I’m desktop-only user and never had any experience with Reddit/Lemmy apps, and the sentiment towards them confuzes me.
I can imagine that the third-party apps for Reddit were better (?not bugged?) than the official one. But what made you to love them? Was the experience even better than desktop use?
Feel free to write about both Reddit and Lemmy apps in your responses.
Being a desktop-only user puts you in a rare minority these days. I have worked for a lot of large sites and in general, audiences have been mostly mobile for many years, as in more than 50% access on their phones. In 2023 it’s more like 80%, maybe evenly split between app and mobile website. With desktop in slow decline. Apologies to desktop folks, I’m not saying you don’t exist or don’t matter. Just that you are special and becoming a rarer breed as time goes on.
So most of the talk is between mobile web and mobile app, while desktop goes fairly unnoticed. This is likely why you are hearing so much chatter about apps. If you don’t even use your phone, it would probably be hard to explain the subtle differences between using a phone website and a nice native app.
I believe that, but I really don’t get it. I have a phone like everyone else, and I’ll use it when I’m out and about, but when I’m at home, having a proper mouse and keyboard and a large screen is just a way better experience.
I just spent an hour keeping an eye on my kids while they played outside. A desktop / laptop computer just isn’t an option for many lifestyles. And as phones have taken over and gotten more expensive, fewer people are willing to spend $1000 on a computer anymore because they’re already paying $1000 for a phone. I’m not sure I always agree that desktop is a better experience, either. Mobile interfaces tend to be lean and focused. My password manager integrates more easily on my phone than elsewhere. Push notifications are often helpful to have. To each his own but I wouldn’t assume desktop is objectively better all the time.
I have better things to do when I’m at home than hop on social media. I really only used reddit when I didn’t have anything better to do.