While the platform has largely failed to build a revenue model, it still continues to operate due to the sheer volume of traffic that the site enjoys. Most people, including me, use their smartphones to access subreddits. Let’s take a look at some of the best apps for Android and iOS platforms and see how they fare against the web version which got a UI upgrade some time ago. Also Read: Disable “Download our app” Popups on Reddit Mobile View?
Best Reddit Apps
1. Reddit
Let’s begin with the official Reddit app which is freely available for both Android and iOS smartphones. You will find all the usual features like the ability to upvote/downvote, comment, gift or upgrade to gold membership and manage your subscription to various subreddits.
You can either choose the Home or Popular Tab or sort posts by controversial, hot and so on. if you want to create a new post, you can do so in image, text, video, and link format. All subreddits you have subscribed to can be easily accessed with the click of a button. Finally, there are the chat rooms, notification section, and messages tab to stay updated on who pinged you when you were offline. Download Reddit Android | iOS
2. Boost for Reddit
Boost app for Reddit on Android smartphones is a very popular Android app that comes with a night theme (can be set to auto mode) and is aesthetically pleasing. You can change themes, filter content and updates based on subreddits, hot, what’s popular, new, rising, and controversial. Advanced filtering options include sorting by content types like image, link, video, GIF, and more.
Following the material theme design, you can choose between different view types like cards, mini cards, image galleries, compact, and so on. You can of course post, edit, and comment on posts. If you are a moderator, you can easily fulfill your duties. Even the font type and size can be customized based on your liking and the device that you are using. More features include gesture support, drafts, mod tools, preview, and color-coded comments among others. The app is free to use and ad-supported which can be removed with an in-app purchase of $0.99. Download Boost for Reddit Android Also Read: 7 Facebook Alternative Apps for Android That Are Better Than Official App
3. Bacon Reader
Where Boost is more about aesthetics and material design that will boost your Reddit experience, Bacon Reader offers a lot of features too but only those that are necessary and required. You can change the theme to night mode, choose a default subreddit as homepage, and sort or filter content and updates by new, rising, controversial, glided, etc.
You can choose Inbox refresh interval to save bandwidth and avoid fatigue, choose to set LED, and filter or blacklist content by keyword, link, domain, username, and NSFW. This is useful since Reddit can serve too many updates sometimes. Usual features like the ability to edit, comment, and vote are all there. Useful features like color-coded comments, change font type and size, and moderator tools are there. What I liked is the ability to format text and draw memes on images right inside the app. Less beautiful but very functional. The app is ad-supported and can be removed for $1.99. Download Bacon Reader: Android | iOS
4. Joey for Reddit
Joey for Reddit is only available for Android and comes with a very cool feature that I really like. The Peek will let you just tap and view images, links and articles, and play videos without having to open them. This saves a lot of time. Another interesting feature is TTS (text to speech).
Switching between tabs is easy and though there are not many options to sort and filter content as we saw in some previous apps, the AMA feature will let you read questions and answers in a magazine format. Usernames and comments are color-coded for the better reading experience.
You can change the theme by manually a color from a wheel, format comments in the text editor, apply night theme, and add upcoming AMAs automatically to your calendar. You will love the animations. The app is free to download and there are no ads. Download Joey for Reddit: Android
5. Nano for Reddit
Do you own an Apple Watch? Nano is the best Reddit app for iPhone and Apple Watch. Nano for Reddit will let you read posts, vote on them, and check notifications while you are working out in the gym or hitting the road to that remote hilly area. There is also a pro version of the app available that will offer you additional features like multireddits, up to 5 subscriptions, favorites, and handoff support.
Apple Watch is really popular and combined with your trusted iPhone, it can be a powerful way to stay updated with news that matters without having to touch your iPhone every now and again. There are no ads but certain features are only available in the pro version that will cost you $2.99. Download Nano for Reddit: iOS Also Read: Top 5 Facebook Alternative Apps For iOS Devices
6. Sync for Reddit
Sync for Reddit is a breath of fresh air. It brings a card-style layout that will immediately make your Reddit surfing experience a joy ride. The app is light-weight and surprisingly fast to use. A drop-down menu for subreddits, color-coded comments, easy to vote, comment, and post, and there is a night theme to match the material design.
The app was built specifically for the /r/soccer/ subreddit as it deals with a lot of animated images but has outgrown since then. There is support for preview, multi-account, and multi-window to open more than one subreddit at once. As is popular with new apps, there is support for the gesture to back and forth while surfing and you can also use spoiler tags in the app. The app is ad-supported though you can remove them with an in-app purchase of $2.99. Download Sync for Reddit: Android
7. Narwhal
Narwhal does for iPhones what Joey for Reddit did for Android. Bringing the native Reddit experience onto the mobile platform, with the familiar UI, Narwhal will let you surf the front page of the Internet using gestures. You can view posts, comment and vote on them, and save them to your account for later perusal.
The app is known for its intuitive design. For example, tap the app logo to toggle night mode on/off. New Post button is visible everywhere which is handy. Same is also true for Message icon. This small but noticeable attention to detail makes Narwhal a favorite for many Redditors. Plus, there are tons of ways to customize the app like change app icon, auto-play GIFs, video, manage content filter, and even how far to swipe before action kicks in for gesture support. It’s crazy fun. The app is free to use and is ad-supported which can be removed with an in-app purchase of $2.99. One of the better Reddit app for iOS smartphones. Download Narwhal: iOS
8. RedReader
RedReader is an open-source and free Reddit client which is why it made the list. This means there are no ads and no one is tracking or collecting your data. There is gesture support but is limited to commenting, voting, and saving/hiding the post.
There is support for multiple accounts but there is no support for multiple tabs. Only two-column is available on tablets. There is, however, support for night mode. RedReader is a pretty good Reddit client if you are not a power user. Download RedReader: Android Also Read: 6 Best Tumblr Apps for Android and iOS (2018)
9. Apollo
Apollo is largely considered to be the best app for Reddit by the community itself. If there is one app for Reddit on iOS that enjoys similar stardom, it is Narwhal. So what makes Apollo so special. To tell the truth, both of them are very similar.
Taking the Apple design to the heart, Apollo has a UI that will compliment your iPhone with aesthetic icons at the bottom for settings, profile, message, etc. This navbar is present everywhere which will make your life easy. Apollo’s Setting will remind you of your iPhone Settings where you can change the filter and sort settings, fonts, how links open, themes, icons, and gesture settings. Same as Narwhal, there are a number of shortcuts which are beyond the scope of this list.
Apollo is free to use but the real magic begins when you unlock the app with an in-app purchase of $4.99. Download Apollo: iOS
10. Antenna
Feature and usability wise, Antenna only falls behind Apollo and Narwhal, otherwise, it is a very solid app with a lot of features and customizations available. Antenna takes a bare-bones approach and will show a white background with text and links. This makes it very fast and easy to load. Most options are available in the right sidebar like night mode, gesture support settings, history of viewed posts, font settings, and more.
A lot of us end up exhausting our data on places like Reddit. That is why Antenna has built-in support for bandwidth control. Filtering content and interacting with them is just as easy and interactive. Like other top Reddit apps for iOS platform, Antenna has a pro version, $3.49 , where most features are hidden. Download Antenna: iOS Also Read: Disable “Download our app” Popups on Reddit Mobile View?
11. Readder for Reddit
Another popular Reddit client for iOS users on the list, Readder is quite addictive for its users because of the intuitive interface the app has.
As usual, the app’s home page will start off with the ‘Front’ tab that shows the hot topics. You may tap on the tab at the center top of the screen or simply swipe left from the right edge of the screen to see other options. You can choose Subreddits, Multireddits, Favorites, Recent, Popular, and Trending reddits. The app’s interface is mostly on a single tap functionality basis. Everything in your reach is just a tap pr swipe away. Download Readder for Reddit (iOS)
12. Slide for Reddit
Slide for Reddit comes in a dark mode by default, which good for both night time reading and battery life. The app is a simple and straight feed app and doesn’t come with many options. But at the same time it’s really light.
The app gives you feeds according to your preferences. You can swipe through other categories of subreddits or even change preferences from the swipe-up menu. The app supports long tap and even 3D touch for easy access to full content. You can use 3D touch to pop-up a thread and read its content without having to open it in a separate window. Long tap will switch your video between landscape and portrait mode. Download Slide for Reddit (iOS | Android)
13. Beam for Reddit
Now, this is something. Beam for Reddit is a complete package and not just Reddit feeds. The app’s interface is like one the social media apps and you can perform any action and setting changes.
The app interface starts with Subreddits as usual but there’s so much more. You can search for content, manage your messages and profile settings. The app also offers multiple display options for fonts etc and additionally has options for night mode. Now night mode has something new to offer, you can manually set it On and Off of course, but you can also set a specific brightness limit at which the app would automatically turn dark. And that’s not it, you can even set a passcode to the application. Download Beam for Reddit (iOS)
Which is the Best Reddit Apps for you?
There are quite a few third-party apps available for both the platforms and each has something different to offer. If you are not a heavy user, the official Reddit app has come a long way and will do just fine. iPhones users should go for Apollo, Narwhal or Antenna depending on their personal preference as all three of them are comparable in terms of features and ability to customize the app. Similarly, Android users should go for Boost is looks are important, Bacon if looks don’t matter need all the functions, and RedReader if you are worried about being tracked. For Apple Watch users, Nano for Reddit is a solid Reddit app and Joey is a fan-favorite. Pick one.
