With a browser the user can install extensions and do things that benefit them, in an app you get exactly what the app owner gives you. If monetization is your only purpose, you would choose apps exclusively if your users are willing to accept it.
The most-used browsers, too, are agents of the company making them.
Alas, browsers are also apps.
Which of those things can the official Reddit app do currently?
If you're saying "the Reddit app will slowly change to do bad things" then say that and don't imply it already does those things.
Looking at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.reddit.fro..., scroll down and click the 'View Details' under Permissions. It shows that the app can read your contacts, network connections, approximate location, contents of your USB storage plus much more which would cover all of codedokode's points adequately I think? (I'm not sure of the annoying notifications, perhaps all apps can do that..)
The list in full:
This app has access to:
Photos/Media/Files
read the contents of your USB storage
modify or delete the contents of your USB storage
Location
approximate location (network-based)
Storage
read the contents of your USB storage
modify or delete the contents of your USB storage
Microphone
record audio
Camera
take pictures and videos
Contacts
find accounts on the device
Device & app history
read sensitive log data
Identity
add or remove accounts
find accounts on the device
Other
receive data from Internet
view network connections
prevent device from sleeping
run at startup
read Google service configuration
draw over other apps
read sync settings
full network access
create accounts and set passwords
use accounts on the device
toggle sync on and off
install shortcutsAlso if it has 100s of dialogs popping up users get a fatigue. They tend to say yes to everything and that's how default Android permissions are
Security model should be automated. Request only when needed
Can't see why it needs all permissions upfront. Apps keep nagging u until we provide all permissions.
90% of my reddit usage is posting amd reading text. 10% is photo related. So browser is better for me.
I don't need an app to have all access when I upload photos once a month
Microphone is granted along camera. Camera is needed if you want to upload photos.(I might be wrong about the microphone)
Storage is always necessary for apps that cache anything from the web.
That leaves contacts and location.
So you can disable contacts and location, but all your metadata including device and network information is read and probably transmitted. In most cases it's good enough as location information as well.
This is why users need control over the internal API layer of their phones so they can feed spoofed data to apps.
Perhaps this is the case on Android, but this is explicitly forbidden by Apple:
> (iv) Access Apps must respect the user’s permission settings and not attempt to manipulate, trick, or force people to consent to unnecessary data access. For example, apps that include the ability to post photos to a social network must not also require microphone access before allowing the user to upload photos. Where possible, provide alternative solutions for users who don’t grant consent. For example, if a user declines to share Location, offer the ability to manually enter an address.
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#dat...
To be clear, I'm not claiming it does those things, but are you claiming it does not? And will not or could not?
People who use Brave use it for reasons other than access to a unique rendering engine. Many of those reasons apply to the iOS version as well.
Not making a case for Apple's decision here. I'd be happy if Gecko were available on iOS; there's no way I'd burn my battery like that, but competition is good.
But it's not as simple as "there's one browser on iOS" either, the rendering engine is just one part of what makes a browser unique and useful.
I think people are right not to trust Tencent with this kind of access.
iOS doesn't allow apps to read the user's phone number or scan local Wi-Fi access points. The only files sandboxed apps can read on iOS are ones created by the app, explicitly passed to the app, or made available by the user, which is also possible on the web.
The only thing mentioned that has the slightest bit of merit is being able to spam push notifications, and this is something that a) requires the user to grant permission, b) is easily disabled by the user if it's annoying, and c) explicitly forbidden by Apple:
> 4.5.3 Do not use Apple Services to spam, phish, or send unsolicited messages to customers, including Game Center, Push Notifications, etc. […]
> 4.5.4 Push Notifications must not be required for the app to function, and should not be used for advertising, promotions, or direct marketing purposes or to send sensitive personal or confidential information. Abuse of these services may result in revocation of your privileges.
Reddit is not exempt from this, no one is.
Currently using this thing called 33mail. Temp-mail works most times too, but 33mail forwards me the emails so I can even use forgot password option. On a relevant note, there are few websites that provide temporary phone numbers if you're from US/Canada, or in contexts US/Canada temporary phone number helps.
If you were using it just to read answers, you can still do that with a tiny bit of effort and avoid logging in. Just put a ? at the end of the URL (it’s originally a parameter called “shared”, which would be added as ?shared=1). It will then assume you’re coming from a search engine link and let you in without the login popup.
I stopped using it when they started search cloaking and have never had cause to reconsider.
But it doesn't work for 2 consequitive requests
Luckily, Quora doesn't have quality content these days, like it used to back in the day when experts wrote answers
I will give up on reddit if they do the same.
Isn't visits a valid criteria? Why force a mobile app?