Re:Show HN: I built an app to block Shorts and Reels
by hombre_fatal on Monday August 18, 2025 @03:16PM
(#44944206)
Good point. I remember Facebook doing obfuscation just to hide the word "sponsored" long ago just so you couldn't easily hide its ads.
That said, they put up a fight in the browser because user interventions (browser plugins, greasemonkey scripts, ad blockers) are viable in the browser but not in native apps.
Though this is also why they want to force you to use their app, and I'm not sure how to incentivize apps to even exist as websites. It feels like a dying fluke that places like Reddit even maintain a web frontend for their app.
That said, they put up a fight in the browser because user interventions (browser plugins, greasemonkey scripts, ad blockers) are viable in the browser but not in native apps.
Though this is also why they want to force you to use their app, and I'm not sure how to incentivize apps to even exist as websites. It feels like a dying fluke that places like Reddit even maintain a web frontend for their app.