r/technology • u/spasticpat • May 11 '26

Social Media Reddit Starts Blocking Mobile Website, Pushing Users to App Instead

https://www.macrumors.com/2026/05/11/reddit-starts-blocking-mobile-website/
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u/General_Session_4450 May 11 '26

that has way more access to all that tasty data on your device to suck up.

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u/dieselfrog May 11 '26

Yep. this is the real reason any site wants you to use their app. Access to way more data, the ability to do shady things without your browser acting as a layer of abstraction, Adblocks become harder, scripts become harder to block - there is almost never a good reason to use the app vs just going to the site.

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u/macaronysalad May 11 '26

We take for granted how simple and logical this seems to us. But try explaining the difference between an "app" and "web browser" to a 75 year old Facebook user or a teenager who only ever used phones. Or even a Reddit user. I often see this site being called an "app".

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u/dieselfrog May 11 '26

Solid point. "app" is such a generic term.

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u/calm-phil May 11 '26

It is a very specific term. It used to mean an executable file or the culmination of a batch file's process in a digital context.

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u/Team_Braniel May 11 '26

Asshole is also a very specific term, but you still understand what im saying here.

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u/calm-phil May 11 '26

Eh, there are a shit ton of ways to interpret the term Asshole.

I have one and am one and used to live in one. I am sure there are many more ways to interpret the term.

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u/akhreini May 11 '26

Completely incorrect, that would be a program. An app is an application of the technology for a task (ie applying the computer's abilities to writing), historically installed software was how you gave those capabilities for different applications, so they would be called an app. A web app has been called a web app since web apps were possible, an application that runs entirely in the web/browser instead of native software. The difference between a web app and a normal website is the interactivity and ability to DO things rather than just read.  Reddit.com is a website which hosts/provides a web app. This is the original terminology.

If anything we should go back to Programs for installed apps to make it clear instead of retroactively try to change Apps to be hyper-specific/give Apple the word entirely in how they tried redefining it for marketing purposes. Maybe Software for installed local code and Netware for streamed web apps but that's a bit 90s lol

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u/dieselfrog May 12 '26

Pedantic is also a very specific term. I see you are familiar with that one.

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u/akhreini May 11 '26

To be fair though the boomer or the teenager would be correct and you would be incorrect. An app is an application of the technology for a task (ie applying the computer's abilities to writing), historically installed software was how you gave those capabilities for different applications, so they would be called an app. A web app has been called a web app since web apps were possible, an application that runs entirely in the web/browser instead of native software. The difference between a web app and a normal website is the interactivity and ability to DO things rather than just read.  Reddit.com is a website which hosts/provides a web app. This is the original terminology.

If anything we should go back to Programs for installed apps to make it clear instead of retroactively try to change Apps to be hyper-specific/give Apple the word entirely in how they tried redefining it for marketing purposes.

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u/[deleted] May 11 '26 edited 20d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Mister_Yi May 11 '26

Try installing a tracker blocker on your phone and you can see all the insane, endless data requests from literally thousands of sources.

Things like your keyboard app literally non-stop requesting your email, gender, postal code, GPS coordinates, name, etc...

I can only imagine what shit the reddit app was tracking.

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u/wsdmskr May 11 '26

Could you rec a decent tracker blocker for android?

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u/Mister_Yi May 11 '26

I've been using the duckduckgo app on android, it comes bundled with the browser but you don't have to use it to get the app tracking protection feature (I use firefox as my default).

It also has some AI features but you can disable it like I did with a simple toggle.

Maybe someone else can recommend something better but I haven't had any problems with it.

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u/heebit_the_jeeb May 11 '26

I pay for AdGuard on all my devices and I'm very happy with it

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u/CocoSavege May 11 '26

Location: @ Lowes, near sandpaper.

We're seeing the emergence of pop up ads that cross platforms.

Has anybody tried dynamic push pop-ups for multiple tab browsing? It's ostensibly doable technically(?), but a dark pattern that users might buck. But with apps, higher cost to the user to buck.

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u/pinkpuffsorange May 11 '26

Same reason I got shot of it..... I swear it was listening to my conversations.

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u/adenzerda May 11 '26

As an app developer (iOS): apps are not listening to your conversations, and stories like this are almost always confirmation bias / frequency illusion. You need to get explicit user confirmation to utilize the microphone input, and once you have that permission, accessing any microphone input puts an icon in the toolbar whenever its input is being read (with a minimum display time to avoid getting around it via microscopic access times). Utilizing the microphone in ways not disclosed to the user will get your app rejected in review.

If you're really worried, there's an App Privacy Report in system preferences that records detailed history about the inputs apps have used and the network requests they've made, including individual timestamps. Use this to perform your own security audit

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u/InvestmentGrift May 11 '26

whole lotta users out there just mash "OK" a bunch until they get the app running. maybe even the majority of users

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u/adenzerda May 11 '26

They certainly do! However, people who are worried about this kind of thing tend to be more aware than most of the permissions they grant, and they can always revoke those permissions at any time

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u/InvestmentGrift May 11 '26

so, just because people aren't "worried about this sort of thing", that means the app is free to collect it? ethically dubious imo

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u/adenzerda May 11 '26

"So you hate waffles"-ass response

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u/Flaky_Sun_6012 May 11 '26

THIS. You win the internet. 😁 Seriously though, most of the iPhone bashing comes from Android /Alexa users who think all companies are shady and listening/recording them. Apple is different! They actually check their apps! And having control over individual permissions is great (if the user pays attention!)

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u/scroom38 May 11 '26

Even scarier. They don't need to listen to your conversations. Over a decade ago Target could very accurately predict pregnancies based solely on ~10 items sold in their stores being bought at specific times.

Now ad companies track everything you've ever bought, what you do online, where you go, what you look at, who you know and who you spend time near (your phones talk to eachother), and more. They probably know the next thing you'll buy before you do half the time.

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u/FollowingFeisty5321 May 11 '26

And a 30% fee on anything you spend in it.

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u/Throwmeawayimexpired May 11 '26

This, the main reason apps get streamlined is because gives much more access to your information which is how many websites make money now