Privacy-Preserving Mobile Reddit Reader for Power Users Locked Out by the May 2026 Mobile-Web App-Wall Banner

android app real project ••• trending

Since late April 2026 Reddit has been A/B-testing an un-dismissable 'Get the app to keep using Reddit' banner that hijacks scroll on mobile browsers, including for logged-in users and incognito visitors. Multiple Reddit threads (r/enshittification, r/help, r/uBlockOrigin, r/assholedesign, r/spezholedesign) and a Hacker News thread document users actively fighting the lockout with custom uBlock filters that break every few hours. Power users want a third-party mobile reader that wraps the public JSON endpoints (which still work) without forcing them through the official, notoriously laggy and overheating app.

builder note

Don't bet on Reddit's public JSON endpoints staying open forever... they're cheap to lock and Reddit has the motive. Architect around scraping the desktop HTML as a fallback day-one, and ship as 'a reader, not an app' to dodge the obvious Reddit-trademark legal letter.

landscape (3 existing solutions)

The third-party clients that survived the 2023 API cull are technically functional but feel like 2014 apps. The opportunity is a polished, paid, no-account mobile reader specifically positioned as 'the way to read Reddit on your phone without the app or the banner.'

Infinity for Reddit / Stealth Existing third-party Android Reddit clients survived the 2023 API purge by going free/no-auth, but they're FOSS hobby projects with rough UI and limited update cadence; not a polished consumer product.

Old Reddit Redirect / desktop mode workarounds Browser-side hacks that text shrinks unreadably on phones, and the app-wall banner reappears within hours of clearing cookies.

Lemmy mobile clients Different content graph entirely; HN commenters explicitly said they cannot replace r/sysadmin and r/SCCM with Lemmy because the audience isn't there.

sources (4)

reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/enshittification/comments/1sudcbj/r... "Reddit seems to be blocking mobile web now" 2026-04-28

reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/help/comments/1sudaup/reddit_no_lon... "Reddit no longer letting me browse on my phone" 2026-04-28

reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/uBlockOrigin/comments/1sy5wbl/comme... "custom filter line forces the page to stay scrollable... stops working after a few hours" 2026-05-02

hn https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47928500 "Reddit no longer allowing mobile users to browse on web" 2026-05-04

redditmobile-webprivacythird-party-clientenshittification