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Discord has lower API limits and zero "3rd party apps" so the fact that it's the recommended darling child of people fleeing reddit because of "low API limits"

• gs17 3y ago
  > Discord has [...] zero "3rd party apps" Most people don't want third party Reddit apps because they inherently like third party apps (some people do want FOSS apps, but that's the minority). People largely want third party apps because the first party app is terrible.
  • avree 3y ago
    Is it terrible? I know everyone says it is, but for example on iOS it has a 4.8 rating over 2.8M reviews. Apollo, the really popular 3rd party client, has a 4.7 rating over 170K reviews. So, clearly someone likes the Reddit app, right? Those millions of 5 star reviews are definitely not fake/bought.
    • revscat 3y ago
      Is this sarcasm? It’s hard to tell sometimes.
    • dustypotato 3y ago
      Tbh, I find the official app very easy to use
      • x86x87 3y ago
        [flagged]
      • BossingAround 3y ago
        Might be an android thing, but the reddit app keeps malfunctioning for me. For example, very common behavior is that I click on a post, and nothing happens. I click on the post again, nothing happens. I start scrolling, and after 30-60s, the post I clicked on finally opens twice (so to get out of it, I have to press "back" twice). The Reddit app, for me, is garbage. I am surprised it's not better; it feels like the devs aren't really using it.
    • berkle4455 3y ago
      > Those millions of 5 star reviews are definitely not fake/bought definitely
    • gs17 3y ago
      See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36358408 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36358408 for people questioning the reviews.
  • enw 3y ago
    I don’t use Reddit much anymore, but I liked the official app. Curious what’s considered bad about it?
    • mock-possum 3y ago
      I mean inlined ads for one thing - we're talking paid marketing posts masquerading as user-created content, some of which are utterly obnoxious (e.g. the 'he gets us' jesus ads)
    • LeonenTheDK 3y ago
      In my experience it's the instability (YMMV on that, for me in manifested in videos not working more than they did, heavy stuttering while scrolling. Not issues I have in RIF), low content density, significant number of trackers. Obviously I don't like all the ads being shoved in the middle of my feed, but I'm not against monetization.
    • Shaanie 3y ago
      Have you used any alternative? The biggest issue is visual noise and ads imo.
    • johnnyanmac 3y ago
      Same as the redesign, it's optimized for consuming images in a platform I came to to read discussions. And it does a horrible job facilitating text for long form discussion. It's trying to be instagram, I don't want instagram. Also, I don't think it's at all controversial to suggest the video player is one of the worst I've used. I dread trying to load up native videos on desktop (new or old design), I can't imagine it being better on the app. ---- those are the biggest issues that will never be reconciled. Others include features you probably don't care about unless you're a power user. Ability to filter posts/users. favoriting certain subs, various mod tools that STILL have no alternative (even on desktop), proper responsive design for tablets, an actual other discussions option, visible flairs etc. I could go on all day with nitpicks (each of which I requested to reddit at some point years ago. Some of which were promised but never realized).
  • thewataccount 3y ago
    Sure, but discord gives you no other option. There is an api you can use to make a third party client, last I saw it's actually just the same as the bot api but you just identify as a "human" instead. Users risk getting banned for "self botting" if you do this though. AFAIK there is no option to pay to do this either.
    • gs17 3y ago
      They give you one option, but people like that option. It isn't annoying, it isn't buggy, and it works roughly as well as the web interface (which you can also use on mobile).
  • ASalazarMX 3y ago
    Third-party apps were first. Reddit bought Alien Blue in 2016 IIRC, a reasonably mature third-party app, to turn it into their official app and promote it very aggressively in mobile browsers.
    • johnnyanmac 3y ago
      yes, and they did a horrible job of that. And instead of listening to feedback to improve the app (some improvements of which mods rely on to do their free labor) they aquired and then butchered, they reduce choices. Not surprised at all this angers the power users.
• revscat 3y ago
  I would politely remind you that people, myself included, are fully cognizant of everything you have said but are still switching away from Reddit. You may want to take a minute to think about why that is, without sarcasm or the presumption of stupidity.
  • avree 3y ago
    I understand that you folks are upset that the market has shifted and advertisers and investors are no longer able to prop up companies running at a loss anymore. Twitter is charging for their API, Reddit is charging for their API, and people don't like change. I'm not sure where I've had "sarcasm or the presumption of stupidity" but that was certainly a strange section to add to your comment.
    • ryantgtg 3y ago
      What a take. Advertisers are no longer "willing", not "able", to prop up Twitter at the moment. Most people believe that charging for the APIs is reasonable. You might be missing the primary arguments going on about egregious costs and unreasonable (and often unexplained) timelines.
      • mardifoufs 3y ago
        2.5$ a month for the average user of third party apps isn't really egregious. Especially since you can also use your own API key and have something close to 100rq/sec for free.
        • ryukafalz 3y ago
          Except Reddit has said that app developers aren't allowed to let users set their own API keys: https://www.reddit.com/r/Infinity_For_Reddit/comments/14c7v84/if_you_want_to_use_your_own_api_key/jokqfe4/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Infinity_For_Reddit/comments/14c7v8... Obviously for FOSS apps they can't stop someone from recompiling the app with their own API key baked in, but the barrier to entry there is significantly higher.
• ouid 3y ago
  [dead]
• pdntspa 3y ago
  > Discord has lower API limits and zero "3rd party apps" so the fact that it's the recommended darling child of people fleeing reddit because of "low API limits" and "them taking away 3rd party apps" makes zero sense. The majority of kids these days have been stockholm-syndromed into loving closed gardens like Reddit or Discord. Nobody taught them to that companies and closed gardens manipulate them for their own power. Open, decentralized communities are dying because of it.
  • brohee 3y ago
    Unlike Reddit Discord has a good client. Reddit forcing people on its official app is the issue, and would be less so if it was any good. As it is, it's not, because of a long list of bugs (as egregious as not displaying the right post, videos not playing...) and a long list of misfeatured (e.g. recommending me subreddits I have zero interest in, while the fact that I'm subscribed to dozens of subs might suggest I have content discovery dialled in...).
    • pdntspa 3y ago
      > Unlike Reddit Discord has a good client. Absolutely untrue. The number of things you can't do with Discord vastly exceeds nearly every chat client out there that precedes it. Want to watch multiple chats? Fuck you. Want to filter notifications by server/sender/other criteria? Fuck you. Are you a power user? Fuck you. Do you want important content indexed by search engines? Fuck you. Want to break a conversation out into its own window? Fuck you. Oh but hey it has a cute logo and you can post gifs. Because apparently people need to anthropomorphize their computers and are incapable of expressing themselves with their words.
  • majormajor 3y ago
    What makes the experience of "kids these days" usign Reddit/Discord so different than... "kids those days" using MySpace/FB/Instagram 10-15 years ago? or "kids those days" using AOL 25-30 years ago? After maybe a brief window from approx 1999-2004 of migrating from AOL's walled garden to disparate forums and such (at massively smaller scale), it's been moving from one walled garden to another for basically 20 years now. Anyone who wants to change that would be really well served to think about why that has been vs just tossing around stuff like "stockholm syndrome" and "nobody taught them." I don't think "the kids" are nearly as blindly trusting in things like the TikTok algorithm as you think, I think the choices are much more complex than just "if only someone would tell them the flaws they'd all move."
• Zak 3y ago
  > I understand how the "fediverse" works, it just makes no sense in the context that most consumers want their media in. There are several different use cases for Reddit. One is low-value media consumption, similar to TikTok and the primary usage of Instagram. /r/aww is that sort of thing. New.reddit and the Reddit app are optimized for this use case, and you're probably right that any friction between the viewer and the next picture of a cat being cute will reduce engagement considerably. Another is discussion forums around a common interest, often a niche interest. The small fraction of users who post original content and answer difficult questions are a big driver for these kinds of communities. When those kinds of people decide that Reddit is no longer acceptable, communities built there will wither. If those people move to Lemmy, people will put up with a bit of friction to follow them.
• stiltzkin 3y ago
  I don't get the "most consumers wants their media in', it's an alternative and what you find complete mess?
• wkat4242 3y ago
  You can use discord via a matrix bridge though, thus using it via another app. If I have to use discord I do it this way.
• PhilipRoman 3y ago
  A while ago I used a command line client for discord. Maybe things have changed but "zero 3rd party apps" seems a bit exaggerated.