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

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

The buttons on ads are getting so small it’s actually impossible to get out of them.

https://redd.it/1vm5x9s
@AssholeDesign

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

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

Linkedin intentionally makes some pages break fake to make you install the app.

Update user agent and get the shit done.

https://preview.redd.it/my9fz6bzbijh1.jpg?width=968&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=80cb4be018caa5ae7003c87c319e35424d8135de

https://redd.it/1voybi8
@AssholeDesign

When I want to see the comments on a threads Google News link, it forces me to download the app before I can get a glimpse at the potential memes

I would post a screenshot, but it's really easy to test it yourself. It contradicts the whole purpose of it being available to the public (I don't need that son of a bitch clogging up my phone's storage and notifications to give me false hope anyway)

https://redd.it/1vos8zc
@AssholeDesign

Adding a line on their video to look like you have a hair on your screen, in hopes that you’ll try brushing it off and end up interacting with their ad.
https://redd.it/1vpeslm
@AssholeDesign

Trying to browse Reddit in my web browser. This prevents any interaction with the page There is no close button. You can't click out of it.
https://redd.it/1vpl6lw
@AssholeDesign

Surfshark - selling itself as ad blocker - forces ad pop-up on PAID users and makes it extremely difficult to close

https://redd.it/1vpra9h
@AssholeDesign

Reddit blocking free users after 1 minute of scrolling with an unremovable popup.
https://redd.it/1vqp7r0
@AssholeDesign

Dolly Parton's claims it has no high fructose corn syrup, has corn syrup

https://redd.it/1vqrr1s
@AssholeDesign