As a long-time Redditor, I’ve tried and tested various ways to experience the “front page of the internet.” Desktop, mobile site, official mobile app, third-party apps, desktop version on mobile–you name it. So, when it comes to the best mobile experience, which one takes the cake?
Deep Dive Into the Reddit App
If you’ve ever spent time on Reddit, you know how addictive scrolling through memes, AMAs, and niche subreddits can be. The official Reddit app takes this experience and tailors it to mobile users with a modern and intuitive design. But is it all smooth sailing? Let’s start with what the app gets right.
The Good
There’s no denying that the Reddit app delivers where it matters most. The app’s interface is clean and user-friendly, with a bottom navigation bar that puts everything you need within a thumb’s reach. Whether you’re jumping between your favorite communities, checking inbox messages, or chatting with a fellow Redditor, it’s all neatly organized. It’s a design that prioritizes efficiency without overwhelming you with options.
Compared to the mobile website, the app feels noticeably faster. Pages and posts load quickly, scrolling is smoother, and the overall performance is reliable. Even on slower connections, the app keeps up, saving you from frustrating delays when you’re chasing that next dopamine hit. The Reddit app, hands down, has many more features and functionalities than what the mobile site offers.
The app’s feed algorithm does an excellent job of keeping your content relevant. It primarily showcases posts from subreddits you’re subscribed to and only occasionally sprinkles in suggestions for unjoined communities. This makes the experience feel tailored, helping you avoid the randomness that sometimes creeps into the mobile site.
If you want a complete mobile experience, the Reddit app is unbeatable. Unlike many other social apps, it isn’t just a stripped-down version of the website. Rather, it feels like a product built specifically to enhance the mobile experience.
The Bad
As much as I enjoy the Reddit app, it’s not without its quirks. While the overall experience is great, a few issues occasionally disrupt the fun. One of the most frustrating problems is when you open a video hosted on a third-party platform and there’s no sound. This doesn’t happen for all third-party websites but only a select few. When you play the video, you see a small text at the bottom saying, “This video has no sound.” However, if you open the same Reddit post on the web, you can hear the sound fine. This can turn an otherwise funny or interesting post into a mildly annoying experience.
Speaking of videos, the app’s video player seems to be quite buggy. Whether it’s a glitchy pause button, buffering issues, or videos that refuse to play altogether, it’s clear that the video posts need some fine-tuning. Commenting on a video post might seem to be a nightmare. If you’re watching Reddit videos while lying down, your phone’s sudden orientation change will also break the video player. These bugs aren’t dealbreakers, but they’re noticeable enough to be a gripe.
There have been moments when I tapped on one thing, only for something else entirely to pop up. Maybe I’m just a little clumsy (aren’t we all?), but it seems like the app’s tap detection could be more precise. Misclicking, especially in busy threads or trying to hit a tiny “reply” button, can be a bit of a pain. Again, this often happens in video and GIF posts.
Many People Prefer the Mobile Site Despite the Hiccups
The Reddit mobile site has its share of challenges, and for many users, these can be frustrating enough to push them toward the app. The most noticeable issue with the mobile site is its persistent nudging to download or use the official Reddit app. This is especially more noticeable if you’re not logged in. From pop-ups to banners, the experience can feel more like an ad campaign than seamless browsing.
Unlike the app, the mobile site doesn’t have a bottom navigation bar for quick access to key features like communities, inbox, or chat. Navigation feels clunkier, requiring more effort to switch between sections. Speaking of chat, it’s completely missing from the home screen, further limiting the experience for users who rely on this feature.
The feed is quite cluttered, with almost 50% of post recommendations coming from subreddits you visited once but didn’t join or have a similar topic as subreddits you’ve joined. Showing occasional suggestions of subreddits that might interest you is fine in my opinion. However, the mobile site overdoes this, sometimes even showing 2-3 consecutive posts from unjoined communities.
Posts with media like images or videos don’t display full previews on the mobile site. Instead, you get a small thumbnail that you need to tap to view in full. While this might not seem like a major inconvenience, it does add an extra step, making media-heavy threads less user-friendly. While these hiccups don’t make the mobile site unusable, they do detract from the overall experience, especially for users accustomed to the app’s polished design and quick access features.
Despite its limitations, the Reddit mobile site does have a few advantages over the app, making it a better choice for some users. One clear win for the mobile site is its handling of videos and media hosted on third-party platforms. Unlike the app, sound plays without any hitches, making the experience much smoother for video-heavy threads.
Ads on the mobile site are generally smaller and less intrusive compared to the app. They’re easier to scroll past and less likely to be clicked accidentally, which is a welcome change for anyone who finds app ads too prominent.
The small media previews on the mobile site, while sometimes inconvenient, have their advantages. They let you quickly skim through posts without having every image or video displayed on full screen. This can be especially handy in public settings where you might not want everyone around you catching a glimpse of your Reddit feed.
While the mobile site has its perks, they’re not compelling enough to make up for what it lacks compared to the app. The absence of essential features makes the site feel incomplete. Add to that the clunky navigation and constant app prompts, and the mobile site starts to feel more like a backup option than a serious contender.
Comparing all the pros and cons, for me personally, the Reddit app feels superior to the mobile site till now. The only time I use the mobile site for Reddit is when I want to use the desktop version. If they improve the mobile site in the future, then maybe I can give it another consideration.
