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It's been a few months since Reddit shut down the vast majority of third-party clients, and the protests have mostly died down. But using Reddit on mobile is a nightmare—it’s slow, riddled with prompts, and constantly asks if you want notifications. Fans of third-party clients were trying to avoid exactly these issues.
There is one simple workaround: Use the web version instead. But Reddit also goes out of its way to make this annoying: There are constant pop-ups encouraging you to install the Reddit app, and they take up half the screen. Let’s talk about how to avoid these pop-ups on Apple devices and then go over a few third-party apps—including one still working on Android.
A Safari extension called Sink It aims to improve the web version of Reddit. Most importantly, it removes those constant annoying prompts to install the mobile app. It also adds features like adaptive dark mode, color-coded comments, links opening in new tabs, and double-tap to upvote. Best of all, Sink It is completely free.
To get started install the app from the App Store. When you open the app, you’ll see instructions for setting everything up.
To summarize: Open the Settings app on your phone, scroll to and open Safari, then tap Safari Extensions. From here you can enable Sink It. Then just use Reddit in your browser the way you normally do; the most annoying prompts will disappear. You’ll also get a bunch of new features, including adaptive dark mode. It’s not a perfect replacement for apps like Apollo, but it’s better than the official Reddit app.
Android, unfortunately, doesn’t really support browser extensions without a lot of setup. Yes, you could switch to Firefox as your browser, but I struggled to find any extensions for that browser that are specifically made to improve Reddit on mobile.
Reddit’s API is still working for certain third-party clients, mostly those that offer accessibility features. One such client is the completely free RedReader, an Android app that developers have confirmed will continue to be free, thanks to Reddit’s accessibility exception. This app is speedy, open source, doesn’t have ads, doesn’t constantly ask you to enable notifications, and supports multiple themes.
Apple users also have a third-party app that’s still working: Dystopia for Reddit. This application will continue to be free, again thanks to an accessibility exemption. It’s pretty barebones, but it works, and it’s a lot less annoying than the official Reddit app.
A final alternative is downloading your Reddit data and getting off Reddit entirely. That’s more or less what I’ve done since the third-party clients shut down, and I have to say: My mental health is a lot better for it. If you're not ready for that, though, the solutions above should work pretty well.
