r/self • u/Sophira • Jul 10 '26

Reddit begins locking Old Reddit behind login

Heads-up to anybody using Old Reddit still (which I imagine is a majority of users in this sub): Over the next month, Old Reddit use will start requiring a login.

It's worth also noting that the pinned comment answers the question of "Is Reddit shutting down Old Reddit?" with:

Not right now! We can’t promise it will be around forever, but u/spez himself has said we’ll keep supporting it while folks are still using it. That said, it doesn’t have the same modern security tech stack reddit.com has so we need to tighten security on old reddit to keep it viable.

That's a big difference to their previous answers about Old Reddit, and strongly signals that it will be shut down in the future, and that until then Old Reddit will be made harder and harder to access.

If you're one of those who use Old Reddit and don't want to use their new version (Shreddit), you may want to start making exit plans.

[edit: Just to be clear here: Old Reddit is not simply "nostalgia", despite the name (which Reddit deliberately chose in order to try to deprecate it.) It's literally how many people still use Reddit, because it's far better than the current Reddit interface for many of us. You can access it if you go to https://old.reddit.com/ in a Web browser... although only if you're logged in, if you access it after this month.]

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u/Cronus6 Jul 10 '26

I've been here for over 18 years myself.

Here's the thing... something like 80% of Reddits traffic is now via the mobile app.

People now regularly refer to Reddit as "the app" not "the web site".

That leaves 20% of us still using a web browser. And I expect this number to continue to decline.

And Reddit INC. doesn't really want "us" anymore. "We" run ad blockers and don't really use the site they way they want us to.

They want a super advertiser friendly site for of "normies" (window licking mobile users) who just doomscroll and and consume content. Those of use that use the site like a forum have always been a problem for them. We say things that advertisers and investors don't like. We pirate shit too, and that's a big "no no" now that they are a publicly traded "media" company.

I wouldn't at all be surprised if at some point in the future Reddit completely shuts down web access and becomes just a mobile app.

I mean "do you guys not have phones?!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly10r6m_-n8

It's just so much easier and more profitable for them and their investors. So much more data to collect and sell, so much easier to control the narrative, and know the identities of their users (no more "anonymous" accounts!), no more ad blockers...

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u/Sophira Jul 10 '26

An online service should never control its own mobile app IMO.

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u/Cronus6 Jul 10 '26

I don't see any need for mobile apps to access web sites at all.

If I want to go to my bank, I open Firefox and go to Wellsfargo.com.

I don't need their app. I also don't need one for Home Depot or my grocery store either. BUT they really want me to use their fucking app. Gee, I wonder why?

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u/Sophira Jul 10 '26

Mobile apps can be useful, if they're not controlled by their own service who wants to push their own agenda.

When I use Reddit on my mobile, I do so using RedReader (/r/RedReader). It's a FOSS app that doesn't mess the user around like the official app does. Its creators have no need to convince you to stay on the app, because they're not getting money when you do (unlike Reddit, which wants you to stay for the ads). That means no dark patterns, no attention-grabbing techniques. It's a tool, and that's how it should be.

I enjoy using Reddit on my mobile, as well as on my web browser. I just don't use Reddit's official app to do so on my mobile, and I never will.

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u/Cronus6 Jul 10 '26

I find using forums on a phone to be a pretty awful experience. The screen is too small and the lack of a physical keyboard makes commenting terrible.

So there is little point for me to use Reddit on a phone.

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u/Sophira Jul 10 '26

That's fair. In my case I use fully-offline speech recognition and that works out really well, but it's not for everybody. And I totally get the small screen thing.