I saw a graph earlier today that said something like 80% of American Reddit users access the site via mobile (mobile browser, official app, third party apps). Not everyone has a desktop, but most people nowadays have a smartphone and being able to access the site from absolutely anywhere is a big draw to a lot of people. So that’s the first part of it; there’s a huge demand for mobile access versus desktop access because it’s easier, cheaper and more flexible.

The second part is the fact that the official Reddit app is bullshit. For the average user it’s full of ads and suggestions and not especially easy/enjoyable to use. That’s fine for a large group of people that only browse Reddit occasionally, but if you’re a mod, visually impaired or a heavy Reddit user it’s no good. Third party apps have existed before Reddit even had an official app. You could use Reddit on a much better looking and intuitive interface, with far more mod tools, proper accessibility and absolutely no ads - for free. The difference between using the Reddit app or Apollo (for example) was night and day.

So I don’t think it’s a case of mobile being better than desktop, just that vastly more people prefer to or can only access the internet via their phone. And for that ~80% of users accessing Reddit via mobile, the third party apps blew the official app or mobile browser out of the water.