
Reddit for iOS and Android - alexis
https://www.reddit.com/mobile/download?ref=HN
======
ihuman
With the purchase of AlienBlue over a year ago, I had high expectations for an
official Reddit app. Seeing how hyped Jase (the developer behind AlienBlue)
was about this app, I was expecting a less buggy version of AB with more
features. Instead, what we got was a reddit app with less features. Here are
my main issues with it:

1\. No moderator support. With AlienBlue, we could read all of the Mod Mail,
and remove posts, With Reddit.app, I can read some of my mod mail (some
message chains are missing), and I can't remove anything.

2\. No Comment flairs

3\. Can't see which posts I've read already

4\. The in-app browser isn't as good as the older AlienBlue one, and doesn't
have an optimized view for imgur/direct links

5\. No casual/favorite subreddit groups

6\. Most of the settings in AlienBlue are not in Reddit.app

7\. No swiping gestures except for swiping from the left edge to go back.

Commenters in /r/AlienBlue found more issues with it than what I've found so
far. While I have hope for the future of Reddit.app, I'll be sticking with
AlienBlue for now.

~~~
morley
This new app got released minutes ago. It's not going to be perfect out of the
gate. Give it some time.

~~~
minimaxir
This app is not a one-week MVP of a side project released by a developer with
zero resources.

It is, however, an app with legitimate substitutes, so an incumbent must be
equal or significantly greater.

~~~
apetresc
I hope there _continue_ to be legitimate substitutes. I still remember when
Twitter decided to add the key limit to their API shortly after releasing
their official mobile clients, for the sake of "maintaining a consistent user
experience" or something like that.

~~~
odinduty
>shortly after releasing their official mobile clients

???

------
zamalek
> This item isn't available in your country.

It's an app for _Reddit._ Go figure. I'll be sticking with Sync (Android),
which doesn't have this bewildering region restriction, has tons of features
and faithfully follows Material.

~~~
alexis
We're now available in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia. Launching apps in
other countries requires a little bit more diligence than just making a
website available globally.

I'm sorry it's not available in your country -- we're planning on getting it
out everywhere.

~~~
Mithaldu
Your failure here is not that you are not making it available, but that you
failed to communicate this limit in ability.

The flow for me was "hey neat", _click link to reddit page_ , "ok, this looks
good", _click link to google play store_ , _click green Install button_ ,
'none of your devices are compatible', "what in the ever-loving ...?", _go to
hn comments_ , "oh goddamn, not again".

That could've been MUCH shorter and MUCH less confusing if the title up here (
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11447273](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11447273)
) said: "Announcing Reddit for iOS and Android in NA/UK/AUS" and at the very
least having a text below the appstore/playstore buttons stating this.

Have some empathy please.

 _Edit:_ Going "Hello World!" in the "What's New" section also doesn't help
matters.

~~~
werid
[https://twitter.com/reddit/status/718067681438539778](https://twitter.com/reddit/status/718067681438539778)

"Reddit anywhere with our app for iPhone & Android"

Replies are filled with people from countries where they can't get it.

~~~
Mithaldu
Wow, "anywhere" makes it actively worse.

~~~
notatoad
I remember Google doing the same thing when they launched their "Chromebooks
are for everyone" ad campaign - you could only purchase one in the UK or the
US.

It's like companies are actively trying to annoy the region's they geo-block.

~~~
794CD01
No, it's like what's actually true - that they don't think about those places
and therefore do things like write slogans with the mindset that such people
don't exist.

~~~
umanwizard
Even more likely: whoever wrote that copy isn't the same person as whoever
decided on the geo-locking policy.

------
Sir_Cmpwn
In addition to the other problems raised, it's frustrating that while Reddit
itself continues to be open source [1] with significant contributions from the
open source community [2], neither of these new apps are (and with no signs of
that changing).

[1] [https://github.com/reddit/reddit](https://github.com/reddit/reddit)

[2]
[https://github.com/reddit/reddit/graphs/contributors](https://github.com/reddit/reddit/graphs/contributors)

~~~
bsimpson
Their new website is open-source and updated frequently:

[https://github.com/reddit/reddit-mobile](https://github.com/reddit/reddit-
mobile)

~~~
devcpp
Promotion websites and server-side engines are nice (even though we know
Reddit Inc runs a slightly modified version), but malicious client-side apps
can be significantly more harmful by abusing permissions.

That's why I'm very careful what I install on my phone: unlike Reddit posts, I
have virtually no control over what the software does.

------
jedrek
My favorite part of this app is how they only released it in three countries,
because nothing says "front page of the internet more" than a good ol' geo-
lock.

~~~
quarterto
This was explained in the original announcement thread. It'd be easy for a
bunch of countries to turn round to Apple/Google and say "we don't want this
app in our country", especially given the... breadth of Reddit's content.
They're rolling out slowly to reduce the amount of firefighting they have to
do.

[https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/4dqxgt/reddi...](https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/4dqxgt/reddit_mobile_apps/d1th4uf)

~~~
NotOscarWilde
How often do EU countries do that? African countries? South American countries
(except maybe Brazil)? As somebody from an excluded country (in the EU) that
has zero history of app censorship, this rings quite hollow to me. In fact it
is almost insulting, given that you bundle some freedom-loving countries in
one bag with Russia and China.

------
asd
I think I now know why Reddit was so generous with all of the Gold. The app,
although very fast and responsive on iOS, lacks many of the features that
Alien Blue had. I could find zero integrations with any third party services.
The cool thing about Alien Blue is, if I was a stoplight and didn't have time
to read a linked article, I'd just add it to Pinboard and get back to it
later.

Another major failing - there isn't an option to always open links in your
browser of choice. At least use a Safari View Controller, for pete's sake.

EDIT: It looks like I can choose to share a link with the ... menu option. I
can then share to my Pinner "Quick Save" option to save to Pinboard. Not sure
how I missed it.

~~~
jbob2000
They were generous with the gold because they're probably going to shut
AlienBlue down. AB doesn't have any ads, they can't make money off those
users.

~~~
ihuman
They're not shutting AlienBlue down, but they removed it from the App Store,
and they are not updating it anymore.

~~~
jbob2000
They can shut it down by changing the reddit API so it no longer works, thus
forcing users to switch to the new app.

~~~
ihuman
If they do that, they would break every 3rd party reddit app, which reddit
said they wouldn't do. Of course, that doesn't mean their position will change
in the future.

~~~
outericky
no, they could just disable the AB API key...

------
skrowl
The official Reddit app for Android is pretty feature poor so far. It only
offers a default theme and a dark theme. It only offers a default layout and a
compact layout. No customization beyond that. No option to always view links
in external browser and Imgur links aren't opened in the Imgur app (etc for
other sites).

It's nice that they've finally released an official app, but to use this
instead of Bacon Reader / Relay / Slide / Reddit is Fun / etc would be a large
step back in functionality.

~~~
greenspot
Not sure. Today, I was installing all your mentioned Reddit clients and
deinstalling them right afterwards. While the first impression is good and
they seem to offer lots of features they lack one important thing (at least
the free versions)—to save a sub in a favorite list which is easy to access.
Something which is essential and they don't offer it or hide it away in the
paid version. Something btw which the Now Reddit client on Android does for
free. I think another Reddit client is definitely no breaking news but that
the existing ones are so much superior? Not really.

~~~
eitally
You should try Relay -- it's quite good, and even lets you manage multiple
accounts.

------
minimaxir
There's a good checklist of app features, per /r/AlienBlue:
[https://np.reddit.com/r/AlienBlue/comments/4dqajk/new_reddit...](https://np.reddit.com/r/AlienBlue/comments/4dqajk/new_reddit_app_discussion_thread/)

The big feature omission is _no iPad support_ , which I am legitimately
curious why they would leave that out.

If you are looking for a iOS Reddit client, I _strongly_ recommend Antenna,
which is amazing on an iPad as well due to Split View.

~~~
shostack
How are 3rd party Reddit apps on the security front? If I login through
Antenna, is there any way to guarantee that they don't have full access to my
Reddit identity and credentials? Or is that the risk of going with them?

~~~
kuschku
They all were forced to switch to oauth with reddits latest api changes. Which
means you see a very ugly screen for a while during login.

------
compumike
I believe that if you look at this moment a year from now, it will be a major
inflection point, bringing reddit to a much larger audience.

We're all tech savvy on this site and may not mind monkeying with the previous
third-party apps, but there's a much wider audience that will be willing to
use a well-supported first-party app.

~~~
ProAm
The problem is no one really uses apps anymore. Especially to view a website
when you already have a mobile app that does that for you (your browser). This
feature is 3 years too late in my mind to be a needle mover.

~~~
sn0v
> The problem is no one really uses apps anymore

This might be a bit of a generalization. People tend to use apps for websites
they visit very frequently (eg more than 2-3x a day). Even more so when the
mobile version of the website is rife with bugs and/or limitations.

Reddit's mobile site is passable but the third party apps blow it out of the
water on both iOS and Android.

~~~
ProAm
Just basing it on research Ive seen [1][2][3] and my own personal use. If the
reddit application is feature poor, there isnt a reason to not use the web
version, maybe with an extension or two to make it awesome.

[1] [http://qz.com/253618/most-smartphone-users-download-zero-
app...](http://qz.com/253618/most-smartphone-users-download-zero-apps-per-
month/)

[2] [http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/mobile/most-people-download-
zero...](http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/mobile/most-people-download-zero-apps-
month-n186866)

[3] [http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/22/consumers-spend-85-of-
time-...](http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/22/consumers-spend-85-of-time-on-
smartphones-in-apps-but-only-5-apps-see-heavy-use/)

------
balladeer
I don't use Reddit actively anymore (just when a link leads me to the site)
but the last time used it actively and even today when I have to access the
site on mobile my favourite app is Reddit Is Fun.[1]

Its free version[2] is as good. I just bought paid one[2] to support the
fantastic app. They also have the source code of an old version[4] available
online, though the app's current source is not open sourced I think.

I like this app for its:

\- Simplicity

\- Speed

\- No nonsense approach to serving content

[1] [https://www.talklittle.com/reddit-is-
fun/](https://www.talklittle.com/reddit-is-fun/)

[2]
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andrewshu....](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andrewshu.android.reddit&hl=en)

[2]
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andrewshu....](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andrewshu.android.redditdonation)

[4] [https://github.com/talklittle/reddit-is-
fun](https://github.com/talklittle/reddit-is-fun)

------
sschueller
What I don't understand is why is reddit putting so much effort in their own
apps now when there are very good 3rd party apps available?

Is the end goal to take control of mobile and close down the API so they can
shove ads down peoples throats?

It didn't work out well for twitter...

~~~
shostack
Most likely yes. This seems to be the Twitter approach all over again.
Although you'd think the failings of that would be pretty obvious from a
strategic standpoint, particularly for someone with as much business-savvy as
Sam. So odds are they either have an idea for how to do it differently, or
they think their platform is so much better and entrenched than Twitter that
the same bad strategy could still be successful for them.

------
tma-1
Narwhal is one of the most underrated Reddit apps, so much better than AB and
obviously superior to this new app.

~~~
norea-armozel
Yeah, after trying all the apps on iOS I prefer Narwhal the most. I'm not sure
why. It's similar to Reddit is fun in terms of the subreddit list which why I
guess I like it. The other apps seem to not make it easier to manage your
multis or subreddits.

------
shirro
I am disappointed in the Android client so far. There are several very
featureful alternatives such as Relay.

I don't think it is a bad thing for Reddit to offer a free, bare minimum
client. But after the Twitter experience I hope we don't see a gradual
exclusion of the competition.

------
verganileonardo
I use Relay For Reddit and it works really well. Better than The mobile
website and newest mobile official app.

------
jcastro
The last progressive web thread on HN mentioned this app for HN:
[https://cheeaun.github.io/hackerweb/](https://cheeaun.github.io/hackerweb/)
and I love it. Does anyone know of something similar for Reddit?

~~~
ihuman
If you're looking for a mobile webapp for reddit, they have
[https://m.reddit.com/](https://m.reddit.com/)

~~~
mintplant
There's also [https://i.reddit.com](https://i.reddit.com). It sports an older
look but I find it just works a lot better than the new mobile site.

------
boyce
No-one has mentioned it here but this app appears to me to be an important
milestone for Reddit. They're now hosting content themselves. An announcement
in /r/modnews tells mods to whitelist Reddit's new image hosting domain.

This is probably not good news for imgur.

[https://www.reddit.com/r/modnews/comments/4drl3j/moderators_...](https://www.reddit.com/r/modnews/comments/4drl3j/moderators_ireddituploadscom_is_legitimate_you/)

------
kevindeasis
That's a neat website.

Is there any tutorial/documentation on how to design beautiful websites like
that.Asides from looking at the source:
[https://www.reddit.com/mobile/site/style.css](https://www.reddit.com/mobile/site/style.css)

~~~
mindstreamer
a beautiful broken website... the first animation completely obscures the
text.

------
booop
Wow, out for only a few hours and they're not pulling any punches with the
criticism and suggestions in the comments.

Maybe in a few months we'll end up with one damn fine app.

On a sidenote, one obviously bad thing is the overuse of referral URLs and
tracking redirects for every link.

------
zeveb
Would it have hurt them to include a single phone running Android in their
announcement?

I've no confidence that this won't be some sort of half-assed browser-based
app which doesn't follow Android's conventions.

~~~
DDickson
It's not browser based, but they definitely used a loose interpretation of
Google's Material Design. What stands out to me most is their Card design and
use of icons in the drawer layout.

------
CardenB
Looks great on iOS, but the feature set is lacking. I'll probably stick to
using Antenna for now. Good to see they haven't just been ignoring Alien Blue
for no reason, though.

------
rcarmo
Hmm. Still can't see it in the Portuguese iOS App Store.

This sort of thing happens time and again when someone fails to click the
right options when publishing an app (typically in the US) :)

------
greenspot
Reddit is one of my most used website. I am preferring many subs over
established forums, eg r/apple, r/ipad over Macrumors, sometimes r/programming
over HN, very often r/javascript and so on.

I welcome Reddit's new native clients. Who knows, maybe we see soon some more
and significant innovations than just being another Reddit client which
employs the standard API.

~~~
alexis
Thank you, greenspot! The team has been working very hard on mobile and we're
aiming for this to be the first of many updates.

Meet some of the folks behind it and hear how we're thinking about it:
[https://youtu.be/6IWMbdAuy1M](https://youtu.be/6IWMbdAuy1M)

------
kevincox
I just wish they would serve the mobile site on the same domain. It's way too
much work to modify the URL to get to the mobile site. I don't want to need an
app to read news.

------
NamPNQ
Anyone have apk file, it's not available in my country.

~~~
anonova
[https://apps.evozi.com/apk-
downloader/?id=com.reddit.frontpa...](https://apps.evozi.com/apk-
downloader/?id=com.reddit.frontpage)

------
lelininkas
HTC One M8 not eligible for install! What?

------
insulanian
Why is this app not available in Germany? I can access reddit in the browser,
but not install the app. WTF???

------
free2rhyme214
Reddit for iOS sends shared links to the desktop version of Reddit instead of
the mobile version ==

------
xufi
Finally. Horray. Knew when AB was being bought. They were doing something

------
edoloughlin
"This item cannot be installed in your country". Wat?

------
pkstn
Not available in my country (Finland) :'(

------
BugsBunnySan
since reddit works fine in smart phone's webbrowsers, why we even need an app?

------
woodhouse
Instacrashes on my OnePlus One

------
modinfo
Available only od US Store...

------
max_
what i the world were they waiting for?

------
raylus
what's up with their site?

~~~
raylus
[http://imgur.com/a/Wtp5l](http://imgur.com/a/Wtp5l)

------
datagramm
that webpage makes me seasick

------
abvishek
not available in India (:

~~~
kgdinesh
i know, right?

------
thanatropism
Ah, reddit.

------
dang
Reddit is penalized on HN (sorry for the shock), but this is obviously real
news, so we've taken off the penalty and restored a few hours of clock time to
this post.

~~~
ilyanep
Interesting! Is that a hard-coded penalty or is there some sort of calculated
weighted penalty per-domain based on some criteria? If the former, is it just
due to mod experience of poor-quality/just link submissions?

~~~
dang
Not sure what you mean by hard-coded penalty but there are two classes of
sites (called lightweight and midweight) whose submissions get penalized by
default because of too many lightweight stories in the past. Not necessarily
bad content, just content that doesn't fit the HN guidelines. Reddit's great
of course—it's just that sometimes (well, usually maybe) HN isn't the best
vessel for its greatness.

Most major media websites are in one of these categories. Moderators take the
penalties off when we see a solid submission, and there are other ways that
the software interprets community input to mean that an article might be
better than usual and lifts the penalty.

We were nervous about making heavier use of this technique, but there were so
many complaints about fluff articles making the front page that we had to do
something, and banning major sites that sometimes produce excellent-for-HN
articles wasn't an option. By now the current approach has been in place for a
couple of years and it has worked out pretty well. Those complaints will never
go away but they're at a more manageable level.

~~~
ilyanep
Thanks for the response! What I meant by "hard-coded" penalty, is there is a
list of domains somewhere and "reddit.com" is on it. I was wondering if that
was the case, or if these domains were discovered automatically somehow. Based
on your description, it sounds like it's the former and then occasionally the
penalty is negated automatically?

~~~
dang
Yup that's correct.

~~~
kuschku
So thats why so many frontpage articles on HN are blogspam versions of
comments copy-pasted from reddit threads, in contrast to linking the actual
threads directly? That explains a lot.

~~~
dang
Do you have links to these?

~~~
kuschku
I used to have links to these, but in the 1.5 hours I had to wait before I
could send a comment again ("You're submitting too fast. Please slow down.
Thanks."), I lost them. You might want to just check them yourself – often the
reddit thread is mentioned in the comments, or as source in the blog post.

------
Slippery_John
I thought the whole point of not doing mobile apps themselves was because it's
a waste of engineering time since there's a massive community that will do the
work for them. I would much rather see them focus on making the site better.

~~~
kuschku
But with third party apps they can't do user tracking or showing ads
everywhere.

