# SDMB is changing **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 9, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357 "2015-08-09T03:24:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/61 "2015-08-11T08:40:20Z")
I use Firefox for Mobile/Android, because I can add the ABP extension. Though I’m a member, too, so maybe that’s part of it, but I’ve never been redirected. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/62 "2015-08-11T13:23:50Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Can you post in plain English? I know what you said, but others might not. He just said that **Ed Zotti** is the owner, and he’s apparently paying attention to this thread and trying to do something about it. Ergo, complaints that TPTB are ignoring the issue appear unfounded. I’m not having this issue, running Android and Tapatalk. My issue with Tapatalk is that things change frequently. First, I started getting push notifications. I don’t want emails and messages and things telling me threads are active or have been posted in. I had to dig around to find the “notifications” feature and turn it off. At some point the app updated and it got turned on again, I had to go turn it off a second time. That’s kinda annoying. Second, the way the toolbar works varies. When browsing and selecting posts for reply, sometimes it gives buttons at the top and sometimes it only has the quote box with number of replies quoted, and you have to use a reply button in a post to pull up a window. And the look of the buttons has changed on me, so I’m looking for one button and it’s not there and some other button is there that is the feature I want. None of that makes the application unusable, but it does make it mildly annoying. I considered running my regular browser or Chrome and accessing the normal site, but the window size is too small and I hate having to zoom and pan to read. And editing in the edit window is impossible when it keeps resetting to the middle of the screen. So I use Tapatalk. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/63 "2015-08-11T15:58:07Z")
I just tried, for the first time, to access the board from my iPhone. As soon as I click a thread, I get sent to the app store. This never happens using Safari on my mac desktop or on my iPad. I was very surprised. Clearly a bug in iOS/Safari on the iPhone and triggered by something the board is doing (a script or something). Hopefully the relevant folks will get this straightened out soon. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/64 "2015-08-11T17:14:24Z")
> [@rbroome](#): > > I just tried, for the first time, to access the board from my iPhone. As soon as I click a thread, I get sent to the app store. This never happens using Safari on my mac desktop or on my iPad. I was very surprised. Clearly a bug in iOS/Safari on the iPhone and triggered by something the board is doing (a script or something). Hopefully the relevant folks will get this straightened out soon. I tried this last night. It seems to be working so far. 1).Go to settings. 2). Click on Safari. 3).Turn on BLOCK POP UPS. 4).Turn on DO NOT TRACK. 5).Click Block Cookies tab. Then click block cookies from third parties&advertisers. 6.)Reset phone ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/65 "2015-08-11T17:33:36Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > He just said that **Ed Zotti** is the owner, and he’s apparently paying attention to this thread and trying to do something about it. Ergo, complaints that TPTB are ignoring the issue appear unfounded. I actually disagree. It seems that TPTB are doing everything in their power to _avoid_ really fixing the root problem, which is that their only recourse with this ad provider seems to be to write to their support folks and say “um, excuse me, but you seem to be doing malicious things to our users again” and then waiting several days for them to fix it (sometimes requiring a lot of pestering from us to keep them on it). Contrary to popular belief, Whack-A-Mole is a carnival game, not a training simulator for running a website. I may be in the minority here, but the malicious stuff that pops up on phones actually worries me. One of these days, an actual bad security exploit will be found and you’ll end up with malware on your phone injected by one of these shitty ads that won’t get cleaned up for a day or two. My phone has access to and control of an awful lot of important information, and for that reason, I just avoid the risk of reading the SDMB on it these days. Since that used to be one of my primary methods of passing idle time, my SDMB participation has dropped a huge amount. These things aren’t unrelated. (aside for all the people wondering why not Tapatalk, I don’t trust Tapatalk either. I am extremely selective about what apps I’ll install on my phone for the above reasons, and a third party whose business model I don’t fully comprehend and wants to insert itself into a lot of communications is at the top of the suspect list. Not to mention the fact that in this day and age, everything it does is completely doable in a mobile browser, so it should be unnecessary for any decent forum to need a special client app.) ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/66 "2015-08-11T17:35:43Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > I tried this last night. It seems to be working so far. > > [something that seems to be working so far snipped] The problem here is that the offending behavior is likely tied to specific ads, which means you have no good way of knowing whether it worked or not. Your cookie-clearing and do-not-tracking might just be affecting what ad you get served, and that may very well be a temporary effect. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/67 "2015-08-11T17:54:21Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > 6.)Reset phone I hope you meant restart, not reset. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/68 "2015-08-11T19:13:20Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > I hope you meant restart, not reset. Restart. The button on the side. ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/69 "2015-08-11T19:24:33Z")
> [@spinky](#): > > I actually disagree. It seems that TPTB are doing everything in their power to _avoid_ really fixing the root problem, which is that their only recourse with this ad provider seems to be to write to their support folks and say “um, excuse me, but you seem to be doing malicious things to our users again” and then waiting several days for them to fix it (sometimes requiring a lot of pestering from us to keep them on it). Contrary to popular belief, Whack-A-Mole is a carnival game, not a training simulator for running a website. > > I may be in the minority here, but the malicious stuff that pops up on phones actually worries me. One of these days, an actual bad security exploit will be found and you’ll end up with malware on your phone injected by one of these shitty ads that won’t get cleaned up for a day or two. My phone has access to and control of an awful lot of important information, and for that reason, I just avoid the risk of reading the SDMB on it these days. Since that used to be one of my primary methods of passing idle time, my SDMB participation has dropped a huge amount. These things aren’t unrelated. > > (aside for all the people wondering why not Tapatalk, I don’t trust Tapatalk either. I am extremely selective about what apps I’ll install on my phone for the above reasons, and a third party whose business model I don’t fully comprehend and wants to insert itself into a lot of communications is at the top of the suspect list. Not to mention the fact that in this day and age, everything it does is completely doable in a mobile browser, so it should be unnecessary for any decent forum to need a special client app.) Well put. My reason for the OP was to bitch about what I’m seeing now (hence the thread title). However, I’m glad to see that action is being taken to fix the redirect issue. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/70 "2015-08-11T21:40:43Z")
> [@spinky](#): > > I actually disagree. It seems that TPTB are doing everything in their power to _avoid_ really fixing the root problem, which is that their only recourse with this ad provider seems to be to write to their support folks and say “um, excuse me, but you seem to be doing malicious things to our users again” and then waiting several days for them to fix it (sometimes requiring a lot of pestering from us to keep them on it). Contrary to popular belief, Whack-A-Mole is a carnival game, not a training simulator for running a website. While there have been problems with ad providers and the willingness to go without, if you follow the links in this thread, you will see that this is far from isolated to the SDMB or one or two ad providers. Granted, malicious code sneaking in through any method is a worry, and anything that hinders reading to the level described is beyond nuisance into obstruction. But I was restating I plain English what was said two or three posts prior. Ed Zotti posted he was aware of the issue and working on it. At least he isn’t playing ostrich. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/71 "2015-08-12T00:08:21Z")
I use Android’s default browser and can confirm that I’ve been redirected to Uber a few times in the last week. I also get security certificate warnings every third or fourth time I load the site. My phone is basically in a constant state of assuming that the SDMB is malware. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/72 "2015-08-13T15:56:21Z")
I have been getting random redirects usually to uber. I’m on android. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/73 "2015-08-15T08:15:42Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > It does the same thing on Android, by the way. I don’t use Tapatalk because I’m using my phone’s browse same as I’d use my home computer browser: couple tabs, reading different sites, etc. Having a separate app for one site that otherwise hijacks me defeats my goal. I don’t have such a problem on my android devices (phone and tablet). I just installed Firefox as my web browser, and I’m good to go. Periodically, the device will offer to install (or turn on) Tapatalk, but not often enough to present a serious problem. I just decline, and go on my merrry way (I don’t feel the desire to learn any more new operating skills than I absolutely have to, that’s why). ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/74 "2015-08-17T23:11:51Z")
> [@Ed\_Zotti](#): > > We’re trying to figure out what’s going on. Judging from this post: > > [Unscrupulous website adverts again redirecting some users to App Store from Safari - 9to5Mac](http://9to5mac.com/2015/03/18/safari-app-store-redirect/) > > … it appears this has something to do with iOS, the iPhone operating system (although maybe not, since we’re getting reports from Android users as well). The fact that (a) this has been happening on other sites since last spring but has only showed up at the SDMB now, and (b) some people see it and some don’t suggests it may have been dragged in by an ad. (Different users see different ads.) We’ve asked our ad provider to look into this. We apologize for the inconvenience. Thank you. The fact that I am only just now getting around to replying to this a week later is a symptom of the problem. I look forward to its resolution. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/75 "2015-08-31T12:52:31Z")
I don’t know if anyone cares, but I’m still having this problem with Android. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/76 "2015-09-07T11:45:17Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Thank you. The fact that I am only just now getting around to replying to this a week later is a symptom of the problem. I look forward to its resolution. The problem is that this isn’t a bug, it’s a “feature.” browsers on iOS recognize URLs for the App Store. If you had a blog about turnip twaddling and wanted to promote your awesome new app for turnip twaddling, you can put a link to the app on your page which will direct someone to your app on the Store if they tap on it. Unfortunately, like pretty much everything else, advertisers have hijacked that feature and turned it into a royal pain in the ass. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/77 "2015-09-07T17:23:53Z")
I have no idea why anyone would use Tapatalk, on Android anyways. My built in Google brower and the Firefox browser app both display every message board perfectly fine. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/78 "2015-09-08T02:17:13Z")
> [@sparky\_1](#): > > And btw, who the hell would ever actually purchase an app that you get redirected to. Lately it’s to Uber. Guess what Uber, I’ll never use you app due to this. I can’t recall who the previous app were (I seem to recall some really crappy games). This reminds me very much of certain porn sites that re-purpose a whole bunch of control in your browser so that you can never leave the site, short of re-booting. I stumbled upon one of those by accident (I swear it!) some years ago. While at work, even! It’s pornographic in itself that sites do that, even on top of the content matter they purvey. What could they have been thinking? Would anyone who gets stuck in a site like that EVER come back? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/79 "2015-09-08T04:34:33Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I have no idea why anyone would use Tapatalk, on Android anyways. My built in Google brower and the Firefox browser app both display every message board perfectly fine. Because the edit window is nearly impossible to use. The view centers on the screen, so you either have the screen too tiny to read, or you can’t get the cursor to the edge of the window. I don’t like having to pan the screen left to right just to read the board. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2015, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357/80 "2015-09-08T14:22:21Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > I don’t like having to pan the screen left to right just to read the board. Under Settings/Accessibility, you can “scale” the text size default on my built in browser. No panning required. The edit/message box can be a bit of a pain. Sometimes seems to randomly choose where it puts a paste. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-is-changing/727357.md?page=5)