What is Reddit doing

Mildly Infuriating@lemmy.world – 622 points – 2 months ago

I don't use Reddit anymore, but I wanted to search something that I couldn't find anywhere. This is what I saw. After killing all the other apps, Reddit now is trying to force us to use their own spyware app.

Old.reddit.com

It will get rid of that

I am not going to like the day they remove that.

sadfsdfasfasf

I have, I just use it to view Reddit without an account.

I have left, I just view Reddit...

So you haven't left Reddit. Like saying you left Google but still Google search without logging in.

Do you think developers have any say in this?
They have Reddit Premium for free, and most likely an internal version too.

https://github.com/redlib-org/redlib There's some redirect browser addons like LibRedirect that can automatically redirect you to redlib instances.

From the readme in the link there’s a redlib instance uptime list. Can use one with 99% uptime if you’re having trouble finding a good one!

https://stats.uptimerobot.com/mpmqAs1G2Q/

The addon I mentioned can ping instances and you can then add or remove them accordingly.

Highly recommend this. It takes some time setting a default instance that isn't down or broken for some sites but worth it.

Some sites seem to just be broken and the only option from what I can tell but it certainly worked well for Reddit. Just had to filter out the specific instances that don't allow for NSFW posts at all.

Unfortunately they block old reddit for VPN users now

That's not true, at least not for all vpns

I think they're doing it for logged out users. If you're logged into an account, you're fine.

It’s random actually and (I guess) it depends on your IP du jour.

Gotta shuffle VPN servers until you find one that works.

I haven't found one that works for a little bit

I pay for Proton and the non-free servers generally work, although some have been blocked.

Eventually I'll treat Reddit like Pinterest, either blocking it entirely from search results, or using FF add-ons to bypass all the cruft laid over the website

Private Internet Access works for me. Just tested logged out in an incognito mode tab.

is there any firefox extensions/userscripts to make it more tolerable on mobile? the buttons are always way too small.

I use "Desktop site" mode and just zoom in lol

Yes, actually. Look up Oldlander addon for Firefox.

It's new and kinda of rough but it definitely helps.

There's a beta of RES for mobile now, but I haven't tried it yet. I mostly use lemmy instead on mobile (but it's not really the same thing).

Or just request the desktop version.

Rdx.overdevs.com is another mobile frontend that works well

This is why they removed the apps. They want to be driving traffic through the app, and the 3rd party apps prevented that from happening.

They went from providing value to extracting it.

They made the service more shitty! We need a long word to describe that process.

Hmm... is impoopify taken?

enfecification?

Long word? Pooooooooooopification

Excrementize?

moreshittierization

I think the worst part is they entirely ignored the most painfully obvious solution of implementing a "reddit plus" or "reddit premium" or "reddit red" and just gated third party app access behind a $9.99/mo subscription. I have a hard time believing most reddit users' ad views are worth anywhere near that much per month. But instead they decided to burn a significant sum of goodwill on questionable premises and pissed off a significant number of power users.

The feeling I got from all of the communications was that /u/spez was jealous of Apollo and just wanted to kill off Apollo. Which would explain why they took such a scorched earth approach in trying to kill all third party apps

That is basically what they did. There are a decent amount of third party apps around that work. I personally use Narwhal.

The further we get from the whole third party app debacle, the more I think this was just a way to kill the most popular apps. The ones that people said made reddit worth using. The ones that got shouted out in Apple keynotes.

Are they just trying to divert as much traffic as possible through their app?

Yeah, there is 0 way that reddit reviews even 10% of of the content, probably even 5%, if even that. There's just no way. This is just a scare tactic to get you into their walled garden, to download their app, sign you up, and become a metric.

Yep, why would the subreddit be safer inside their own app xD

So people cant access "unrated" 18+ content they found on Google and then have people get mad that the content was NSFW or restricted.

Its essentially a "We dont know what your going to find here and dont want lawsuits" protection.

It'd be nice if Google unlisted links that bring you to "install our app or you get nothing" pages

why google?

It's what all the normies use. If they lose a major source of traffic over it, they might stop doing it.

google search is mostly shit without a private frontend like startpage (shut up bot, i know they're owned by an advertising company)

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Can apps access your photos?

If you give them permissions. Speaking from Android. Don't know how iOS works.

iOS is the same way. The user needs to grant access to photos.

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That is exacly what they try to achieve, satansmaggotycumfart.

But why?

Do they somehow get more personal data that way?

I thought closing access to the API was for my own protection!

Yep, if you request the desktop version you don't get that redirect.

Yep. Reddit has gone full corporate.

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Pro tip: add old. in the beggining of url. Reddit still has such answers for niche questions

Still works for the NSFW stuff too

There are browser plugins that do this for you, as well.

The only browser plugin you need for Reddit is LibRedirect to automatically redirect all Reddit links to a private frontend called Redlib

I'm going to guess enabling "desktop mode" in Chrome (idk if other browsers have it) would probably work as well, but would throw off the layout most likely.

or change reddit to safereddit

Or use LibRedirect to do it automatically

awesome, thanks stranger! i've been too lazy to make these in redirector

You can't access old.reddit.com with VPN these days. I wouldn't be surprised if reddit killed it soon.

You can't access the normal Reddit site behind a VPN either. The only solution is to use a private frontend like Redlib with LibRedirect, to automatically redirect all Reddit links to Redlib.

Old Reddit works for me, but I am logged into an account.

Yeah but old works like crap on mobile.

Better than not working.

Also he just needs the info

Boost still works with some finagling with mods

Enshittification

They’ve had this for a while. The cheat code is to change the url to old reddit.

Or just “request desktop website”.

The only decent way to browse Reddit nowadays is a private frontend called Redlib. You can use the LibRedirect browser extension or the UntrackMe Android app to automatically redirect all Reddit links to Redlib. It's better for privacy, since you don't need to access Reddit directly and thus your information isn't exposed, it works without JavaScript, it doesn't have ads or trackers and works behind a VPN or Tor. It also lets you view NSFW content without any limitations.

The Enshitification will continue until moral improves.

After morale improves, enshittification will accelerate.

On android, I would recommend using Stealth or Geddit to browse reddit. Stealth has a mode where it scrapes old.reddit.com (and bypasses the API), and Geddit uses the RSS feed to pull content instead of API.

Downside is neither app will let you interact, but I don't have any desire to generate content for reddit anyways.

Those apps' days are numbered I'm sure

They've been working since the API price change, so nearly a year now.

RedReader also still works due to their disability stuff.

I know it has nothing to do with protecting the users, but how exactly is the app supposed to make viewing unreviewed content safer?

They make more money that way, ergo safer for investors.

Love the absence of logic in these messages. Next time it'll be "pay $2 to continue" or "do a barrel roll to continue".

Drink a verification can to continue

do a barrel roll to continue

Reddit hasn't been that fun in a long time.

no offense but who the fuck cares, you know what i mean? that shithole can enjoy the hell it has consigned itself to.

And like, why are people surprised it's only getting worse? Of course it is, we knew long ago the removal of 3rd party app was the beginning of the master plan to monetize our communities.

They're surprised because they've already gotten used to the previous thing.

the beginning of the master plan to monetize our communities.

I think it was closer to the middle of the plan.

I think what's even more annoying is when you actually do use the app, every community you visit, it pops up a notification that says "turn on notifications so you don't miss updates from this community!"

Easy fix is to update the url to use "old.reddit.com" rather than the base "www.reddit.com".

That sends you to a version of the site without a bunch of the crap.

This doesn't work anymore. I just refresh it and stop somewhere in the middle and it sometimes works.

Old Reddit works for me. Does it just not work in general for you, or does it not work when not logged into an account?

Well, I think the link structure changed. If I add old to the url, the page doesn't even work, but the homepage does.

Did you get a browser error when trying this? It might be because you left the www in the URL. I had to remove that and replace it with old, and it works. The rest of the link structure is the same on both old and new reddit. I even tried it from a VPN just to be sure it wasn't seeing my logged in cookies, and in a private browsing window where RES isn't allowed to run. Worked fine.

Oh ok

Interesting. I'll have to test it when I get home. I'm always signed in and I use RES so could be some other factors causing it to not be a problem for me.

any idea how reddit keeps banning my alt accounts ? I am suspecting chrome broswser is complicit.

Many ways to detect this, but let's start with the basics: Are you using the same Ip address?

Well yes.

Take a break from Reddit, uninstall all apps, clear cookies off all your browsers for reddit.com, wait a few weeks for your IP address to change, then make a new account.

sadfsdfasfasf

Don't think of it as them being unprofessional, think of it as them having a safety valve to relieve the pressure of some people wanting to leave Reddit for Lemmy or elsewhere, because of their bs.

Someday, when they're confident enough that they have customer retention locked in, that methodology of bypassing will be removed.

~Anti~ ~Commercial-AI~ ~license~ ~(CC~ ~BY-NC-SA~ ~4.0)~

That's prolly next on chopping block.

They recently blocked logins via old.reddit

They are testing. I’ve seen the option vanish and reappear over the past week.

my set up won't let me login via normal webpage, and i aint changing that. so fuck 'em

looks like my set up is working properly at blocking google etc verification on login.

it is fucking disgusting how my login must be verified by all mega corps nowadays.

reminds of that meme with white chick on couch and 5 black dudes... take this verification BBC peasant.

I have 0 doubt that they eventually shut old.reddit down, or they make it so unusable that it doesn't make a difference anymore if they did. Probably with some extensive regretful apology letter about how hard it became for the team to maintain, something about the future of Reddit moving forward and blah blah blah...

the thing is, the one and only purpose of this dialog is to increase metrics of engagement, like how many users download the app. they don't need to convert every mobile web user to an app user immediately. as long as that dialog is driving the engagement metrics apps, it is doing its work correctly. obviously at some point there will stop increasing engagement, so the middle managers will turn and try to squeeze a bit more by removing the loopholes, but it is not an urgent problem. it even might be intentional so they can squeeze a bit more later

the one that i am surprised at how bad it is is Twitter, that is still hosted at twitter.com . even going to x.com just redirects to twitter.com . i assume that there's some major engineering problem that is preventing them from switching, but still, it has been almost 10 months and the clown at chief really pushed for the rebranding

Or just going to "view desktop site" for mobile browsers.

That still brings up the warning, but you can click past it

I'm sure they know and don't care. The gain in app installs from the users of this workaround would be nonexistent.

They are doing everything they can so you download their app.

Their support site says my browser is unsupported

I already have a web app (my browser) so I’ll never download individual apps for sites (maybe tapatalk app since it covers many)

If the website doesn’t work then I just browse something else

It's been like this for quite some time now.

And anytime you use a browser, you'll always be nagged to continue viewing through browser or use their app. It comes up so obnoxiously and I swear it slows you down. They also make the viewing experience subpar unless you use the app.

…which is itself subpar.

Who cares?

People whose web searches turn up this.

Dear Spez: I AM NEVER EVER GOING TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FUCKING APP

Dear Steve.

He ain’t ever going to read that. Can we stop talking about our ex yet?

All I'm gonna say is I've been using my banned account and I can still browse any sub.

I literally can't interact in any way but can still see every post.

use old.reddit.com allegedly it lets you through if you click a "yes i am 18" button

I don't think it have that warning for "Unreviewed content". Sure for nsfw

Firefox+libredirect solves all your woes.

Is this just for desktop? Mobile just gives me errors about a failed secured connection.

You can use UntrackMe on Android or Privacy Redirect on iOS. Or if you are on Anndroid and use Firefox or a fork of it like Mull or Fennec, you can install LibRedirect there.

I'm on Android. Will give this a try. Thanks, bud!

LibreWolf > Firefox

Mull on Android

On iOS Safari if you "Request Desktop Website" you can get around this. I'm sure something similar you can do in your android web browser.

Works to get around the mature content warning overlay. Or use old.reddit.com I think

No need for safari, I use that option in chrome and firefox. I created an account just for lurking and use desktop mode and it "works", at least it stopped bothering to get the app or restricting content because I wasn't logged in

"Download our app and consume ads on it because... becaaaaauuuuuusssseeeeee, um, let's say SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN? Maybe terrorism? Just pick a reason you'd believe and get the app, okay?"

Cryptobros, e-thots, and ads. That's Reddit these days.

I haven't been back since the exodus

Me neither, at least I haven't logged into my account to browse reddit. Occasionally I click on a Reddit because it's the result of my web search. But I always use a private frontend called Redlib for that, LibRedirect automatically redirects all Reddit links to Redlib, it's really useful. UntrackMe does the same on Android, Privacy Redirect on iOS.

The Digg exodus....?

No no that was the OG I was talking about when Reddit did the big change to the api. It's what made lemmy grow so much.

Theyve been doing this for years

Get you to download their app so they can harvest your user data.

I mean yeah, reddit fucking sucks. That's why we're all here. Stop going there.

// ==UserScript==
// @name        old.reddit redirect
// @description	Makes sure you're using Good o'l Reddit
// @license     WTFPLV2
// @version     1.1
// @author      TheNH813 2018, edited by me
// @match       https://www.reddit.com/r/*
// @match       https://www.reddit.com/user/*
// @run-at      document-start
// @grant       none
// ==/UserScript==

var oldReddit  = window.location.protocol + "//" + "old.reddit.com" + window.location.pathname + window.location.search + window.location.hash;
window.location.replace (oldReddit);

Edited so it still allows image preview, because old.reddit' one is broken now.

Old Reddit blocks me because I use a vpn. You get a dumb ass message about it and can’t view anything.

Just use LibRedirect with Redlib

Just change your view to desktop viewer.

Oh no! Our poor sensitive little eyes might be offended by something we see! I need a nanny-state to go through everything I have access to so I don't get confused!

They have done this for years now - this is not new.

You can open as a desktop page and it works... Or you know... Old.reddit

What happens if you replace "www" in the URL with "old"?

They might not have the block there

VPN will be blocked.

VPN?

yeah, i mean, why do you think we're using this platform right now

Lmao that's so shameless

And just intellectually dishonest. It makes no sense that it's OK to view the same content in the app but not on the web.

old.reddit.com/r/whatever

I don't know if this addon could help?

https://github.com/sixP-NaraKa/reddit-nsfw-unblocker

I didn't read all the comments here so someone else may have suggested this but for my android when I'm met with this I can open the browser options and choose desktop site to bypass it. Still annoying but every once in a while I need info goddamnit

This is nothing new. Theyve been doing this for quite a while now.

They're boosting their sign up numbers by putting porn behind it. I bet it's not even that racy, they just know that humans are motivated by something potentially titillating

They have done this for a long time now.

Anymore it seems to be bots posting nonsense and mods banning anyone who isn't posting porn

I just woke up to my phone alarm pretty bleary and started randomly scrolling. Ended up in this thread below.

Even half asleep, none of this look like human comms to me. The whole thread is an advertisement, with undreds of unique participants.

https://old.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/1cmzvhc/nearly_every_game_is_cheaper_at_jb_hifi_how_is_eb/

I just switch to desktop mode and never had any problem...

libreddit to the rescue

trying to appeal to venture capitalists and investors by hiding the sketchy porn sites would be my guess, considering they got busted by cnn for underage stuff.

You can view this content in desktop mode, it's only on mobile outside the app that you can't view it

Build yourself Infinity client with own api key, it takes ~5-10 minutes and can be done from phone https://colab.research.google.com/drive/13AE8RvjnCfuBJGaACEqxeBIMo33_l-Sc?usp=sharing

Shoving their di*ks up some things and down others