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

I cant use MY camera on MY phone because of age verification bullshit?
https://redd.it/1vqyotp
@AssholeDesign

Opal lets you subscribe in seconds. Cancelling took me 30 minutes, 2 devices, Stripe, RevenueCat and an AI chatbot.

I just wanted to try Opal. I started their 3-day Pro trial directly from their website on my Mac. Entered my card, subscribed, done. Super easy.

Then I tried to actually access what I had just paid for.

The website showed an “Open App & Redeem” button. I clicked it on my Mac. Nothing happened.

At this point, they had my card and a subscription that would automatically charge me in 3 days, but I had no properly connected account and no obvious place to manage or cancel it.

Thank FUCK I hadn’t closed the original browser tab.

Here’s what I eventually had to do:

1. Inspect/copy the redemption URL from my Mac
2. Send it to my iPhone
3. Download the Opal app
4. Create an account on my phone
5. Open the redemption URL manually on my phone
6. Finally get the subscription connected to my account
7. Contact their AI support to figure out how to cancel
8. Get sent to a Stripe customer portal
9. Discover there was NO cancellation option there
10. Ask the AI again
11. Get a completely different RevenueCat link
12. Finally cancel the subscription

It took me roughly 30 fucking minutes to cancel a trial that took seconds to start.

And I’m very comfortable with tech. What the fuck is a normal person supposed to do here?

If I had simply closed that original browser tab after subscribing, I genuinely don’t know how I would have found my way through this mess before the trial renewed.

Maybe this is just an unbelievably broken subscription flow. Maybe making cancellation this difficult happens to be great for conversions. Either way, this is exactly the kind of hostile UX that deserves to be called out.

Making the Subscribe button effortless while turning Cancel into a fucking treasure hunt across two devices, an AI chatbot, Stripe and RevenueCat is asshole design.

https://preview.redd.it/kf914u2ie3kh1.png?width=1198&format=png&auto=webp&s=05eca9f21a5f36bc2f10854390f67da5c05c910a



https://redd.it/1vrj2ii
@AssholeDesign

First Time Experiencing DRM-Related Inaccessibility
https://redd.it/1vruc4n
@AssholeDesign

Put down a dog who could barely breathe 4 hours ago
https://redd.it/1vsbs5f
@AssholeDesign

Anyone else notice these "spend limit" dark patterns in AI/API products?

Been digging into how usage limits work on some AI platforms and found something that feels pretty sketchy:

1. Default monthly spend limit used to be $0, hit your usage cap and you just wait for the reset (4hrs/weekly).

2. They added a "monthly spend limit" feature so you could opt in to pay for extra usage instead of waiting.

3. Then they rolled me into a promo: 2x usage + $100 "free" credit, both prominently shown right on the usage tracking screen.

4. To make that credit spendable, they also silently bumped my monthly spend limit from $0 to $2,000 (!!!). That part wasn't shown anywhere near as prominently, if a reasonable person glancing at the screen wouldn't catch it, it shouldn't be buried in fine print.

I only noticed after burning through $17 of the "free" $100, when I went looking for why it said I was drawing on "API spend."

I've since seen a few posts on FB/Reddit from people with surprise charges in the $40 to $50 range, adding up to $2k+, because they assumed they were still capped at $0 like before.

Anyone else run into this? Curious if silently bumping spend limits during a promo is common practice, or if this is an especially bad case.

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

Google sends AI ads to their phones, removes "Turn off" button
https://redd.it/1vsnb45
@AssholeDesign

Meta forces you to use WhatsApp instead of SMS/MMS like literally every service on earth
https://redd.it/1vt13cr
@AssholeDesign