Tell HN: Reddit mandatory login to see sensitive pages

[btzo]

If you try to look at reddit.com/r/nsfw and you’re not logged, you‘ll see now a log in button to see the content of the page. Until yesterday it was just a simple button with I’m over 18 text.

[NowhereMan]

On another note, I tried to make a throwaway on `old.reddit.com`. I couldn't find a way to make an account without using an email. I had to manually type in `old.reddit.com/register` to get to a form that would let me not type in an email and even then it wasn't obvious that the email wasn't required.

[Sakos]

If you pay close attention, you might notice that the email address field isn't required on the old.reddit.com signup popup. Press next without filling it in and you get the username/password part of registration.

[n4bz0r]

I would've never guessed it's still possible to create an account without using an email or a phone on any site in 2022.

Makes me wonder, why do they keep the functionality? Did they forget about the page?

[croutonwagon]

That must be a recent change. Because at least as recently as early this year, you could just click "continue" while leaving the email field blank and create an account.

[haunter]

Just tried and made an account without email. Just click on next.

And there is also a signup button, didn't have to go for any special page

[nosefrog]

I love how Reddit forces you to the mobile app to see NSFW content, but iOS apps aren't supposed to be pornographic...

[bennysomething]

Use either old.reddit.com or i.reddit.com

Firefox and Chrome both have old Reddit plugins that will do it automatically.

Unfortunately it's not compatible with newer Firefox android .

[hbn]

I also have a very strong hunch that the day is coming where this gets deprecated. There will be some kind of big database migration or service refactor, and reddit devs will not want to be messing with that "gross, old legacy codebase" to make it continue working and so the entire thing will be taken offline.

[Rackedup]

> Unfortunately it's not compatible with newer Firefox android .

I'm using it on Firefox Android... Mozilla just made it hard to use most addons. You have to create an addon collection, add the extensions that you want to it, and then use that collection on Firefox Android: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-use-collections-add...

[ekianjo]

> newer Firefox android .

still waiting for mozilla to release more than 5 extensions on android. they are too busy with other things apparently.

[LinuxBender]

PrivacyRedirect [1] is a nice multi-purpose addon for this in my opinion. Most of the redirects can be easily customized and all of them can individually be enabled/disabled. It also has multiple nitter/teddit proxies defined for the times they get overloaded.

Redirects Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, & Google Maps requests to privacy friendly alternatives - Nitter, Invidious, Bibliogram, & OpenStreetMap.

When the time comes that addons do not get around such things, then I would suggest BlockSite [2]

[1] - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/privacy-redir...

[2] - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/block-website...

[jamesbfb]

Desktop mode on mobile still works fine for me. That said, I really don’t feel like having to login when in incognito mode when I want a cheeky wank in the loo.

[obituary_latte]

For me this morning on ios it was forcing me to use the app to view nsfw content otherwise return to the homepage was the only other option. They're probably a/b testing, but either way, it's an immediate exit for me.

[Comevius]

They are A/B testing the login requirement at the moment.

Unfortunately logging in is also a nightmare on Reddit, with distracting content continuously flying in your face.

[nend]

Yes, they're A/B testing multiple things with NSFW content. Up until recently I was in the "you must use the mobile app instead of mobile site to see nsfw content" group. I'm not sure exactly when that changed for me, maybe a week or so ago, but I no longer have that requirement anyway.

[frakt0x90]

On a related note, on mobile if they try to make you install the app to view some content, you can just "request desktop site" and that will bypass the block. It's annoying and breaks a lot of the formatting for mobile, but if you're just trying to read something or watch a video, it works in a pinch.

[Tenoke]

The most annoying part is that android forgets to open reddit pages in rif all the time, so I have to deal with their site constantly.

[shreyshnaccount]

also some links on the app open up the website inside the app and then that redirects to the app again it's crazytown

[Areibman]

Replace `reddit.com` with `teddit.net`. Pages load normally and without ads

[JLCarveth]

You could also view the old version of reddit "old.reddit.com", however editing URLs like that is a pain to do on mobile. Very frustrating if I am looking for information on my phone and what I am looking for is on Reddit.

[digitallyfree]

I use Teddit a lot but found the original "teddit.net" performance to be quite poor, especially during peak US hours. It takes a lot of time to load more niche subs that aren't cached and video playback is stuttery.

I generally prefer teddit.adminforge.de, which uses the same Teddit code but runs on a much less loaded server and thus performs much better.

[RosanaAnaDana]

Can they IPO already so we can short this dying corpse of a company and have new anonymous but social way of sharing news and content?

What I want: a federated, self-hosted/pay-to-play, anonymous, active community.

I've tried mastodon. I never liked twitter and I prefer long form, threaded discussions. Do you want to make the next social media company? Figure out a way to do reddit without needing adds. If you can, FOSS/ federated. Remember when reddit users covered the cost of reddit server time with donations? It can be done.

[CodeWriter23]

How much are you willing to pay?

[mikkergp]

Is this in web? It’s been terrible on mobile for a while. I think you have to login and be on the app. Reddit has added nothing but user hostile features over the past few years. It sucks because all things considered Reddit used to feel like a pretty bottom-up non corporate “for the people” type product, that’s almost all gone now.

[prawn]

In Safari/iOS you can just hit Request Desktop Website in the aA menu to bypass the app-pushing messages and Mature or divisive or NSFW thread blocking.

I wish I hadn’t discovered this because it was a great way for me to realise I was time-wasting and should just read a different site.

[DiffEq]

Welcome to the new Dig, oh….I mean Reddit.

[btzo]

Yes that was on the web, not mobile

[bjt2n3904]

It's not just that. If you attempt to view something "spicy" like 3D printed guns on a mobile device, it tries to force you to install the app.

[swayvil]

It's another form of information control.

Or maybe call it propaganda. I mean, it's a public conversation. But when you selectively reveal and censor. That's a narrative sculpter.

And of course "sensitive" means whatever reddit wants it to mean.

[arbitrage]

who's ever been censored on reddit?

what is actively being censored, there?

[swarnie]

Stan tells me https://www.reddit.com/r/randnsfw has been broken for months now also.

[chownie]

Both r/random and r/randnsfw are broken, they appear to be reseeding every day rather than every request, a bit of a bizarre bug.

For what it's worth the reddit admins acknowledged it's non-functioning a few weeks ago but I don't think anything has come from that yet.

[obituary_latte]

For me this morning I noticed for the first time on iOS Safari it was trying to force me to use the Reddit app to view nsfw content otherwise return to the homepage was the only other option. They're probably a/b testing, but either way, it's an immediate page close for me. As soon as a website starts trying to force me to view their content a certain way, I become 99% less interested. I will just Google whatever it is and find it somewhere else if I want to see it bad enough.

[ss48]

Very likely, on non-reddit mobile app clients, you can access pages normally.

iOS: https://apolloapp.io/ Android: https://github.com/Docile-Alligator/Infinity-For-Reddit

[nathanaldensr]

This has been happening for awhile. I'm not sure why sometimes one is able to continue and other times one must logged in. I've chalked it up to Reddit insisting on tracking you (along with their ridiculous "use our app!" BS on mobile browsers).

[arbitrage]

reddit does covert and aggressive A/B evaluation on its live user base.

that may be why you see that behaviour inconsistently.

[metacritic12]

Reddit's corporate masters have basically figured out a user's LTV is way higher on their native app / logged in. Therefore they've degraded public access as much as possible without being called out on it to push people to native.

[xqcgrek2]

It's best to just entirely avoid reddit and other low quality social media.

[frank_nitti]

I can’t tell if Reddit was actually better when I started using it ~10 years ago, or if I was just more entertained by the novelty of it.

It still does have the important distinction from true “social media” sites that are based around who you add/follow, but they have made some incredibly poor decisions with the platform trying to be less of what made it great and instead trying to blend in with the trendy influencer platforms du jour

[JustSomeNobody]

Yeah yeah yeah. Let's just dismiss the entire site without regard to the fact that there are actually some very good subs on it.

[ryan-allen]

The sad thing is that there are genuinely decent subreddits, even, and I hate to admit it, Facebook groups for that matter.

Careful self-moderation on Reddit, Facebook, and Youtube can provide a lot of positive influence and information in your life, but it takes some work, and a lot of awareness.

The defaults are bloody awful. Yet for myself, I read awesome spooky fiction on r/nosleep, I get great and almost instant advice on my truck on Facebook, and YouTube is teaching me how to make shelters with tarps and how to tie bowline and trucker hitches.

I think, well I know, there is high quality content on social media out there. That it is being used to manipulate people and misinform people is a problem that will have to be solved. Or maybe it collapses and decentralizes like how it was before 2004. I'm sure we'll manage.

[the_only_law]

They also give idiotic prompts in their UI. Half the time I end up on their mobile site I get a pop up talking about cats and dogs, which I assume is supposed to be a metaphor for the mobile site and app somehow.

[Kiro]

Stop abusing Tell HN. It has been like this for ages for many people and it still works for others. Just reddit's regular stupid A/B testing.

[Victerius]

Try old.reddit.com instead.

[btzo]

It seems to work

[Eavolution]

If you're on android, honestly relay for reddit pro is the best thing I've bought. So glad it was a one time purchase and not a subscription. It's actually a good experience to use too.

[alkonaut]

When you want to browse a graphical subreddit just use a Reddit image browser like scrolller. Doesn’t work for commenting/posting though.

old.Reddit works for interacting but the UX on mobile is terrible.

[citizenkeen]

Using old.reddit.com, on mobile, you can look at an NSFW subreddit for about... a minute? And then you have to either log in or install the app.

[mouzogu]

I have this bug on reddit where it keeps enabling nsfw content. I disable it then next day it's re-enabled.

[robertoandred]

Oh I’m sure you’re being logged. It’s a question of if you’re logged in.

[sudden_dystopia]

Interesting because I have had this experience for about a year now.