Reddit blocks its own mobile website and wants to force users to use the app

The Reddit platform is currently completely freezing the mobile website for unregistered smartphone users. With this intrusive test run, the company wants to attract more users to its in-house app in order to better control advertising.

Compulsory apps on smartphones

Anyone who accesses the social media platform Reddit on their smartphone via the browser is currently often faced with a hurdle. A pop-up asks you to download the official app and what’s more: it blocks further scrolling on the page. A close button is completely missing, so it is de facto a lock. This particularly affects users who use the network without an account. As expected, the approach caused discussions and a lot of criticism in the community. While it was previously possible to use it via a mobile browser without any problems, the new notification window freezes the entire website. Users criticize that using the app involves more extensive tracking and the collection of personal data. This is often prevented during a browser visit by browser-side protection mechanisms.

Test run for unregistered users

The company justifies the step with an improved user experience. Like a speaker opposite Ars Technica explained, it is a test for a small group of frequent but logged out mobile users. The aim is to direct these into the app, as personalized feeds and a better search function are available there. Since going public, Reddit has been looking for ways to increase revenue. In the past, this led to the programming interfaces being changed over for a fee. This meant the end of popular third-party applications such as Apollo and Redditisfun. In your own app, user activities can be tracked more precisely and evaluated for advertising than on the free web.

This is how the block can be bypassed

However, users do not have to submit to the obligation. There are various possible solutions to continue reading the posts on your smartphone in the browser. Since the test run is aimed specifically at visitors who are not logged in, simple steps often help. Anyone who logs in with their account in the mobile browser usually bypasses the blocking window immediately. Alternatively, deleting cookies and browser data resets detection. The system then classifies the visitor as a new user. In addition, by switching to the old subdomain (i.e. https://old.reddit.com/), the classic and unrestricted version of the platform loads.