked on your platform.
    - kitsunesoba 3y ago
      I think it's probably because users paying to be able to use third party clients can't be sold as growth potential — it's a relatively static number, and they're paying for an entirely static experience. They don't want whatever gimmick Reddit is pushing at the moment (like NFT avatars), they want their simple chronological feed and that's it. The limit of worth for those users is the subscription they're paying, whereas if they're using the official app they're theoretically monetizable in N different ways.
- yunohn 3y ago
  Which 3rd party YouTube app are you using?
- Semaphor 3y ago
  > If I pay Reddit $50/yr why would they care what app I use? Then why is that not an option? The narrative that they want more tracking and control makes sense with the facts we have.
  - paxys 3y ago
    That is an option, considering Reddit is charging third party developers the equivalent of ~$2.5/mo per user for API access, so the tracking argument already goes out of the window. They are already giving up control, for a very low price too, but just implementing it in the most brain dead way possible.
    - Semaphor 3y ago
      That is what the 3rd party dev has to implement, Reddit already has a premium feature, but there is no api-unlock, there is just dev payments. That’s a big part of the issue. If people paying Reddit would unlock api access, most issues would disappear.
      - Eisenstein 3y ago
        Every reddit account gets API access with OAth. No payment needed.
        Semaphor 3y ago
        Uh, no, that’s the upcoming change.
        Eisenstein 3y ago
        Sorry friend, you are incorrect. * https://www.reddit.com/r/modnews/comments/13wshdp/api_update_continued_access_to_our_api_for/ https://www.reddit.com/r/modnews/comments/13wshdp/api_update... "If you are using OAuth for authentication: 100 queries per minute per OAuth client id If you are not using OAuth for authentication: 10 queries per minute"
valine 3y ago
That’s a monumentally stupid reason to alienate your most dedicated users.
- jacooper 3y ago
  They don't care. It's all about the money and tracking the user.
last_responder 3y ago
Do you think this desire is out of the goodness of their hearts and they genuinely think that it is the best? I cannot believe anyone would think that.
- tgv 3y ago
  Possibly (but it's just a guess) it's about ads and/or data harvesting. If you access it via another app, they cannot get everything they're getting now. Plus: a subscription would drive many users away.
- jacooper 3y ago
  I never said that, its obviously to track everyone and to force users into that endless algorithm.
beezlewax 3y ago
What for profit company is doing anything and not thinking about revenue? Why would they force users to do something they're not too pleased about if it wasn't entirely for generating revenue of some description?
George83728 3y ago
The same official experience? So they're going to take away user choice in which subreddits to read too? Probably not. It's about money, not enforcing a uniform experience.
roncesvalles 3y ago
At least on Android, the official app is terrible. Scrolling is very janky and feels unnatural, and the design is cluttered and soulless. Just need to look at Reddit is Fun to see how good it could be. They say a product reflects the organization that produced it, and it's clear from the app that this is a company with unchecked Promo-Driven-Development and Resume-Driven-Development. There is no impressive metric that measures app jankiness or design clarity in isolation, and the effort to fix it is disproportionately larger than the line that it adds to your resume or promo package. So even though it's glaringly obvious that the app is broken within 3 seconds of opening it, not a single person anywhere in the org is incentivized to fix it.

Says who? They are only pushing the "official experience" to make up for lost ad revenue. If I pay Reddit $50/yr why would they care what app I use? YouTube does the same thing with Premium, and it is working out great.

kitsunesoba 3y ago
It's about ads and tracking sure, but they're also trying to build a TikTok-style algorithm-powered black hole that keeps you sucked in by way of constantly shoving more things in front of you, including posts from subreddits you're not subscribed to. They also want to be able to force whatever new half-baked features they add to work with prominent positioning in their apps.
- Spivak 3y ago
  But to what end? You have a bunch of users who you know are willing to pay real dollars for a different experience. You couldn't ask for better segmentation getting people with wildly different desires and expectations to both be hooked on your platform.
  - kitsunesoba 3y ago
    I think it's probably because users paying to be able to use third party clients can't be sold as growth potential — it's a relatively static number, and they're paying for an entirely static experience. They don't want whatever gimmick Reddit is pushing at the moment (like NFT avatars), they want their simple chronological feed and that's it. The limit of worth for those users is the subscription they're paying, whereas if they're using the official app they're theoretically monetizable in N different ways.
yunohn 3y ago
Which 3rd party YouTube app are you using?
Semaphor 3y ago
> If I pay Reddit $50/yr why would they care what app I use? Then why is that not an option? The narrative that they want more tracking and control makes sense with the facts we have.
- paxys 3y ago
  That is an option, considering Reddit is charging third party developers the equivalent of ~$2.5/mo per user for API access, so the tracking argument already goes out of the window. They are already giving up control, for a very low price too, but just implementing it in the most brain dead way possible.
  - Semaphor 3y ago
    That is what the 3rd party dev has to implement, Reddit already has a premium feature, but there is no api-unlock, there is just dev payments. That’s a big part of the issue. If people paying Reddit would unlock api access, most issues would disappear.
    - Eisenstein 3y ago
      Every reddit account gets API access with OAth. No payment needed.
      - Semaphor 3y ago
        Uh, no, that’s the upcoming change.
        Eisenstein 3y ago
        Sorry friend, you are incorrect. * https://www.reddit.com/r/modnews/comments/13wshdp/api_update_continued_access_to_our_api_for/ https://www.reddit.com/r/modnews/comments/13wshdp/api_update... "If you are using OAuth for authentication: 100 queries per minute per OAuth client id If you are not using OAuth for authentication: 10 queries per minute"

valine 3y ago

That’s a monumentally stupid reason to alienate your most dedicated users.

jacooper 3y ago
They don't care. It's all about the money and tracking the user.

last_responder 3y ago

Do you think this desire is out of the goodness of their hearts and they genuinely think that it is the best? I cannot believe anyone would think that.

tgv 3y ago
Possibly (but it's just a guess) it's about ads and/or data harvesting. If you access it via another app, they cannot get everything they're getting now. Plus: a subscription would drive many users away.
jacooper 3y ago
I never said that, its obviously to track everyone and to force users into that endless algorithm.

beezlewax 3y ago

What for profit company is doing anything and not thinking about revenue? Why would they force users to do something they're not too pleased about if it wasn't entirely for generating revenue of some description?

George83728 3y ago

The same official experience? So they're going to take away user choice in which subreddits to read too? Probably not. It's about money, not enforcing a uniform experience.

roncesvalles 3y ago

At least on Android, the official app is terrible. Scrolling is very janky and feels unnatural, and the design is cluttered and soulless. Just need to look at Reddit is Fun to see how good it could be. They say a product reflects the organization that produced it, and it's clear from the app that this is a company with unchecked Promo-Driven-Development and Resume-Driven-Development. There is no impressive metric that measures app jankiness or design clarity in isolation, and the effort to fix it is disproportionately larger than the line that it adds to your resume or promo package. So even though it's glaringly obvious that the app is broken within 3 seconds of opening it, not a single person anywhere in the org is incentivized to fix it.