[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/12qwagm/an_update_r...
Those apps will now also have to move to a subscription-only model because the APIs will be paid, as the Apollo dev confirmed.
It wouldn't be so difficult to swallow if the official mobile app was high quality, but it isn't. There are major UX issues with the official app that haven't been fixed for years. The 3rd party app ecosystem is vibrant because of this. Instead of competing and being the best on merit, they have decided to play their platform-owner veto card which is very disappointing, compounded with their dishonesty about the true intent of these changes.
So at least for me, using a third-party app is well worth it despite seeing ads.
Reddit's management simply have awful UI instincts.
This is what you get without a competent UX team unfortunately
There is absolutely zero way they're unaware of the impact and I guarantee you they have thought this move through thoroughly.
[1] https://old.reddit.com/r/reddit/comments/12qwagm/an_update_r...
There is no shortage of people who would volunteer for something like this. The replacements might even be less terrible, both at the job (reddit is stiflingly over-moderated, as documented on r/undelete and r/redditminusmods) and in their dealings with users.
> It may end up having a much larger impact than reddit corporate anticipates.
Is unlikely. I'm not adding an opinion on whether or not this is a good move, or a user-friendly move.
Indeed, it seems to be a chaotic mess, as most of Reddit's "throw shit at a walk and hope something sticks" development methodology is.
https://www.reddit.com/r/apolloapp/comments/12ram0f/had_a_fe...
Eh. I exclusively use https://old.reddit.com/ on both Desktop and Mobile, and never felt inconvenienced.
Our cell phones are large enough today to use 2008-era websites without any additional bells and whistles.
But, of course, people who are already used to whatever UI they chose are going to suffer. Alas.
I've stopped using Reddit now. I liked the freedom of speech and the curiosity of the users. Freedom of speech had been eliminated totally. Curuisity can presumably be found in some niche subreddits - but even the niche subreddits I used to frequent have fallen.
You generally don't make an ad-supported business if you respect your users as human beings, but the old -> new Reddit redesign is something really special - going through with it, and then sticking to it for so many years now, pretty much requires seeing your users as cattle.
Oh, they aren't universally hated.
Most of reddit users have only seen the "new" interface, so they don't know what they're missing.
And when they find out, they're already conditioned to use the "new" UI, so switching is difficult.
The new UI enforces age gating via sign-in (switch to the old UI, and you can get away with "Continue"), which is better for engagement.
The new UI is mobile friendly, which is WAY better for engagement. (Most users are mobile users, even though mobile devices are worse than desktop PCs in every way except convenience.)
It absolutely does. There is tons of normal content that is tagged as NSFW for various non pornogrpahic reasons, and consdering 'regular users' includes the millions of people that use apollo, Rif, etc , thats a huge amount of the user base negatively effected.
I often use spoiler formatting for comedic effect, etc.
For context, normally you are placing 3x3 tile farms either around 2x2 tile mills or 4x4 tile Town Centers, so you end up with a "pinwheel" at best. But the Poles can build a 3x3 Folwark (like a mill but makes your food come in faster if the farms are close enough) leading to some very satisfying ways to use building space efficiently and aesthetically.
For now old.reddit.com works to get rid of all this guff but when that goes, so do I.