Reddit

Reddit makes it's website difficult to use, in an effort to drive users to use their native mobile apps.

Reddit's mobile site UI has become even more evil. I don't have the app installed, yet it mimics the Android "Open in X or Y" prompt to try and trick you into installing it. Shame.

“Yes, power users complain—and still continue using the site—but the casual user does not. These dark patterns have been normalized on other websites. These practices are done because it works”

Reddit is famous for their relentless interruptions to their web experience in pushing users towards their native mobile app. Here they experiment with a "cheeky" nudge about cats and dogs.

“You would go to Reddit in the early days, the first couple of months and there’d be tons of … fake users,” Huffman says [...] “Social websites require a little bit of magic to work”

Reddit's persistent push for users to download its app, despite clear signs of disinterest, is an example of a classic dark pattern known as "nagging." Every day, users who go to Reddit's mobile site are greeted with a modal encouraging them to switch to the app, even if they've previously declined the offer.