The company confirmed to me that it is moving in a direction that other platforms have taken: converting users to the app. Reddit says that the test aims to find out if people like me—those who use the service but aren’t generally logged in—get a better experience with the app.
The app calls the same backhand services as the website, and it’s UI is governed by the same company. The only possible reason an experience would be “better in the app” as so often claimed is if the website was intentionally rendered useless.
The real reason is that apps have access to more data about you than websites do, and data is valuable.
Absolutely. As someone who was using the website back during the GFC, I cant help but think of that godfather meme every time I hear something new about Reddit these days.