The apps everyone complained about in 2025
Enshittification is an unavoidable reality of life. Applications and services that were once good fall prey to the constant need to maximize shareholder profits, which comes at the expense of user experience. Very few applications escape the march of enshittification, but some have deteriorated considerably this year.
Reddit
Reddit has had a lot of hate this year on *checks notes* Reddit. Most of this hatred is not unjustified. The app is now infested with ads, with Reddit now including ads in the comments section that are easy to mistake for real comments if you miss the little “promoted” tag below the username.
Users also complained that subreddits were automatically translated using AI without any guidance or warning. This caused users to comment on posts in their own language, without realizing that the rest of the comments are in a completely different language.
Reddit recently began rolling out a beta feature that removes the ability to sort comments for any user who isn’t logged into an account. Removing vital features is always a good way to keep your users engaged, right?
I fixed the Reddit feed with this little script
Sometimes the best just isn’t good enough.
Amazon
Amazon could be the example of enshittification. What started as a simple way to buy books online has become a monster. The constant imperative to maximize profits has made Amazon a company that sells almost everything, but the user experience has never been worse.
Trying to find the product you actually want to buy is now a major challenge. Even if you type in a specific product name, the first results will be sponsored products, meaning the product you want will be further down the page, often completely off the screen. Instead of returning the desired product as the top result, Amazon returns the result that will make the most money for the business, clearly indicating where customers are in Amazon’s priority list.
Other products on Amazon are no better. Echo Show smart displays have shown an increase in the number of ads displayed on the home screen, much to the dismay of Echo Show users. Prime Video isn’t immune either, with ads now commonplace for standard Prime subscribers, and the number of ads has increased significantly this year. If you’re tired of Amazon, there are plenty of independent retailers who would love your business.
Duolingo
I really like this one. I’ve been using Duolingo for almost five years, and have used the free, ad-supported version of the app for that entire time. Until this year, the ads were annoying, but being able to use the app for free seemed like a fair trade-off.
All that changed this year when Duolingo replaced the age-old heart system with a new energy-based system. With the original system, as long as you didn’t make more than five mistakes and lose all your heart, you could continue doing as many lessons as you wanted. With the new energy system, energy depletes with every question you answer, even if you answer correctly. It can run out after just three lessons, even if you don’t have anything wrong, leaving you unable to complete further lessons without watching ads, using gems, or giving in and signing up for a subscription.
The change made the app considerably worse. I’ve resorted to asking questions that require speaking or listening, which reduces the number of questions per lesson and uses a bit more energy, but it’s not a good way to learn. There are many alternative language learning apps that you may want to use instead.
Netflix
Netflix used to be so good; it had an excellent catalog of licensed TV shows and movies from all the major studios. Unfortunately, studios have caught on to the idea and set up their own streaming services, forcing users to pay for multiple subscriptions if they want to watch all the big shows and movies.
As Netflix’s user numbers began to plateau, the company had to find other ways to continue growing, which inevitably led to enshittification. In 2023, Netflix began cracking down on password sharing, and the situation has only gotten worse since.
The final nail in the coffin is that Netflix has removed casting from its mobile apps for all but a tiny handful of supported devices. Previously, you could stream a show or movie on your phone and stream the show to the TV to watch on a larger screen. Now this is only possible on older Chromecast devices and TVs that support Google Cast, and often only if you’re on an ad-free plan.
The best part is Netflix’s advice: “Please use the remote control that came with your device to navigate and watch instead.” In other words, you are forced to use the Smart TV app whether you like it or not. We’ve reached the point where many of us are wondering if keeping Netflix is worth it.
Spotify
Spotify added audiobooks in 2023. If you’re a paid subscriber, you get 15 hours of audiobook listening each month. If you want more listening time, you need to pay for an additional add-on. Adding something extra at no extra cost doesn’t feel like enshittification.
However, there is a dark side. By adding audiobooks to its music streaming subscription, Spotify was able to reclassify its Premium subscription as a “bundle”. The upside for Spotify is that, thanks to a 2022 legal settlement, bundled services are allowed to pay a lower mechanical royalty to publishers and songwriters in the United States. Spotify successfully fought a lawsuit challenging this in January 2025, meaning that by adding audiobooks, Spotify can now pay publishers and musicians even less than they already were.
The application itself is also deteriorating. AI music is everywhere, with AI songs now topping many Spotify charts, so it’s almost impossible to escape the slope. Although Spotify tries to remove spam tracks, the app is still flooded with them. There are plenty of alternative music streaming services you can try if your Spotify experience is too painful to bear, or you can even create your own.
Spotify’s latest update copies YouTube Music
Music videos are rolling out to more regions.
Enshittification is a sad fact of life. If an app or service is good, chances are it will only get worse in the long run. The best solution is to vote with your feet and stop using apps when they become too horrible.
