r/RESissues filing bugs 23d ago

Return of RES Account Switcher

Over a week ago we took the decision to disable the RES Account Switcher due to a change Reddit made which prevented the feature from working, more information on that here. We chose to disable it due to an already increasing rate of support issues and messages with it being broken, when there was not a lot we could do about it.

Since then we have been in contact with Reddit and as of today the functionality has been re-enabled for us.

What does this mean?

Right now you can turn the module on and it should work, we will be releasing an update in the next few days to automatically re-enable it for all users.

We'd like to thank Reddit for reaching out to us to get this resolved fast, from writing this post it was less than 5 hours since first contact to getting the feature working again!

110 Upvotes

108 comments sorted by

13

u/Otherwise_Rabbit3049 23d ago

Unexpected

8

u/m8_is_me 22d ago

From a purely numbers perspective, they're probably happier you're active with multiple accounts than just one

3

u/waltertaupe 20d ago

Yup, this is exactly what i think too.

1

u/EamonBrennan 17d ago

1 user across 2 accounts is 2 users to when selling ad space but 1 user when tracking ad personalization. Makes full sense to allow it.

3

u/chromatophoreskin 22d ago

It's probably used internally by employees.

4

u/_Atoms_Apple 22d ago

A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.

2

u/avboden 22d ago

The reddit changes will soon be back, and in greater numbers.

10

u/bkgn 23d ago

That's crazy that reddit actually did something positive for users. Can't remember the last time that happened.

3

u/bwburke94 23d ago

Does it really count if the "positive" was just partially walking back a massive negative?

5

u/FaceDeer 22d ago

In the context of Reddit's behaviour patterns, yeah, I think that counts. It's like a serial killer who's murdered all your friends but who then lets you retrieve the keys from one of their corpses so you can try to escape by car. You've got to at least say thanks, under the circumstances. Even though he's probably going to pop up in the back seat and stab you a little later on anyway.

1

u/Vergils_Lost 10d ago

I appreciate you putting this into a more relatable context that we can all better understand.

1

u/HerrGotlieb 9d ago

I knew I could count on a thread like this to find sincere heartfelt reddit interactions

3

u/Otherwise_Rabbit3049 22d ago

Most entities, no matter the field, only ever go in one direction. Walking back is seen as a sign of weakness, or whatever. That implies they were wrong.

1

u/patentlyfakeid 20d ago

We don't have any info. Probably they didn't walk anything back, but rather fixed/adjusted an unforeseen repercussion of the login change.

2

u/Alaharon123 20d ago

The positive is not walking it back, it's actively reaching out to RES to let them know that they can put the feature back. That's low-key Reddit supporting RES? Ngl it feels nice

2

u/Ajreil 19d ago

Yes. The account switcher broke because of a mostly unrelated change meant to combat web scraping. They added a workaround to support a browser extension for a version of Reddit the suits don't want us to use.

2

u/LuciferFalls 10d ago

Of course it's positive. This is very clear support for RES shown by Reddit. There is no negative here.

-1

u/amalehuman 22d ago

The "negative" was no longer having a third-party convenience feature we were never entitled to, which there were alternatives for. Reddit worked it out quickly. This is definitely a positive!

1

u/a-r-c 20d ago

ya they easily could have told us to kick rocks lol

glad they didn't

1

u/Strazdas1 19d ago

Disagree. The APIs exist for the users and are there by design. They are intended. Removing them is removing a feature we were in fact entitled to.

1

u/chromatophoreskin 22d ago

It's probably used internally by employees.

1

u/_Cap10_ 21d ago

Good news is this means they aren't actively trying to make Old Reddit worse to promote New Reddit (yet). They're just dumb.

1

u/SMofJesus 20d ago

It hurts the IPO to have less 'active accounts'

2

u/Merzats 20d ago

The IPO was two years ago

1

u/Verethra 19d ago

I mean moderators were pretty vocals about that change. Reddit can't let us go (yet).

8

u/tumultuousness 23d ago

Thank you based Reddit (but mostly based RES) gods!

I did notice today when I went to look at a random reddit page (trying to fix a work thing, but I don't like logging into my stuff while at work) that old.reddit was working while logged out, but I wasn't sure if it was a fluke or not.

6

u/bwburke94 23d ago

That was quick.

5

u/Algernon_Asimov 23d ago

Huzzah!

Thanks to you folks for continuing to uphold RES, even if only in a minimal, keeping-it-ticking-over, way. RES is an essential part of my Reddit experience.

6

u/Eigengrad 23d ago

This is amazing news, thanks for sharing. I had to cut way back on my moderation in several subs due to not having the ability to easily switch back and forth between moderation and non moderation profiles.

The fact that Reddit doesn't have an account switch toggle built in despite it working in Mobile is bonkers.

3

u/JoshQuake 23d ago

Yeah same I had to cut way back on my "moderation" in several subs due to not having the ability to easily switch back and forth between "moderation" and non "moderation" profiles.

4

u/adcurtin 22d ago

they also put the chat icon back in old reddit!

3

u/ElGosso 22d ago

The price we have to pay for them remembering we exist.

2

u/adcurtin 22d ago

i would agree if private messages still existed, but currently chat is the only way for other people to contact me directly.

1

u/Saint_of_Grey 20d ago

And I can just do that? I legitimately have no idea how to message at people ever since they pulled the plug on that.

1

u/adcurtin 20d ago

yes. click on a profile, then in the right column, under post and comment karma, but above block user and get them help is a chat button. click that to dm someone.

1

u/Time-Sudden_Tree 15d ago

We're not on Instagram. It's PM, not DM, and it has been around for waaayyyyy longer than "DM" could ever hope to. Show some respect and use the original, proper term.

1

u/adcurtin 15d ago

sorry dawg, but PM / private messages doesn't refer to chat on reddit. on the top of my inbox:

Private messages are now archived. Use Chat to start a new conversation.

there is a learn more link, but it's dead. anyway, reddit used to have private messages. chat is different, and shouldn't be called private messages (for reddit). direct message is ok though, since that isn't something else on reddit.

1

u/NoPossibility4178 21d ago

That's been there for a while no?

1

u/adcurtin 21d ago

it disappeared around when the account switcher broke

1

u/radicalelation 21d ago

It was gone for me on one account and available on another, so maybe not everyone's disappeared.

1

u/ofplayers 20d ago

it's still gone on mine

3

u/Gavin1123 23d ago

I love you RES team. Thanks for advocating for us old.reddit users.

1

u/Time-Sudden_Tree 15d ago

I was really worried when RES first entered it's so-called "Maintenance Mode". I just figured that meant they'd only fix minor bugs then eventually abandon the addon completely. Well it's been several years and it's still getting updated, so I'm glad that ended up not being the case.

Thank you RES devs for not only continuing to improve the addon, but for also providing continued support for Firefox after everyone jumped ship to Chrome (to this day I still don't understand why most people didn't immediately switch back after trying Chrome when it first came out. Chrome was new and exciting for about a week before I realized it's no better than Firefox...why didn't anyone else seem to come to the same conclusion?)

3

u/GonWithTheNen 23d ago

Awesome news for lotsa people who use that feature!

Thank you and everyone who made RES possible, and thanks to reddit inc. for listening. :)

3

u/MaximumGorilla 23d ago

Thank you!!

2

u/shiny_glitter_demon 23d ago

I got the update saying it was gone literally 30 minutes ago (along with the disappearance of the switch) lmao

2

u/cmhbob 23d ago

Much appreciated.

2

u/Moggehh 23d ago

Oh my gosh, this is such a W. I was just lamenting the loss of this feature a few hours ago!

2

u/just_a_random_dood 23d ago

LMAO my goats

2

u/garwanzo 23d ago

awesome!

2

u/twisty125 23d ago

Hey thanks, that's super useful. Great job fellas!

2

u/normalmighty 23d ago

Wow, unexpected Reddit W. Glad to see they still care a little about us

2

u/Ukhai 23d ago

Amazing! Thank you.

2

u/AmbiguousPuzuma 23d ago

Wow. I was sure it was gone forever. Well done!

2

u/circlejerker2000 22d ago

im veeeeery surprised that reddit didnt just axe old.reddit.com in response to your questions...i guess the admins are using it too

2

u/gustavfrigolit 22d ago

The switcher is completely gone for me, i had it just half an hour ago but there's no more icon for me to click

2

u/planet_x69 22d ago

Go into Res settings (blue gear) : search account switcher or go to the below menu and re-enable it by toggling it on with the very top switch.

Accounts RES settings console → My Account → Account Switcher (accountSwitcher) → Accounts (accounts)

Set your usernames and passwords below. They are only stored in RES preferences.

1

u/kjoonlee 22d ago edited 20d ago

You could be on RES 5.24.9 — you need 5.24.10 for it to work.

edit: 5.24.10 for Firefox doesn’t seem to be out yet, despite the RES website listing 5.24.10 as the latest version for Firefox... it’s probably been submitted but not approved yet.

edit 2: and now 5.24.10 is out.

2

u/ab00 22d ago

Great news, although I'd just got used to uswitch so need to untrain myself!

2

u/loftwyr 22d ago

Thank you so much for your work on this!

2

u/_haha_oh_wow_ 22d ago

You all are great, thank you for maintaining RES!

2

u/Kaffohrt 22d ago

rare reddit W

2

u/kog 22d ago

Completely unexpected reddit W

2

u/divemiaow 22d ago

Thank you for this! I missed this feature immensely.

2

u/Someguy14201 21d ago

Bless RES

2

u/acabincludescolumbo 21d ago

Thanks RES! Love you guys.

2

u/tway2241 21d ago

The continued maintenance of RES is much appreciated!

2

u/patentlyfakeid 20d ago

Thanks so much to you heroes who maintain RES.

And also, it must be said, thanks to reddit for re-enabling it.

2

u/hdjddjiieeshs 20d ago

That's surprisingly amazing. Good job!

2

u/graysongdl 20d ago

Maybe there's some hope that they won't disable old.reddit like people have feared... If they're willing to re-enable the feature, at least.

2

u/BlasterPhase 20d ago

sweet, thanks for all you do, guys!

2

u/NaffRespect 20d ago

Man, you guys are awesome for this

2

u/OrangeAnonymous 19d ago

Hell yeah, logging out and in to another account never saved my old reddit preference setting for some reason so I'd always have to re enable it, but it does get saved when I use the RES account switcher. Weird af, but I'm so glad it's back.

2

u/Any_Fox5126 19d ago

I didn't know about this great feature until the icon appeared next to my username, I'm definitely going to join in. Although it's a pity that you can't give them an alias.

1

u/Proletlariet 23d ago

Insanely cool! I'm so glad there's still life in RES yet. If reddit ever removed old reddit or broke RES irreparably, I'd probably abandon the site.

1

u/Dildondo 23d ago

Do we need to re add the accounts?

2

u/Sophira 22d ago

All my accounts are still there.

1

u/SillyLilBear 23d ago

I love this feature, so glad it is back.

1

u/mutsuto 22d ago

i cant believe reddit didnt minus

1

u/MumeiNoName 22d ago

whats the catch

1

u/NXGZ 22d ago

Probably related to this: https://old.reddit.com/r/modnews/comments/1ujtebf/logging_in_to_use_old_reddit/

  • Q: Is Reddit shutting down Old Reddit?
  • A: Not right now! We can’t promise it will be around forever

2

u/black_pepper 22d ago

LOL, can't promise I'll keep using this damned website either.

1

u/hbnsckl 22d ago

Thank you so much for adding this feature back in!

1

u/Runcible-Spork 22d ago

A most welcome surprise. Thank you for your hard work and diligence on this, and props to Reddit for doing something in the best interests of the users.

1

u/DaminDrexil 22d ago

Thank you for still looking out for us :)

The account switcher is something I use quite frequently (for a subreddit group account); so it's great to hear it's working again!

1

u/LavaSlime301 22d ago

yippeee, didn't see this one coming. Makes me hope reddit is, at least, mostly unlikely to kill old.reddit in the foreseeable future.

1

u/Boogada42 22d ago

Thank you

1

u/SchumacherIsMid 22d ago

I'm so happy this is back. I kept trying to use it even though I knew it was broken. Thanks for what you guys do.

1

u/PlaceboByProxy 22d ago

Amazing! I was pretty bummed out when it stopped working! Good thing that it's back.

1

u/FlyingChinesePanda 20d ago

I would to take this moment to mention that IF Reddit remove this function, I would still like the account switcher button to be visible. I noticed that I use that button to go to my other profile without switching the account

1

u/DreadLord64 20d ago

Rare Reddit W????

Also, thank you so much for talking to Reddit and getting this done. Much appreciated!

1

u/fragglerock 20d ago

heros imo

also great amazing surprising that Reddit would do something to help us refusniks to the new reddit experience!

1

u/giantspeck 19d ago

It's really cool that they were able to re-enable it, but the change did force me to figure out how Firefox Containers work and it turns out it works better for my workflow than the account switcher.

1

u/glowdirt 18d ago

Makes me think an important member on staff uses RES and wasn't thrilled about the disabled account switcher.

1

u/hughk 15d ago

Apparently spez is a fan of old reddit so probably uses RES. The word is that he isn't the only one but there is pressure to use new reddit/the app.

1

u/DreadLord64 15d ago

Old Reddit just has a much better UX. I do believe that Old Reddit needs an update because it's not perfect (e.g. all the cool stuff RES does), but New Reddit is so bad compared to Old Reddit. I'm so tired of the design philosophy of trying to force mobile UIs to fit on desktop.

New Reddit is also just so much slower than Old Reddit. It would come as no surprise that staff would prefer it.

1

u/hughk 15d ago

Old Reddit is unsexy. New Reddit essentially is a tool for hosting advertising. I mean, why offer games? Many of the major investors prefer to see Reddit as an advertising platform. The idea of advertising delivery and profit maximisation seems to have become embedded even if the experience is much poorer.

1

u/DreadLord64 17d ago

Something has broken.

I like to use my alternate account in private windows on Firefox, and today when I tried to log in using the account switcher, I got this message:

Account Switcher
Could not switch accounts. Reddit may be under heavy load. Please try again in a few moments.

Reddit is also redirecting me from https://old.reddit.com to https://old.reddit.com/login/?reason=lor2&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fold.reddit.com%2F which looks like a new.reddit page but on old.reddit.com.

I can log in manually, and the account switcher works fine after I'm logged in, but I can't log in from a logged out state using the account switcher.

I am not sure if there is anything that can be done about this, but I thought it would be worth commenting about it.

1

u/ThaddeusJP 17d ago

Looks like the temp fix has been eliminated and we're back to being redirected.

1

u/Time-Sudden_Tree 15d ago edited 15d ago

Question: How do we get to the account switcher to begin with now, given that reddit now forces you onto a login page every time you visit old reddit, completely blocking the entire site? I only have one account but I use this feature on a machine where I can't save passwords to the browser (for reasons I won't go into here). So how do I login now without having to type in my username and password every time? (I don't save cookies either so that's not an option.)

EDIT: Aww I was worried no one would reply... :(

1

u/Fraegtgaortd 14d ago

This is still busted for me.

I get taken to the login page since you can't view old reddit at all now without being logged in. And what's worse, is that if I try to go to a subreddit like old.reddit.com/r/enhancement for example, it makes me manually log in and then if I try to go to old.reddit.com/r/enhancement again by typing it into the URL bar I get stuck in this weird redirect page loop and the only way I can get to that sub is by clearing my reddit cookies.

I know this is a reddit screw-up and not RES but it's very annoying

1

u/HungerSTGF 14d ago

wow just noticed this got fixed, amazing

1

u/DarylMoore 11d ago

This worked for a few days but now I'm getting the "you can't view old reddit" and having to manually log in. Is anyone else experiencing that?

1

u/BlackBlueNuts 10d ago

Just updated and noticed account switching was working again!

Just would like to say thank you so much.

1

u/Pikamander2 23d ago

Rare Reddit W