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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by lynny@lemmy.world to c/technology@beehaw.org

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/

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[-] shellsharks@fedia.io 13 points 1 year ago

Jeez. The speed at which I've gone from "man it sucks that Apollo is shutting down but I still really enjoy Reddit and will suffer the first-party client" to "wow, Reddit is really trying to destroy their service and it's probably best I don't invest any more time there" is insane... going to draft up some thoughts and a probable farewell message for my frequented subs and followers there. End of an era.

[-] socsa@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

Stages of grief Speedrun any%

[-] BreakNeckJim@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

It's unbelievable how's user hostile all of these major site have become. I deleted my 11 year old Reddit account today and while it hurt a little it's important that we send a message and not use Reddit at least until they repeal this bullshit.

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[-] Sintamo@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

It's one thing to test a new idea or a UX tweak or similar on a small portion of users - but just turning off a key way to access your service is so just so weird to me. How many of Reddit's decisions at this point are some version of, "hey, how angry do they get? What can we get away with?"

[-] overlordror@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

People need to understand that this is about tracking your eyeballs. Reddit viewed on a webpage does not provide the metadata they want. What metadata does the app provide? Things you wouldn't think about wanting as a human, but the aggregate is very valuable.

Stuff like how long did you watch that video Ad? Where did you click on screen and at what time? What content were you viewing and what course of action did you take to get there? Web viewing only shows the landing page you arrived on reddit from and the exit page that took you away from reddit. Performing these actions in the app provides metadata cookie crumbs like a trail of roach shit to every single thing you've done on reddit in micro activities.

[-] darkkite@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

I'm not sure. I've worked at companies using amplitude and hotjar that can record all click event and sessions on web

[-] 0x1C3B00DA@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

Users can block those with extensions so the data isn't as reliable

[-] BitOneZero@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

That's probably a big part. Web browsers can do ad blocking. Within the official Reddit app that's way more difficult.

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[-] james@lemmy.jamesj999.co.uk 4 points 1 year ago

I can honestly say since Twitter did this I’ve hardly ever used it

[-] socsa@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago

Some asshole at Deloitte is going to make a ton of money writing case studies about this.

[-] walflour@midwest.social 3 points 1 year ago

And someone from McKinsey & Co. is currently making money from this as a consultant

[-] Badass_panda@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Don't worry, PwC will make a ton of money when they're asked to help cut costs after this crashes and burns.

[-] iuseit@iusearchlinux.fyi 4 points 1 year ago

Reddit is officially on a bankruptcy speedrun.

[-] Pekka@feddit.nl 3 points 1 year ago

They already made the mobile site practically unusable by constantly reminding you to use the app. The mobile browsing experience was just terrible. They can just show the same adds in the mobile browser...

[-] troyunrau@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago

Ironically, I'd just set my browser to desktop mode, and use the old reddit desktop interface. The more they modernized, the more entrenched I become.

[-] jayrod@lemmy.film 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Dollar-store Elon Musk is going full "fuck you" to redditors.

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[-] r3nder@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

Reddit's unwavering stubbornness to continue spiraling is just plain sad. What a way to go.

[-] spoonful@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Reddit had so much community favor too. The whole awards thing was born from people wanting support the website. If they really struggle to make money could have rolled out an optional subscription or something with a message that everyone would have fallen for. The incompetence is incredible.

[-] animist@lemmy.one 2 points 1 year ago

This is the natural result of having MBAs make any decision

[-] hardypart@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago

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

[-] sake@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 year ago

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.

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[-] thoralf@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 year 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.

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[-] 5redie8@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

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

[-] BrooklynMan@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

"old.reddit.com isn't going anywhere"

-- a spez lie

[-] nick@campfyre.nickwebster.dev 3 points 1 year 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.

[-] yankeebobo@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

They just keep digging

[-] flickertail@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Between this and Twitter, I feel like "enshittification" is really the word of the past year. It's incredible to watch these massive social networks completely turn on their users in the name of profit.

[-] buckykat@lemmy.fmhy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

They were always going to. The pre-enshittification stage of a modern capitalist website consists of burning VC money to collect users to later exploit.

[-] IDe@lemmy.one 2 points 1 year ago

Twitter probably opened the floodgates when they managed to shaft users and cut API access without outright killing themselves. Now everyone else is emboldened to ask "why can't we do that too?".

[-] Kaladin_Stormblessed@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

*without outright killing themselves YET.

[-] dystop@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

ahahaha the reason I finally stopped using Yelp was because their mobile site would only load part of a review and would force redirect to their app if you tried to expand on any reviews. Rather than download the app or change user agent, I just gave up.

every website and their mother wants you to download their app nowadays.

[-] dj3hac@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

They're tearing it down one brick at a time!

[-] communist@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

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

[-] Sean_Thomas@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year 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. 😕

[-] AbidanYre@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Are they actively trying to make people stop using the site?

[-] Wrathofcon@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Are they legally allowed to just do that? Just shadow ban certain users temporarily for an 'experiment'?

If so... Why is that legally allowed??

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[-] lunarshot@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year 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.

[-] duncesplayed@lemmy.one 2 points 1 year 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.

[-] Pee_on_tech@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

The mobile browsing experience was a huge shitshow anyway. Randomly refreshing webpage, comments never posting or posting 5 times, expanding comments would work sometimes. They actively nuked it to make people use the reddit app. Fuck them

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[-] M_g@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

Honestly this is so absurd it's funny. Peak business brain to think that people in 2023 are willing to download an app and register an account to simply access content.

[-] JGreen@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Some of the Reddit community is outright hostile to the fediverse and decentralization in general. Apparently the lot of us are too nerdy over here.

[-] Uniquitous@lemmy.one 2 points 1 year ago

I am absolutely fine with that crowd staying far, far away from us. If they like where Reddit is going, fine, by all means let them stay there.

[-] theDuesentrieb@feddit.de 2 points 1 year ago

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 2 points 1 year 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.

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this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2023
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