Best Reddit Apps for Android
Reddit is one of the first websites I check every morning for news, interesting reading material, funny things, stuff on science and more. When I had an iPhone, I relied on Alien Blue for my morning reddit routine. Once I switched to Android, I knew I was in for some trouble. There was no Alien Blue for Android.
A cursory look through the Play Store will show you that there are hundreds of reddit clients. Almost 90% of them are ugly, bloated, or feature-less mobile-versions of the main website. A handful of the apps, however, are pretty good. They come with some of the coolest UX that lets you access reddit just the way you do on the web browser.
Here’s a collection of 6 of the best Reddit clients you should try:
Now for Reddit
“Now” for Reddit is smooth, has a great interface and is one of the slickest reddit clients I’ve used. By way of features, it comes with the usual: there’s Search, there’s one-tap access to Reddit TV (all videos on Reddit), you can vote for an item quickly etc. The comments interface is pretty good too (makes formatting your comment very easy). A top highlight on Now is the quick access to all your subreddits. You can just swipe right/left to navigate between the subreddits.
What’s in it:
– A cool interface
– One-tap access to Reddit TV
– Quick access to voting
– Search
Relay
Relay is by far the most delightful Reddit clients you’ll get to use on the Android platform. Relay comes with some smooth animations and an easy way to navigate between the top-level comments (which means I can find all questions and answers on AMAs quickly). The app also features a ton of customization options. What I loved about Relay is its readability: lots of space, inline videos/gifs, the swipe-up for comments feature which makes life as a redditor very easy. Relay Pro comes with a lot more mod-level features that will be helpful if you’re a moderator.
What’s in it:
– Beautiful, smooth animations
– Jump between top-level comments easily
– Loads of customization options
– Delightful UI
– Great readability (lots of screen real-estate)
Flow
Flow for Reddit has some kinks to sort out but it’s simple, minimal and clean. Flow has great readability on the tablet while retaining only some of that for the phone. There are a few color themes / light modes you can pick from and the overall UI is good. The tiled look makes reading very comfortable. The developer notes that this is a pre-beta and, not surprisingly, the app crashed once during my use. But the app has a good design direction. If you’re looking for something minimal but with all the necessary features, Flow is an app you should try. (Note: at the time of writing this, you can’t post an image to Reddit via Flow – which, I guess, is a huge let down for photo redditors but the dev is working on it).
What’s in it:
– Okay-ish interface
– Pick a few color themes
– Easy to post a text or link. No image posts supported yet.
Bacon Reader
Before Relay, Bacon Reader was my default Reddit client. Bacon Reader is quick and robust. The search function, which I use often on reddit, is surprisingly good and quick too. That is something I’ve missed on other reddit apps. Interestingly, Bacon Reader also makes it easy to comment, vote and save posts. The one big let down, however, is the screen space: the menu icons and the options (and the ads in the free version) occupy a lot of space leaving little room for the main content. Sometimes, at optimal font size for reading, the posts seem a little clogged.
What’s in it:
– Good, robust client. Quick.
– Search
– Easy to comment, upvote etc.
– Free version ads (clobber up the space)
– A few extra features (save, share, open link in external apps)
Sync (formerly Reddit Sync)
Sync for Reddit uses Material Design but I feel it lacks something to make it as good as the other apps on this list. I am not quite able to put my finger to it though. Sync is close to Alien Blue in terms of the minimalism and if you’re looking for a smooth reddit app that will work on any device, Sync is a great choice. Where Sync works great is in the faster loading times for gifs (big fan here) and the swipe functions that let you navigate quickly between subreddits / posts / comments etc.
What’s in it:
– Quick and smooth UI
– Inspired by Material Design
– Quick access to posting on Reddit
Reddit Is Fun
Reddit is Fun is the dumbed-down version of all reddit clients we just covered. It’s extremely simple and for some of us, kind of archaic. But it’s still a mobile app built for a bare-bones reddit experience. You can still interact with the posts (votes, comments etc.) but you can clearly call out the lack of aesthetics in the UI. Nevertheless, Reddit for Fun gets a spot on this list because it’s a quick, lean, ultra-light client for reddit for use when you’re not connected to a fast network.
What’s in it:
– extremely lightweight
– bare-bones without much UI or a great UX
– almost the same as the web interface
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