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Ask Tildes: What alternative apps/webapps do you use to browse Reddit?
For all its flaws, Reddit is still a great news source, especially for niche areas. Unfortunately, more and more dark patterns are being added to Reddit's official site and apps. I'm reaching a saturation point and thinking I should probably switch to an alternative way of browsing it. I see a lot of apps aimed at browsing images/GIFs. I'd like something more similar to old/compact Reddit, optimized for text without distractions, but ideally less buggy. Any recommendations?
Edit: thanks all for your answers!
I use Apollo where I can. It’s not perfect, but it’s way better than the website. And the dev behind it actually cares about it. I’ve used some terminal-based Reddit browsers, such as tuir and rtv, but these seem to not be maintained any more, and I get authentication errors with them when attempting to log in that I haven’t been able to resolve. Really wish there was a good, actively maintained TUI client for Reddit.
+1 for Apollo. My only gripe is that we still don't have a usable iPad layout.
I use Apollo too, but the slow development takes some patience - it's only one dev, which is amazing considering how many features the app has. But there's been several times where I'd wish it was open source so I could help fix a bug instead of waiting for a monthly release.
I don’t use any alternative. I make full use of the awful new UI to constantly remind me that it’s just not worth spending time on that atrocious website that clearly doesn’t respect its users time.
At some point, it’s a feature not a bug.
On my desktop I use RES.
On my android phone I use Boost for Reddit. Has the nicest interface with lots of settings to customize it. The dev is also active and fixes bugs really fast. /r/BoostForReddit
I've been using Boost for years now whenever I have an Android phone. Of the 50+ Reddit clients I've tried over the years, I think Boost and Slide are the best.
I'm currently using the Galaxy Fold 3 and both fully support the two pane layout that makes browsing on the inner screen a lot better.
And RES on the desktop is a must.
Thanks, I ended up following your suggestions. I just wish RES had a way to set the default sort for posts...
Reddit has a setting for default sort, is that what you want? https://www.reddit.com/prefs/ scroll down to
comment options.That setting is for sorting comments, not posts.
I think it could be done with a browser extension. For example, I found this one: https://github.com/Bewelge/RedditBestToHot. It's published here for Firefox. The code isn't incredibly complex so you could probably edit it for your needs. https://github.com/Bewelge/RedditBestToHot/blob/master/content.js.
That's exactly what I wanted! Thank you so much!
I actually thought about writing it myself. I had made a similar one for compact Reddit for mobile a while back. But the fact that it already exists is even better :)
I use Sync for reddit, and have for five years. The "pro" version only costs five bucks, and it's recommended buy through Google Play, instead of through the app, because of occasional Google API issues (not the app's fault). It's in a bit of a development slowdown after the next major version was trashed by some of the community led the dev to take some time to regroup, but I'm using the beta (after buying in-app pro years ago), and it's perfect and even prefer the new version.
You can set it to show page demarcations, but it doesn't do anything else but show you what's posted to your feed.
I've used NoSurf for Reddit for years, to dip in from time to time. It's a pretty clunky client, but that's a feature, not a problem.
Also, more recently I've installed Stealth which is a very good client. However without the strict limits of NoSurf, I've found myself getting sucked in a little. I'm on the cusp of uninstalling it again.
On Android, I use relay for reddit, mostly for its ability to hide already read items. Not probably the best from a content-scrolling addiction point of view, but works for me.
On desktop, it's RES and old reddit all the way.
teddit.net
there is also libredd.it if you like the 'new reddit' aesthetic more.
There's a suite of similar services :
How do you login on teddit? I can't seem to find that. Thanks for the suggestion !
I don't think you can. Maybe it's a planned feature?
You can fetch Reddit RSS and filter sources with a RSS reader. I do use Feedly and it natively support RSS, Reddit and Twitter sources, really powerful for research or filter noise.
You know you can still use old reddit on the web, right?
I do, and that's what I use. The thing that prompted me to ask is that even old Reddit defaults to "best" sort for posts, with seemingly no way to change it. This new "best" sort seems to be optimized for clicks and engagement, and doesn't seem to recommend quality stuff. I don't want to be bubbled by Reddit.
Also, old and compact Reddit are harder and harder to use on mobile.
Yeah, I use multi-reddits to track the higher quality / lower volume subreddits. I have three multi reddits and I place the subreddit in the multireddit depending on how many votes their top posts are likely to get. Then I just sort by top in the last 24 hours.
Did they change the way the Best sorting works? It used to just be a version of "Top" that factored in the proportion of downvotes and the amount of votes as well.
I've noticed things with a very low or even negative score getting bubbled up in "best" sorting, which I didn't notice happening previously. I can't prove that this is a change to the sorting algorithm, because "best" is fairly complicated and has hidden inputs, but it certainly feels like it.
That's for comments. For posts, they recently rolled out their own facebookesque click-generating machine learning thing:
https://www.reddit.com/r/blog/comments/o5tjcn/evolving_the_best_sort_for_reddits_home_feed/
I use Baconreader, on iOS and Android. On desktop, I use old.reddit.com, which is the official way to avoid the redesign. You can set it as default. RES takes care of the rest.
I mostly use reddit for moderating my subs and a few very niche subs (it's kinda refreshing to hop on, see that the front page has maybe 3-5 new posts a day, and hop off). If on the web I use old.reddit with RES and Moderator Toolbox. For mobile I use Relay as it has the cleanest interface and best mod tools I've come across in an app. The only thing it's really lacking is modmail (it's present but not very robust), but since most mod messages are not time sensitive and/or filled with idiots, I don't really care that I don't use it on mobile.
Early this year the reddit app was crashing in minutes and seconds and was basically unusable enough for me to go and try those alternatives. I tried Joey and RIF (Basically old reddit but it's an app, which seems to be what you want) and eventually settled on Boost. I think I settled on Boost because it's more customizable and the default setting is either more similar to the official reddit app or more intuitive if you're coming from there.