Release of Android Mobile Reddit App in Early 2016 After Beta Testing

Summary: Release of  an official Android mobile Reddit app could happen in early 2016, after beta testing by finalists selected from December's signup pool.

Ashley Higgins, Reddit's mobile product manager, reminds redditors of weeklong signup (Dec. 11-Dec. 18) for beta testing access: Ashley Higgins @ahiggz, via Twitter Dec. 14, 2015

Beta testing of an official Android mobile Reddit app has a projected launch date of one or two months after the weeklong signup period, open to interested redditors from 11 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, Friday, Dec. 11, to 11 a.m. Dec. 18, 2015.

In a posting Dec. 11, 2015, under the redditor moniker of ahiggz, Reddit’s mobile product manager Ashley Higgins opened signup to interested redditors for consideration as beta testers of an official Android mobile Reddit app. “Now that we’re getting close to having something to share, we’d love to invite some redditors to participate in the beta to provide us with feedback and help identify those nasty bugs so we can squash them before wide release,” Higgins explained.

The signup linked to a few questions to determine such pertinent user backgrounds as mobile access to Reddit, type of mobile device and frequency of Reddit use for commenting, posting and voting. Beta groups will be designed to include a variety of users. Signup forms completed by registered site users, known as redditors, will be added to the pool from which finalists will be drawn.

“Completion of the sign-up form does not guarantee that you’ll be selected to participate. We’ll only need a few thousand users for this first round, and with over 200M monthly active users, we can’t take everyone!” Higgins posted.

Beta testing begins after selection of finalists. Higgins shared that she will be opening up a special subreddit as a private forum for selected beta testers of Reddit’s native application, abbreviated as app. “We don’t yet have a firm launch date for the beta, but expect it sometime in the next month or two,” noted Higgins.

After beta testing tweaking, release of the Android mobile Reddit app will fill the gap of no official core Reddit app for Android. The public release of the tweaked product will mark the entertainment, social networking and news website’s first official app for site browses and contributions by redditors.

After becoming Reddit’s Chief Executive Office (CEO) on July 10, 2015, Reddit co-founder Steve Huffman posted an administrative announcement under the redditor moniker of spez on July 29, 2015, to address the concern of Reddit’s lagging mobile phone presence despite its high traffic. “I normally don’t like talking about things before they’re ready, but because many of you are asking what’s going on, and have been asking for a long time before my arrival, I’ll share what we’re up to.” In his list of active development projects, Huffman includes “Android app.”

Huffman answered the question of homegrown or purchased Android mobile Reddit app in the thread: “We’re building it ourselves. It was already in progress when I arrived, and it’s coming along nicely.”

Reddit mobile product manager Ashley Higgins revealed that administrative enthusiasm for the new Android mobile Reddit app remains high. The Reddit-developed app closely follows Google’s Material Design, especially including the design language’s guidelines for visual language and interactive elements.

Moderator features number among the tools that will not be supported immediately by the debut Android mobile Reddit app but will be incorporated soon after launch. “Mod tools are on the very short-term roadmap, but won’t make it in for v1. V1 will admittedly not be anywhere near perfect in terms of feature completedness, but Android users have been waiting so long for an official Reddit client, we want to get something out there, get community feedback, and continue to iterate,” Higgins explained in her signup announcement.

Reddit icon: Open Icon Library, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Ashley Higgins, Reddit's mobile product manager, reminds redditors of weeklong signup (Dec. 11-Dec. 18) for beta testing access: Ashley Higgins @ahiggz, via Twitter Dec. 14, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/ahiggz/status/676482948263116800

Reddit icon: Open Icon Library, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reddit.svg

For further information:

ahiggz. "Sign up for the Reddit for Android mobile beta!"Reddit > Android > Comments. Dec. 11, 2015.
Available @ https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/3wexo9/sign_up_for_the_reddit_for_android_mobile_beta/

Ashley Higgins‏ @ahiggz. "Go sign up! Reddit finally builds an official Android app, starts taking requests for beta access." Twitter. Dec. 14, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/ahiggz/status/676482948263116800

Harris, Jamie. "Android users rejoice, an official Reddit app is on the way." Digital Spy > Tech. July 29, 2015.
Available @ http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/apps/news/a660808/android-users-rejoice-an-official-reddit-app-is-on-the-way/

Moscaritolo, Angela. "Sign Up to Beta Test Reddit's Android App." PCMag India > Apps. Dec. 15, 2015.
Available @ http://in.pcmag.com/apps/98406/news/sign-up-to-beta-test-reddits-android-app

Novet, Jordan. "Reddit finally builds an official Android app, starts taking requests for beta access." VentureBeat. Dec. 12, 2015.
Available @ http://venturebeat.com/2015/12/12/reddit-finally-builds-an-official-android-app-starts-taking-requests-for-beta-access/

Shah, Saqib. "Reddit's First Official Site-Browsing App For Android Accepting Signups." Digital Trends > Social Media. Dec. 14, 2015.
Available @ http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/reddit-app-android-beta-signup/

spez [A]. "Good morning, I thought I'd give a quick update." Reddit > Announcements > Comments. July 29, 2015.
Available @ https://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/3f10up/good_morning_i_thought_id_give_a_quick_update/