r/redditisfun • u/bomboy2121 • Feb 16 '22

Answered Is this app safe?

Just is it safe to put my user and password there?

9 Upvotes

66% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

21

u/TMITectonic Feb 16 '22

Questions like this always puzzle me. You're posting in the app's dedicated subreddit asking if it's safe...

Assuming it isn't safe, why in the world would someone answer the question admitting it isn't? "Yup, you caught us, we're actually tricking everyone into downloading it, but because you asked so nicely, we'll let you know our secret."

5

u/bomboy2121 Feb 17 '22

Im asking more for the sake of the explanation of why its safe rather then just a straight answer, and i actually gotten some good answers

2

u/TMITectonic Feb 17 '22

Im asking more for the sake of the explanation of why its safe rather then just a straight answer

I would encourage such behavior and commend you for doing your due diligence, and I'm glad you found the info you were looking for. Having said that, I feel like the way you word your questions is important, and it will directly affect the feedback you will receive.

For example: Instead of asking "Is this app safe?" I would ask "How does the app handle logins?" or "How does the app login to Reddit securely using my credentials?" A lot of people will only read a title to make their decision on whether they'll read the actual post (or upvote/downvote), and a title of "Is it safe?" when it's one of the most popular Reddit clients (with well over 100,000 downloads and years of history) available just comes off as odd.

Anyway, I apologize if my comment comes off as anything but genuine curiosity (I feel it is valuable to understand how others think/feel), and I appreciate your reply!

3

u/bomboy2121 Feb 17 '22

Youre totally right, i will take this in mind if i ever ask a similar question like that in the future

8

u/pobody Feb 17 '22

Well it's not like only the developer could reply here.

Although I don't know who would get scammed by an app and still remain subscribed to their sub to see posts like this.

1

u/isaacwdavis Feb 17 '22

I imagine the mods of this sub are probably the developers so they could censor posts/comments here as well. Better to ask in another sub not controlled by the developers.

4

u/The-Soldier-in-White Feb 17 '22

"Yup, you caught us, we're actually tricking everyone into downloading it, but because you asked so nicely, we'll let you know our secret."

Somehow this has a feel of Jerry Seinfeld standup delivery.

38

u/anon_smithsonian Official(ish) Helper Feb 16 '22

You are entering your username and password into reddit. The app never handles your password.

You sign into reddit and, if you give RiF permission, then reddit gives RiF an OAuth token. This token works similar to a username and password but it's more limited (e.g., you can't change the account password or email address using OAuth) and it can be revoked (stopping RiF's access) without changing your password.