No wonder why normal people like walled gardens, the UI is more streamlined and (mostly) more respectful.
Oh wow that's actually a good point, never thought about it that way. You are spot on I think, besides some heavy attempts by services to get people to use their apps (especially pronounced on mobile).
Note though that the web has always been annoying users, or at least many website have. I remember how in the 2000s, Firefox was advertised as being able to block pop ups, to give an example.
I don't miss the days of Verizon attempting to hawk songs and ringtones on a janky, zero-upside store for $5 a pop.
Have you seen someone use Facebook as of recent? Respectful?
Regular reddit users forget how bad the default experience is when linking to it.
(You can restore the old, more hn-like appearance by replacing the "www" with "old" in any reddit permalink)
Facebook, Amazon, Google, etc. all do have very clean UIs for such big game. But they are pretty hostile for advanced usage (on purpose).