this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2023
50 points (100.0% liked)

Technology

39213 readers
475 users here now

A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.

Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Subcommunities on Beehaw:

This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
TheRtRevKaiser@beehaw.org
alyaza@beehaw.org
gyrfalcon@beehaw.org
SemioticStandard@beehaw.org
coldredlight@beehaw.org
rs5th@beehaw.org
TheRtRevKaiser@kbin.social
remington@beehaw.org
50
Reddit experimenting with blocking mobile browsers (old.reddit.com)
submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by lynny@lemmy.world to c/technology@beehaw.org
94 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

As quoted from the linked post.

It looks like you’re part of one of our experiments. The logged-in mobile web experience is currently unavailable for a portion of users. To access the site you can log on via desktop, the mobile apps, or wait for the experiment to conclude.

This is separate from the API issue. This will actually BLOCK you from even viewing reddit on your phone without using the official app.

Archive.org link in case the post is removed.

https://web.archive.org/web/20230611224026/https://old.reddit.com/r/help/comments/135tly1/helpdid_reddit_just_destroy_mobile_browser_access/jim40zg/

(page 2) 43 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Manticore@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years ago

This... is dumb. Reddit gets traffic from people using it as a secondary search engine to get relevant answers.

Most people on the Internet view it from mobile. Reddit already makes their mobile experience genuinely awful despite this. Blocking it entirely?

The herding to their mobile app is so transparent (and DEFINITELY through stick, not carrot) I'm morbidly curious to see what horrible things they planning to put in their app that they know users will loathe, that requires their alternatives to be zero.

[–] hyperfocus@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Their approach here seems inherently broken. People aren't going to use the app they don't want to use.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] theDuesentrieb@feddit.de 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Damn now this is just next level bullshit. I thought that even if I can't use Infinity anymore I can still access reddit through a firefox mobile with adblock and privacy addons to make the ux somewhat bearable.

So..

[–] hschen@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 years ago

Destroy reddit speedrun any% [WORLD RECORD]

Yeah the desktop site especially is why i wanted to leave reddit for the past few months, im happy they shot themselves in the foot the past week so we could move over to a different platform. I kept having to switch back to old.reddit just to see a NSFW post without an account, they made it so you cant even sort comments anymore without being logged in recently. Just malicious design. The website on mobile has been shit for years now asking you to USE THE MOBILE APP.

[–] lunarshot@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years ago

The API issue was a huge nail into the coffin of the user experience at reddit. For sure, mobile site will disappear and then old.reddit.

Everything about this is utterly tone deaf, you can see it in u/spez answer in his AMA about how the company will continue to be profit driven until it’s profitable. Bro, this is not how you talk to your user base. Your actions, policies, and strategic outlook should be toward driving the user experience and your service so that it is profitable. Not degrading all things for grinding down every extra cent at the expense of your entire companies differentiators.

Fuck spez, fuck reddit.

[–] AnatorRenator@programming.dev 1 points 2 years ago

The more they push their shitty mobile app, the more people won't use it.

[–] Sean_Thomas@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years ago

As if it wasn’t bad enough to ask if I want to use the default mobile app every time I go to a Reddit page on mobile. 😕

[–] little_hoarse@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago

Damn they turning into quora

[–] martini1992@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It's like they're trying to kill the platform

[–] sentient_loom@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago

Yeah, maybe it's an exit scam. I bet some executive said, "I'll give the higher up execs what they think they want (ADS) which is the opposite of what the users want, but we'll all get bonuses just before the site dies."

[–] hardypart@feddit.de 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Wow, they're really putting some effort into alienating their user base. What a shame.

[–] sake@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 years ago (3 children)

It's great news when the social media oligopoly shoots themselves in the foot.

So far I've tried:

  • Facebook = Diaspora
  • Irc = Matrix (Element)
  • Reddit = Lemmy
  • Twitter = Mastodon

Out of all the different federated solutions I've tried, I believe this one has the best chance to hit big. Diaspora didn't work because the network effect is too strong with Facebook. Same with Matrix and Mastodon. But reddit is pseudoanonymous platform, you are not here because of some specific people. It's actually somewhat a benefit when there are less people and you have more room for people to see the content you put out. And the quality of the discussion can be better when there are fewer people.

It's still likely that everyone will just go back to reddit but we have a good chance here. The Lemmy UI is actually better and more snappy for someone who has used old reddit all this time.

[–] hardypart@feddit.de 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I'm also an old.reddit / RiF veteran and I love the mobile browser version. Already feels like home!

[–] SleepyHarry@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago

Same feelings / background here. Navigation will take me a little to grok, but I'm liking it so far.

[–] Argot@lemmy.one 1 points 2 years ago

It does feel like there a a significant level of friction with each of these equivalent platforms though, including Lemmy. As with anything new it'll take time to catch on but each layer of complexity will be another stopping point for non-tech people.

[–] DeltaRoope@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 years ago

I may myself go back to Reddit. My girlfriend loves the cat pictures I aend her from there. I'll just stop moderating and creating content, only accessing the site on Desktop with adblocker. I ain't giving a single fucking cent to them, even indirectly, if I can avoid it.

[–] Blerenes@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 2 years ago

Wow..

[–] communist@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years ago

Reddit finding ways to actively make things worse, while lemmy rapidly improves.

[–] Sat@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago (5 children)

It's getting worse by the minute. I really really hope Lemmy usage picks up.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] duncesplayed@lemmy.one 1 points 2 years ago

I hate when people use passive voice in these things. It's such a slimy way to try and avoid responsibility.

"We have blocked you from using a mobile browser." is the active voice. It includes a subject ("we") and a verb ("blocked"). It says that someone made a decision, executed that decision, and is responsible.

"It looks like ... ", " ... is currently unavailable" is so fucking weaselly and irresponsible. You are 100% a complete piece of shit if you ever say something like that. You are not responsible enough to handle a Wendy's drive-through order, let alone a large organization.

[–] 5redie8@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago

Of course they are, gotta make everyone use the shitty app to farm as much data as possible!

[–] nick@campfyre.nickwebster.dev 1 points 2 years ago

They've already made the "new" reddit web view unusable for any sub marked NSFW. I feel sorry for the web devs at Reddit that spent all this time making a responsive site that works on mobile, then to be forced to artificially block access to push app usage.

[–] thoralf@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 2 years ago

It almost looks like Reddit is trying to commit suicide in the fastest possible way.

I still have an account there. But I will delete it the moment the Apollo goes dark.

[–] nlm@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Fuel on the flames huh? Got to love their tactical timing with this. Let's piss everyone off in every possible way?

It's almost like Elon bought Reddit as well as Twitter the way this is going.

[–] cryball@sopuli.xyz 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

TBH this is nothing new. They already randomly restrict you from viewing any type of nsfw content on the mobile browser version. It prompts you to download the app with no option to close the prompt.

[–] RapidRaid@feddit.de 1 points 2 years ago

Oh yeah, i noticed and it pissed me off so much. Thank god people made stuff like viewditt, where you just need to replace parts of the URL to at least see the content. Regardless terrible user experience that gets worse each year.

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›