Tell HN: Reddit now demands to know why you won't use their app
When you try to dismiss Reddit's mobile web prompt asking you to switch to their app, instead of just going away, it now gets replaced with this poll: > What is the primary reason you don't want to download the Reddit app? > I want to save space on my device > I don't use Reddit often enough > I prefer the privacy of my web browser > I want to avoid push notifications > I already have the Reddit app > I get what I need from the web browser
Discussion Highlights (9 comments)
Terr_
[x] "Everything you've been making is so user-hostile and unhelpful to my needs that when you remove old.reddit.com I will block Reddit links from my search results entirely." _______________ P.S.: As a hardcore Reddit commenter for over a decade who remembers moving from Digg, I'm mostly-serious. When there's an actual human discussion, I do not want to squint at a tiny viewable area, evading ads-that-look-like-comments, and manually iterating through dozens of "load more that are hidden" link-buttons... some of which will cause a page transition and completely reset all progress. This is especially true when I'm trying to find some crucial keyword (perhaps one a search-engine told me exists) but I can't just ctrl-f the through comments anymore. No, at that point... Well, at that point I will turn to something that would otherwise be anathema, a malevolent "solution" so horrible that it shows just how bad the problem is... I will seek a summary from [ominous thunderclap] an LLM!
ares623
Lol. Lmao even. They know why, so why bother with a poll? Is someone trying to get justification for nerfing the browser experience more? I suspect the last item will be the most popular option. Who the hell thinks "I want to save space on my device".
Bender
[x] I do not install apps for anyone for any reason. I browse from Firefox on Linux on mini-PC's and laptops without exception. Why won't they install my curl | bash cron job that runs as root on all their servers? I pinky-promise it's mostly harmless.
k310
I get daily requests to answer polls. Like my time is worth zero. Is theirs? Delete.
kazinator
Basically they just need one more option: > You'll never get me to use the app so stop trying. I mean for the sake of the completeness of their how-to-get-people-to-use-app research, not just the benefit of the user who doesn't want the app. You will not convert 100% of people to the app, unless you shut down the website, or make it so unusable on mobile that it might as well be shut down.
nkreats
Pain in the butt if you ask me. They are trying to make it really annoying to use the web based reddit lol.
pogue
Can you block it as an element in Brave browser or prevent scripts from running or anything?
BLKNSLVR
The last option is a trick. If enough people select it, Reddit will cease to be usable (or just further decrease its usability?) via web browser.
al_borland
This sounds like an admission that the app can and will violate user privacy more so than the browser.