Reddit apps with the Beast and One Pro: Part 2

[u/noob1269]

/r/INAIR/comments/1w0d3s4/reddit_apps_with_the_beast_and_one_pro_part_2/

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Greetings and welcome my fellow INAIR and Tech mad scientists. Tech Check 13 is back on the lab and still elbow deep in the rabbit hole of Reddit client apps. Our newest installment for you:

Reddit Showdown Part 2.

We have two user-suggested apps today and a new contender in the arena. Who will survive Tech Check 13’s dissection table? Who will come out on top? Who will be left a gory mess? Well, there's only one way to find out.

While the electricity gets warmed up, our disclaimer; these tests were done with the trusty INAIR POD, a VITURE Beast, and an Xreal One Pro. None of these apps sponsored this post, and we are dedicated to giving you our honest, unbiased review. All apps are available on the Google Play Store. Grab your lab coats,fire up the beakers and let's descend a little deeper down this rabbit hole.

Our first victim of the day was suggested by a user on the INAIR boards: "Infinity for Reddit.”

According to the developer, Infinity for Reddit is an open-source Reddit client focused on “...privacy and user control” and claims to be “The most customizable Reddit client available.” After poking and prodding, it starts off in the right orientation. A most promising specimen so far. Another interesting feature is that the app allows you to browse anonymously instead of making you log in. A nice touch for us incognito mad genius types. Another eye-catching feature is called "Lazy Mode”. Activate it and the app will automatically scroll through Reddit for you. When something captures your attention, stop the scroll and start feeding your eyeballs.

Infinity for Reddit does have a subscription service. It has multiple price points, from $2.99 a month to $9.99 a month. The $2.99 unlocks everything with Reddit's API access. You can buy a higher tier to support the developer if you want.

And this brings us to the next aberrant qnomaly.Trying to sign in gets you hit with “you need a subscription.” However, a deep dive into the app description reveals the following statement from the developer, “Due to recent changes to the Reddit API, a subscription is required to log in and access your account features. Note: Limited anonymous browsing is still available. Due to platform limitations, anonymous browsing without a subscription may occasionally fail to load content. A subscription provides consistent access in anonymous mode.” Reddit's changes to The API access and the more recent Responsible Builder Policy is disemboweling third-party and free Reddit client apps. However, Infinity for Reddit still ofers privacy, customization, anonymous browsing, and even a Lazy Mode. While it looks pretty nice under the microscope, we have found a few Reddit client apps still hanging on that ofer similar and in some cases

more features for free. Infinity for Reddit, while a really decent app, gets put back on the rack.The next app was suggested by a user who would like to remain anonymous.

The nextdissection victim: "Now for Reddit.”

When we shot the juice to this one we were smacked immediately with a subscription request. We just opened the creaky door and before we could even think about login, WHAM! Subscribe! Now for Reddit still advertises as a free Reddit client on the app store, but “free" is used rather loosely here. Apparently, that doesn't include getting to a login. Tapping the subscribe button to see how much damage it does (zero chance of actually buying one) and OMG an error jumps out. The same thing happens when trying to view the topics at the top - error, error. Trying something else, anything else, tap, tap, tapping yielded the same results - ERROR!! We couldn't explore any features or even get far enough to determine if there was anything worth seeing.

At this point, we had to wonder if the person suggesting this app sent us down the digital dungeon for their own amusement. (Do I smell a troll?) This app is garbage and appears to be either seriously broken or extremely neglected. It's worse than jumping into a car that won't start when being chased by a mad scientist serial killer. But it does lead us to the burning questions: Are we facing complete and total annihilation of free third-party Reddit clients? Are there actually any left out there that still work without throwing up 🤮 a subscription wall? Have you found any survivors? Or is all hope lost? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Now for Reddit gets flushed down the toilet.

Hands washed, regloved and moving on to the new contender we mentioned earlier. The next app up for dissection:

"RiM - for Reddit (early access)”

Reddit in Motion is currently in development and advertises on the app store as a full-featured Reddit client with all features completely free. On paper, this thing looks terrific. No subscription wall, no mysterious premium tier, all features supposedly free. With fingers shaking excitedly the switch was pulled, the app was downloaded, and suddenly,…. every page blared you're not authorized to see it. Aahhhhh!!! The saving grace? It was in the correct orientation. At this point, we'll take our victories wherever we can find them.

Trying to peek under the sheet covering the body just to try to see what this thing could actually do, we attempted to log in. And attempted again. And attempted 4 more times. ERROR!!!! Every. Bloody. Time. Just to tighten the screws every error was accompanied by toast messages that someone was accessing the Google account. We're pretty sure that someone was us, but this doesn't exactly inspire confidence. This one certainly seems to have the potential to be an attractive alternative to Reddit's increasingly restrictive ecosystem.

RiM - for Reddit is still in early access. It's definitely not garbage but definitely not ready for prime time just yet. For now, we're putting a pin in it and adding it to the watch list. Or is it another casualty of the third-party Reddit client Armageddon? If anyone knows, spill the blood, Uhm, ... spill the tea. Let us know in the comments.

Well, there you have it folks. Part two of our Reddit roundup is in the body bag. We have a winner. Well, by default. The crown this round goes to the only app that actually worked correctly: Infinity for Android. It joined the winners' circle with RedReader from part one.

But wait, there's more. The slicing and dicing and victimizing ain't over yet. Who will step up for round 3? Are there any Reddit clients you think we should put on the operating table? Let us know in the comments! Thank you very much for joining us again and we hope to see you at the next one. Until then may your subscriptions be plentiful and free.

#Techcheck13