Social new forum Reddit, Inc. has launched its first official smartphone apps.

The official Reddit app for iOS and Android is the first time, despite the site being founded in 2005 and the current year being 2016, the highly popular site has offered its own apps, and they are described as being “sleek, simple apps that put all of the so-called ‘front page of the internet’ at the fingertips of the user,” according to the Daily Dot.

An announcement post from Reddit thankfully uses less hyperbole but does say that the new apps include inline images, night theme, compact and card views, and simpler navigation.

“This is the beginning of our journey with you, our app users,” Reddit staff member Alex Le wrote. “For everyone joining us on this ride, you can expect a lot of updates and new features that we’ll be rolling out to mobile first. Our first feature releases are getting prepared now and we’ll be updating at least once a month.”

First attempt

The first thing you notice when you fire up the Android version of the app is that it is particularly good looking, if you’re allowed to say that about Reddit given their previous obsession with political correctness.

Inline images give it an immediate head start over competing apps such as Reddit is Fun but that said those pictures, be it for brevity or better visuals, are cropped, meaning that if you’re on r/funny for example you still have to click on the image to see the full joke; users of the Reddit Enhancement Suite (a desktop browser plugin) don’t have that problem.

Support for power users is limited: if you’re a moderator of a subreddit (disclosure, the author of this post is) there’s seemingly zero built in support for subreddit management, including even basics things such as being able to flair a post, something that Reddit is Fun does support.

At first glance it appears to be nearly Pinterest like, and that can be both a good and bad thing; sure, it makes it more friendly to casual users, but serious Reddit users are going to find it a little off putting.

Ultimately this app is a first attempt so it could be far worse.

It would appear to be a solid base from which to start (did we mention it’s 2016 already?) and Reddit is promising updates and improvements, so it will be interesting to see what they do with it in the coming months and years ahead.

You can download the app directly from either the Apple App Store, Google Play Store or by following the links here.

Image source: screenshot via Reddit