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I wonder why they don't just buy one of the highest rated apps (boost/sync/apollo), and go with it?

hmry 3y ago
They bought Alien Blue and turned it into the official app. I'm sure if they bought Apollo they would find a way to introduce all sorts of bugs (and worse, anti-features like ads and microtransactions) in no time
- catchnear4321 3y ago
  yes, but this is just the ebb and flow of a corporate application ecosystem. times are tough, pressure increasing, who knows, reddit might be hoping for a bargain basement price for buying a competitor to reboot their mobile ux. a new competitor will arise to fill that void. some jaded user writes something better, at no cost to the company, inspired by what once was and what could be - the virtuous cycle of growth begins anew. …oh right, that would require non-cost-prohibitive third party access. welp…
- cowsup 3y ago
  They bought Alien Blue, made it official, and then completely re-wrote the app from the ground-up into what we have today. I don't even understand why they bought Alien Blue; it seems as though nothing from that app made it into the eventual standalone Reddit app we have today. If you downloaded Alien Blue on an old device, you can still use it today, because the standalone Reddit app is a separate application in the app store altogether.
  - nemothekid 3y ago
    >I don't even understand why they bought Alien Blue; I'm pretty sure they bought the audience. Reddit did not have an app before this, and Alien Blue was by far the most popular one. It was subsequently abandoned and that's how Apollo was born. Even Apollo doesn't have some of the features that Alien Blue had.
BuyMyBitcoins 3y ago
The goal isn’t usability, Reddit wants engagement and to be as addictive as TikTok.
- wkat4242 3y ago
  Engagement they were always great at. Not forced like on other platforms but organic, because they stepped out of the way and let users do their thing. But everything they do now is to try and force arbitrary engagement metrics and this will only drive users away. Contrary to popular belief users don't like bubbles.
offa 3y ago
This has happened in the past: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_Blue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_Blue
gh02t 3y ago
They did this before already. They bought Alien Blue back in the day and replaced it with the official app. You can judge how that went for yourself.
- stingraycharles 3y ago
  I paid for Alien Blue to get rid of ads, and all I got in return was a bunch of months of Reddit Gold and an app full of ads. I miss Alien Blue.
Arkhaine_kupo 3y ago
Because it would not work. See Apollo as an example. You have a single dev, with very fine apple ios ecosystem knowledge, who always adds the latest apple api's and listens to community feedback and makes the best app, he alone can make in whatever way serves him to learn new coding skills and community requested features. On the other hand on Reddit official app, you have tons of product managers forcing developers to work on many features that are outright against community feedback. See things like reducing information load, or making ads indistinguishable from content. Those features benefit reddit but many users hate them, Apollo has dense vs wide posts and no ads. Official reddit app doesn't. The value proposition and the audience they are catering too is very different. Buying the app is not gonna fix the fundamentally opposite goals of both apps. Reddit has fantastic devs, I can be 100% sure of that. it also wasted months of their time making some fake reddit nft side proyect that was dead on arrival.
- dingledork69 3y ago
  > Reddit has fantastic devs, I can be 100% sure of that Did you miss the part where it took them years to get a functional video player and it's still the worst one you'll likely ever use?
  - Arkhaine_kupo 3y ago
    Again, I am pretty sure that is an issue of priorities. If reddit puts two juniors working on the video player and then has half the team working on making the stupid profile pictures for users that is not an issue of developer talent. I have 0 doubt that there are really good devs at reddit, and I am also sure they are being made to work on monetisation shit and not on fixing mod tools, video player, bot detection and power user options which would make the app 1000% times better
    - IgorPartola 3y ago
      So it doesn’t matter if they have any good developers or not. By your logic they will never put out a good product. I guess you just found a way for Reddit to save a ton off payroll: let go of all senior developers and hire a bunch of cheap code monkeys as the result will be exactly the same.
Solvency 3y ago
I'm confused. I used to use and absolutely love Alien Blue. I love gestural swiping. It makes collapsing comments and moving rapidly between posts easy. Reddit bought Alien Blue. Sure, it's got ads and other bullshit, but the core UX is the same. I've never had it crash or cause any problems. I've always been confused by what people mean when they utterly trash on the "official reddit app". Is there another one I'm not aware of?
- jahlove 3y ago
  Yes. Alien Blue will likely break on 7/1. Search the app store for "reddit".
ynx 3y ago
That's what they did with Alien Blue, before killing it

hmry 3y ago

They bought Alien Blue and turned it into the official app. I'm sure if they bought Apollo they would find a way to introduce all sorts of bugs (and worse, anti-features like ads and microtransactions) in no time

catchnear4321 3y ago
yes, but this is just the ebb and flow of a corporate application ecosystem. times are tough, pressure increasing, who knows, reddit might be hoping for a bargain basement price for buying a competitor to reboot their mobile ux. a new competitor will arise to fill that void. some jaded user writes something better, at no cost to the company, inspired by what once was and what could be - the virtuous cycle of growth begins anew. …oh right, that would require non-cost-prohibitive third party access. welp…
cowsup 3y ago
They bought Alien Blue, made it official, and then completely re-wrote the app from the ground-up into what we have today. I don't even understand why they bought Alien Blue; it seems as though nothing from that app made it into the eventual standalone Reddit app we have today. If you downloaded Alien Blue on an old device, you can still use it today, because the standalone Reddit app is a separate application in the app store altogether.
- nemothekid 3y ago
  >I don't even understand why they bought Alien Blue; I'm pretty sure they bought the audience. Reddit did not have an app before this, and Alien Blue was by far the most popular one. It was subsequently abandoned and that's how Apollo was born. Even Apollo doesn't have some of the features that Alien Blue had.

BuyMyBitcoins 3y ago

The goal isn’t usability, Reddit wants engagement and to be as addictive as TikTok.

wkat4242 3y ago
Engagement they were always great at. Not forced like on other platforms but organic, because they stepped out of the way and let users do their thing. But everything they do now is to try and force arbitrary engagement metrics and this will only drive users away. Contrary to popular belief users don't like bubbles.

offa 3y ago

This has happened in the past: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_Blue https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_Blue

gh02t 3y ago

They did this before already. They bought Alien Blue back in the day and replaced it with the official app. You can judge how that went for yourself.

stingraycharles 3y ago
I paid for Alien Blue to get rid of ads, and all I got in return was a bunch of months of Reddit Gold and an app full of ads. I miss Alien Blue.

Arkhaine_kupo 3y ago

Because it would not work. See Apollo as an example. You have a single dev, with very fine apple ios ecosystem knowledge, who always adds the latest apple api's and listens to community feedback and makes the best app, he alone can make in whatever way serves him to learn new coding skills and community requested features. On the other hand on Reddit official app, you have tons of product managers forcing developers to work on many features that are outright against community feedback. See things like reducing information load, or making ads indistinguishable from content. Those features benefit reddit but many users hate them, Apollo has dense vs wide posts and no ads. Official reddit app doesn't. The value proposition and the audience they are catering too is very different. Buying the app is not gonna fix the fundamentally opposite goals of both apps. Reddit has fantastic devs, I can be 100% sure of that. it also wasted months of their time making some fake reddit nft side proyect that was dead on arrival.

dingledork69 3y ago
> Reddit has fantastic devs, I can be 100% sure of that Did you miss the part where it took them years to get a functional video player and it's still the worst one you'll likely ever use?
- Arkhaine_kupo 3y ago
  Again, I am pretty sure that is an issue of priorities. If reddit puts two juniors working on the video player and then has half the team working on making the stupid profile pictures for users that is not an issue of developer talent. I have 0 doubt that there are really good devs at reddit, and I am also sure they are being made to work on monetisation shit and not on fixing mod tools, video player, bot detection and power user options which would make the app 1000% times better
  - IgorPartola 3y ago
    So it doesn’t matter if they have any good developers or not. By your logic they will never put out a good product. I guess you just found a way for Reddit to save a ton off payroll: let go of all senior developers and hire a bunch of cheap code monkeys as the result will be exactly the same.

Solvency 3y ago

I'm confused. I used to use and absolutely love Alien Blue. I love gestural swiping. It makes collapsing comments and moving rapidly between posts easy. Reddit bought Alien Blue. Sure, it's got ads and other bullshit, but the core UX is the same. I've never had it crash or cause any problems. I've always been confused by what people mean when they utterly trash on the "official reddit app". Is there another one I'm not aware of?

jahlove 3y ago
Yes. Alien Blue will likely break on 7/1. Search the app store for "reddit".

ynx 3y ago

That's what they did with Alien Blue, before killing it