r/AssholeDesign

Reddit is now becoming Pinterest: you can no longer browse when not logged in I happened to be using a browser on a different machine, where I was not logged in to Reddit. After seeing two postings, it pops up a huge banner 'Join the most real place on the internet', with only two options: 'get started' or 'I already have an account'. You can not continue without either signing in, or signing up. https://preview.redd.it/hyirbejk6ajh1.jpg?width=1621&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=891b2170218439e95583adc1648bbaa6d8d554e7 https://redd.it/1vnywkn @AssholeDesign

Dark Patterns: ByteDance Hiding Cancel Buttons Posting this here too from r/CapCut because I spotted something odd in CapCut Desktop and wanted to get a UX perspective. **Context:** CapCut Desktop user, paying via Google Pay on macOS. While digging into local config and app assets, I noticed: * User profiles in `com.capcut.CapCut.plist` can sign in via Google, but the payment model is registered as `ThirdPartyPay` instead of a native Google Play subscription.2 * Network config in `server.json` routes subscription endpoints to `/pipo/trade/subscription/` under ByteDance’s own PipoPay gateway, suggesting Google Pay on desktop is tokenised to create a direct billing relationship with PipoPay (bypassing Google’s 15–30% platform fee). * In the compiled Lynx template (`template.js`), localization keys like `cancel_automatic_renewal` and “Cancel subscription?” exist in the UI package, but the cancel interface is hidden client‑side when the backend marks the subscription as an external merchant transaction. From a UX standpoint, this looks like deliberate friction: the cancel flow is implemented but suppressed to reduce churn, which fits the classic “dark pattern” definition. It also clashes with the spirit (and soon the letter) of the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which requires cancellation to be as easy as sign‑up. Has anyone else noticed an increase in this kind of pattern, where cancel flows exist in code but are hidden or gated behind support tickets or account flags? https://redd.it/1vnh085 @AssholeDesign

Ads on Youtube Subscriptions Page with Fake X Buttons https://redd.it/1vnfh4g @AssholeDesign

The buttons on ads are getting so small it’s actually impossible to get out of them. https://redd.it/1vm5x9s @AssholeDesign

Even creating an account on Parcel Pending is difficult. My password was too short, so I couldn't continue. I didn't see the top gray checkmark, so I was stuck a couple of hours. https://redd.it/1vm0vw7 @AssholeDesign

Google keeps trying to charge me twice a day for a cancelled subscription, while preventing me from removing my card https://redd.it/1vlv8vl @AssholeDesign

New "Reddit announcements" notification can't be turned off https://redd.it/1vlscge @AssholeDesign

Adobe silently installed a separate app on company computers through Acrobat updates Today we discovered Adobe Express Photos installed on a number of our corporate computers. Nobody in IT approved or deployed it, and the affected users did not intentionally install it. It arrived automatically through the Acrobat update mechanism. The app then took over the Windows screenshot shortcuts, including Print Screen and Win + Shift + S. It also changed the clipboard behaviour: screenshots pasted into Outlook Classic are now added as file attachments instead of being inserted into the email body. Adobe’s own enterprise documentation confirms that Express Photos is a separate Windows application, but that it can be installed automatically through Acrobat updates. Uninstalling it is not enough. According to Adobe, it may be installed "for your convenience" again during the next Acrobat update unless administrators deploy a registry policy specifically to block it: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Policies\\Adobe\\Adobe Acrobat\\DC\\FeatureLockDown bDisableHarmonyInstallationFeature = 1 So Adobe used the automatic updater for a PDF application to install a different product, changed a native Windows workflow, caused problems in another application, and made administrators opt out through the registry to stop it coming back. Official Adobe documentation: https://helpx.adobe.com/business/enterprise/products-entitlements/manage-entitlements/adobe-express-photos-existing-users-admin-guide.html This is real asshole behaviour. https://redd.it/1vlglyj @AssholeDesign

I realized my impatience has gotten unhealthy. A 3-second loading screen can actually make me leave Not sure if anyone else feels this way, but websites and mini apps have gotten so bloated that my patience has dropped to a ridiculous level. My tolerance for pointless waiting has become almost nonexistent. If I see a 5-second unskippable ad on a video, I will sometimes just close the app out of frustration. If I scan a QR code at a restaurant and it sits there loading for more than 3 seconds, or asks me to follow some account or go through unnecessary permissions, I immediately get annoyed. I have honestly walked out and picked another place to eat because of things like this. The weirdest part happened last week. I went to a newly opened restaurant with a friend. Before we even sat down, I had already mentally prepared myself. I was thinking, "If this thing loads forever or forces me to authorize something, I'm just leaving." Then I scanned the QR code on the table. The MenuForma menu opened immediately. No loading circle. No permission popups. Nothing. And somehow, the frustration I had already prepared just disappeared. It was almost weird. I sat there for a couple of seconds because my brain was expecting a fight that never happened. It honestly made me realize how strange this has become. Have we gotten so used to bad software experiences that a normal, smooth interface now feels surprising? Does anyone else feel this way? Is my patience level just weird now, or have slow loading screens and annoying popups actually given everyone some kind of digital PTSD? https://redd.it/1vlajfx @AssholeDesign

YouTube’s “new” ad popup’s force your screen into portrait mode when you try to dismiss it https://redd.it/1vkzbc0 @AssholeDesign

Whoever put these two types of mangos next to each other belongs in the deepest depths of hell https://redd.it/1vkbl9f @AssholeDesign

The lack of distance between the “join” button and the dots that allow you take the three steps to mute a subreddit you never asked for https://redd.it/1vjyyhh @AssholeDesign

When Switching Price Tags goes Wrong 😕 Take notes corporate. https://redd.it/1vixl0d @AssholeDesign

What's an age mass? https://redd.it/1vi8bod @AssholeDesign

Discord putting the gift icon in between the text box and emotes, increasing the chance of misclicking it https://redd.it/1vhq5cv @AssholeDesign

What's the Blind App even about anymore... https://redd.it/1vhc39o @AssholeDesign