Reddit, the self-titled front page of the Web, is shockingly out of sync with the rest of the world. Reddit is known for its simplicity, and yes, the leaderboard-based simple link and text system works. I mean, it gets millions of visits each month.
But the website looks like it was designed in 2005 and never updated. Sadly, that’s it. While I think Reddit is the best place for discovering new awesome content every day, the Web experience, much like the Android experience, needs a serious upgrade. Thankfully these Chrome extensions are here to help us out.
1. SHINE for Reddit
SHINE for Reddit is the Sync for Reddit equivalent of the Web. It’s a complete rewrite of the Reddit’s web interface. There’s Material Design, a sweet dark mode, rich previews, inline GIF and video playback and a really good lightbox view for rich media. Much like Facebook’s viewer, you have comments on the side. One thing I like a lot in SHINE is that it lets you expand pictures and videos that are linked in the comments right there. There is no need to open a bazillion tabs to view all those reaction GIFs.
2. Reddit Enhancement Suite
If you’re used to Reddit’s minimal styling and don’t want it to change, but you do want to add awesome features, Reddit Enhancement Suite is for you. RES adds many features, and don’t worry, you don’t need to use all of them. I sure don’t. I like RES for the dark mode and the automatic next page loading.
Much like SHINE, it will add inline previews for images and videos and the ability to create your very own dashboard from where you can monitor updates of any search result and more.
3. Reditr
Much like SHINE, Reditr brings an alternative UI to the table. But instead of going image heavy and Material Design, Reditr takes cues from Twitter clients like TweetDeck. The interface is clean and multi-columned.
If you use the Reditr app instead of the extension, you can basically turn Reddit into its own app, free from Chrome. This way you can have the legacy Reddit experience in the browser as well.
Start with Reditr by adding your favorite subreddits as columns and signing into one or more accounts.
4. Reddit Anywhere
Reddit regulars know that the last thing you want to do is post duplicate content. Using Reddit Anywhere you’ll be able to see if the page you’re on has already been posted to Reddit. If it hasn’t been, you’ll get a “Submit link” button that will take you directly to the submission screen.
5. AlienTube
One thing we can all agree on is that YouTube comments are hardly entertaining to read. And ever since YouTube forced the Google+ thing down our throats, they’ve gotten worse. But Reddit comments, on the other hand, are almost always entertaining. They might not be useful, or even insightful, but they’re entertaining for sure.
AlienTube replaces comments on a YouTube video with comments on the relevant Reddit thread (if the video has been posted to Reddit).
What’s your favorite Reddit enhancement tweak? Share with us in the comments below.
Khamosh Pathak is a freelance technology writer. He’s always trying out new apps, tools and services. He is platform agnostic. You’ll find an iPhone 5 and a OnePlus One on him at (almost) all times.
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