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Ask HN: Has Twitter removed the ability to browse while logged out?

63 points by uxp100 ↗ HN
The behavior I am seeing is demonstrated here: https://gfycat.com/thornyfeistyleafcutterant

I am always returned to the page that I was linked to if I try to browse elsewhere on the site.

34 comments

[ 6.1 ms ] story [ 84.7 ms ] thread
dalmo3
Yes.

But hey, you don't want to miss what's happening, do you? People on Twitter are the first to know!

connor-brooks
A workaround trick I have found is using private browsing. Possibly clearing your cookies for Twitter could work also.
version_five
I noticed the same behavior on my phone. I think you can still navigate and it just shows the popup on every navigation?

Twitter for me is in the category of if I click on a link and get no resistance then I'll look at it, but any friction at all and I don't really care. Same as any full page popup, the site better have something I really want and not just be something I scroll to mechanically for endorphins, or I'm not going to bother accepting cookies or closing the enter your email email modal or whatever.

creamytaco
One less site to visit every day. Same thing happened with Reddit, which is unusable on mobile web without login.
hivacruz
Use teddit.net, it works great
f0e4c2f7
Wow. I can't believe I've never run across this. Thank you. I gotta figure out how to rewrite addresses to this on Firefox mobile when clicking a link from Google searches.

It's shocking how much better it is. You forget just how many dark patterns have crept in over time.

klyrs
That's like telling a person who just quit cigarettes that vaping is a great alternative. Not using is better.
Akronymus
old.reddit.com seems to work fine on mobile.
trenning
Yes, extremely annoying at first. Same thing FB did with Insta. I guess it's good because I don't go to IG anymore and I don't click on links because half the time they're gated. Twitter will follow the same pattern for me.
nokya
Same here. I stopped clicking IG/FB shares for a long time thanks to their gated content. Added to Reddit's anti-browser policy and now Twitter, those are all great opportunities to spend less time on my smartphone :)
aaron695
Yes. Including private mode.

But not on my phone.

Due to the lack of complaints I thought perhaps uBlock.

But maybe it's IP based, or since opening Firefox it doesn't do it perhaps it's a count.

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[dead] draw_down
It’s the same thing Instagram has been doing for a while now.
machinecontrol
Yes. The trend is definitely towards alternate frontends for these services.

Use nitter.net

diplodocusaur
Yes. Personally it means I will be using it even less. Win-win.
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mindcrash
I removed all cached data. Apparently it solves this particular issue.

So I think this is either very bad programming, or a very bad A/B test.

dpifke
I recommend using https://nitter.net instead. It's open source and easy to run a local instance using the code from https://github.com/zedeus/nitter.
DerekBickerton
> easy to run a local instance

> To compile Nitter you need a Nim installation, see nim-lang.org for details. It is possible to install it system-wide or in the user directory you create below.

> To compile the scss files, you need to install libsass. On Ubuntu and Debian, you can use libsass-dev.

> Redis is required for caching and in the future for account info. It should be available on most distros as redis or redis-server (Ubuntu/Debian). Running it with the default config is fine, Nitter's default config is set to use the default Redis port and localhost.

> Here's how to create a nitter user, clone the repo, and build the project along with the scss.

For me I don't mind these hurdles, but for most those extra steps are way too much friction to get a working instance

randomhodler84
Dev tools, app, delete cookies and local storage values. Refresh. Like a new born browser session.

I don’t like this trend of soft auth walls on subsequent visits to encourage login. We are rapidly losing the “anonymous” (as in no username tagged in access.log lines, not really anonymous) read only web. It is important! Not every possible action needs to be registered for your users behavioral models.

sergiotapia
Yep noticed it today. I'm just going to stop visiting twitter links like I stopped visiting pinterest
bobobob420
Best decision they ever made. Now the rare chance I click on a Twitter link I don’t have to read it :) thanks Twitter!
villgax
This isn't new for any social media app nowadays
legostormtroopr
This is also happening for me. Its funny because its making a lot of posts on HN useless now as they are multi-tweet threads, which you can no longer see if you aren't a Twitter user.
newlognevrytime
I've stopped using twitter myself due to the fact they've locked me out when I didn't give them a phone number. As far as I can tell, that's the only reason they've locked my account.
egberts1
off-topic: same thing with Facebook.

11 year old Facebook account got locked out recently due to “mandatory” phone number request.

cpach
A similar thing happened to me… Maybe for the best?
nyuszika7h
Yeah, that's annoying, a lot of new accounts get locked instantly and asked to provide a phone number. Technically you can appeal it, but you have a lower chance of being accepted now than in the past. However, you can use Google Voice, or a site like getsmscode.com (that one is confirmed working on Twitter, just sometimes a bit flaky, may have to try multiple numbers).
rmykhajliw
IP blocked for non-residential areas eq. VPN/datacenters are blocked by loginwall. This is super stupid idea to fight with web scrappers.

The issue with web-scrappers comes from API limits: none wanted to parse twitter web if you can get everything from API for a reasonable price.

I don't think API access brings lots of money 5% increase in profit costs customer experience on mobile.

sdevonoes
Yes. I guess it's time for me to say goodbye to Twitter.