How to access Reddit on mobile without signing-in or using the Reddit app

It is not uncommon to find Reddit links in the results of Internet searches, in chats, emails, or by subscribing to domain feeds on Reddit. If you click on a link that points to Reddit, one of two things may happen: the actual page on Reddit may open right away and you may read the original post and the replies. Or, the content may be blocked and you may get a prompt to either sign in to an account or use the official Reddit app to access the content.

The first scenario happens on the desktop and the second exclusively on Reddit when using mobile devices at the time of writing. The screenshot below (on the left) shows the prompt that mobile users may get when they open a page in a mobile browser without being signed in. It appears that the content is not blocked for all mobile users, but only a section of users. This forcible action has annoyed a lot of netizens.

Reddit mobile experience has limitations

In that case, Reddit states "to view posts in r/*** you must continue in the Reddit app or log in". Others may see the list of topics in a subreddit or the homepage, and any tap on a link opens the dreaded sign-up page.

Reddit wants users to use its own application on mobile or sign-in at least. While the company has not revealed why it is putting a block in place for some mobile users, it is likely that it wants more information about its users to boost registrations and revenue on the site.

More and more companies push their applications over accessing their services in browsers. The primary reason for that is that they get more control and less ad-blocking. Browsers may include native content blocking functionality or may support extensions that add this on user request.

Blocking ads and other undesirable content in native apps, e.g., the official Reddit app, is more complicated, and most Internet users do not do that because of that.

As a user, it is a nuisance, especially if you followed a link to a specific discussion. You may have no interest in registering an account or installing the official Reddit app (despite it being free) just to read that one page on the site. Sometimes, users may also not want information to be linked to their account.

So, how can you bypass the sign-up and app download prompts on Reddit mobile?

Ways around Reddit's mobile blocking

If you just want to access the content without having to sign in or use the Reddit app on mobile devices, then you have the following options.

Option 1: Use the "Old" Reddit

Use old Reddit mobile to access without logging in

Reddit maintains two versions of the site currently (at least at the time of writing): the new version that is loaded by default and the old version. The latter may be removed in the future, but it works fine currently. The old version does not enforce the use of the app or an account to access content on the site. Even better, it is very easy to access, especially if you are on Reddit already.

All you have to do is replace the www part of the address with old. For example:

• Change https://www.reddit.com/r/windows10/
• To: https://old.reddit.com/r/windows10

This does not have to be done for every page on Reddit. Once old has been opened, Reddit Old remains the version of Reddit that is used.

Option 2: Free Use Desktop Reddit

Use the desktop version from Reddit mobile

Instead of using the old version of Reddit, you may also load the desktop site. Some mobile browsers support this out of the box; this is the case for Brave or Firefox, and many others.

Just select Menu > Desktop Site in those browsers to request the Reddit desktop site instead of the mobile site. The downside of this solution is that the desktop site is not optimized for mobile use. The Reddit mobile app is a lot faster and doesn’t require you to log in again and again.

Option 3: Free use Reddit by using another browser

Try using Reddit mobile on Firefox

If you have multiple browsers installed, you may get the full view in some while others may be blocked. On my device, Reddit was blocking access in Brave by default but not in Firefox. Firefox displayed all posts and there was no block in place.

Option 4: Consider third-party applications

The application stores host dozens if not hundreds of third-party Reddit clients. Some of these are commercial, other free.

Reddit announced plans recently to limit free access to its API, and that could have the result that most free Reddit apps will be disbanded by their developers once the changes go life. Other developers may switch to a subscription-based model instead, as Reddit plans to charge based on usage and not flat fees for access.

For now, you may check out apps such as Boost for Reddit, Apollo (Mac only), or rif is fun for Reddit.

Closing Words

To access Reddit on mobile, you may also install a third-party app. But many of those may display advertisements by default. Only some users experience the blocking of the content on Reddit Mobile; those may use any of the methods listed above to access the content on Reddit without signing in or using the official application.

Some browser developers have added content filters to their browsers to block websites from requesting to open content in dedicated apps. Brave introduced its "open in app" blocking filter recently, and Mozilla a similar feature in Firefox 112 for Android. These may do away with Reddit's prompts altogether on mobile, or at least prevent the automatic redirection to the Reddit app, if it is installed.

Now You: do you use Reddit? Do you prefer Reddit mobile or the app?

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