Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian will “appcast” the new Reddit app at 5pm PT (kamcord.com)
33 points by arathnam 3708 days ago
7 comments

IMO it has nothing on Alien Blue and they've now pulled Alien Blue from the app store, it's quite sad really.

It feels like going from a well designed, highly configurable application that really took UX into account to an app that feels like a web frame and wants you to use the website instead.

The likely reason that they've pulled Alien Blue is because they're monetizing the new app with large obnoxious ads inserted into the timeline that look like stories (though, in fairness, are clearly marked sponsored).

If monetizing the mobile client becomes a main source of revenue for them you can expect them to pull a move like Twitter did and disable every 3rd party client to force you to use theirs.

AB already has story-like ads
Whoah, they pulled alien blue?? Never going to delete that app.
Word.

Not trying to be a downer, but if I were to lose Alien Blue before the 'official' app is up to par, I'd just be browsing and interacting with reddit far less.

The new app is that bad in comparison.

These days, interacting less with reddit can only be a good thing.
I think there is a lesson here about company/app development. Alien Blue did NOT look it does today when it first launched. That app was a few years of feedback and iteration. There is no way that Reddit could nail it on the first version. I'm not trying to give them a pass but I don't see a way for them to have succeed using the replacement strategy.
They're able to take those lessons and apply them to the new reddit app though.
So since this app is obviously less feature filled than the apps that it intends to replace (thinking alien blue)... what are people using as their new reddit app?

I've been trying to adjust to Narwhal, but its not quite sticking with me for some reason. Suggestions?

I'm sticking with Alien Blue at the moment, as I mentioned in another comment the new app doesn't even come close IMO and I'm sure they'll give the old line of 'we're working hard to improve it every day, adding new features etc... etc...' - but Alien Blue wasn't broken - it has been one of the best designed apps on my phones over the years. Why replace something people rated so highly with something half assed and piecemeal?
I've tried most (if not all) of them on Android and stopped on "reddit is fun" as it's the most pliable for my needs.
I like Antenna on ios. Maybe a little adjustment because it's strongly gesture oriented, but once you get comfortable with that, it feels pretty natural.
On Android, Baconreader is king for me. One of three apps I've actually bought in my nearly 8 years on Android.
He's live talking about the app now FYI
So, for anyone who missed this:

They talked about what they were drinking for 10 minutes. Did a poll on how to drink whiskey. He scrolled through a few pages on the Reddit App, clicked on 1 /r/aww/ link. Demo lasted all of like 30 seconds. And then they snapchatted with some fro-ed out guy for 30 minutes.

I didn't learn a single thing about the app other than it looks like a bad Reddit Blue. Gonna stick with RIF myself.

What does "appcast" mean?
It means Alexis is a personal investor in "Kamcord" which is like twitch for your phone. If you're interested in watching Clash of Clans and the messages someone has on their Kik, then they've got a video stream for you.
This sentence sounds like a spoof of the modern software ecosystem.
I'd like to watch a tinder stream
Excellent I can learn from the best
It's going to end up as one of the following IMO:

A) Trying to promote it despite from what I've seen most people being quite upset as they felt Alien Blue was so much better and brushing over those comments while pushing their 'vision' hard.

B) An apology for the new app in comparison to Alien Blue - 'We hear your feedback and are working round the clock...'

I'm assuming it's like Twitch, but for less interesting content.
Disagree, I'd rather watch someone stream dating apps or snapchat than video games.
Yeah maybe I can learn from someone on match.com
50kb to display a blank page, AFAICT. But it at least tries to let you "Watch this live stream and chat with %s!"
Apparently its supposed to mean broadcasting the screen of the app live..
Streaming his apps and phone live
Perhaps he's going to do an AMA through their offical app?
So, we can all be even more disappointed on a stream instead of in our phones?
Is it available outside the main english countries yet?
He's live!!!!