FixReddit is an iOS Safari Web Extension that makes Reddit usable on an iPhone by forcing Reddit traffic to old.reddit.com and reshaping old Reddit into a mobile-friendly reader.

The app target is only a small iOS container app. Most product behavior lives in the Safari extension resources under src/.

• Redirects reddit.com, www.reddit.com, m.reddit.com, and np.reddit.com to old.reddit.com.
• Sends a desktop Safari user agent to Reddit via Declarative Net Request header rules.
• Injects CSS that removes mobile/app promos, signup blocks, noisy listing controls, and desktop chrome.
• Reflows old Reddit listing cards for phone-sized viewports.
• Makes post cards open the comments page when tapped, while preserving normal taps on links, thumbnails, votes, media, and controls.
• Adds a hamburger button in the top bar that opens a sidebar drawer with account controls and the subreddit Info.
• Adds collapse/expand controls to comment threads.

project.yml                              XcodeGen project definition
FixReddit.xcodeproj/                     Generated Xcode project
FixReddit/                               iOS container app
  FixRedditApp.swift
  ContentView.swift                      Basic enable-extension instructions
  Info.plist
Extension/
  SafariWebExtensionHandler.swift        Native extension message handler
  Info.plist                             Safari Web Extension metadata
src/                                     Web extension resources (MV3)
  manifest.json
  rules.json                             Redirect and header rewrite DNR rules
  content.js                             DOM behavior and page shims
  reddit-mobile.css                      Main mobile old-Reddit stylesheet
  background.js                          Ruleset setup
  popup.html/css                         Toolbar popup
  _locales/en/messages.json              Extension name/description strings
  images/                                Toolbar/icon assets
.github/workflows/release.yml            Tag-driven TestFlight upload

• Xcode
• XcodeGen, available as xcodegen
• iOS 15+ for Safari Web Extensions
• Safari 16.4+ for declarativeNetRequest modifyHeaders support

Install XcodeGen if needed:

brew install xcodegen

Regenerate the project after editing project.yml:

xcodegen generate

Build from the command line:

xcodebuild -project FixReddit.xcodeproj -target FixReddit -sdk iphonesimulator build

Open in Xcode:

open FixReddit.xcodeproj

Run the FixReddit app target on an iPhone or simulator. Then enable the extension:

• iOS Settings → Apps → Safari → Extensions → FixReddit
• Older iOS: Settings → Safari → Extensions → FixReddit

Allow website access for Reddit domains. If manifest.json permissions change, iOS may require re-approval.

xcodebuild -project FixReddit.xcodeproj -target FixReddit -sdk iphonesimulator build
xcrun simctl install booted build/Debug-iphonesimulator/FixReddit.app
xcrun simctl openurl booted https://old.reddit.com/
xcrun simctl io booted screenshot /tmp/fixreddit.png

If the extension does not appear in Safari settings, inspect the built extension bundle:

find build/Debug-iphonesimulator/FixReddit.app/PlugIns/FixRedditExtension.appex -maxdepth 3 -type f | sort

The .appex must contain manifest.json at its top level. If it does not, the XcodeGen resource declarations in project.yml are wrong.

node --check src/content.js
node --check src/background.js
node -e "for (const f of ['src/manifest.json','src/rules.json','src/_locales/en/messages.json']) JSON.parse(require('fs').readFileSync(f, 'utf8'))"
plutil -lint FixReddit/Info.plist Extension/Info.plist

Push a v1.2.3 tag. The .github/workflows/release.yml workflow archives, signs, and uploads to App Store Connect for TestFlight. See the workflow file for the required GitHub Actions secrets.

rules.json has two jobs:

• Redirect Reddit main-frame requests to old.reddit.com.
• Rewrite the User-Agent header to desktop macOS Safari where Safari permits request header modification.

content.js has the behavioral layer:

• Redirect fallback if network redirects are skipped.
• Desktop identity shim for navigator.userAgent, navigator.platform, and touch signals.
• Sidebar drawer toggle injected into the top bar.
• Post card navigation to comments.
• Comment collapse controls.
• Promo/signup cleanup with a mutation observer.

reddit-mobile.css is the main UX surface. It stays scoped under .fix-reddit-mobile so it does not leak into non-Reddit pages.

• Safari Web Extension permissions are user-controlled. If host access is off, redirects, scripts, or header rewrites may not run.
• Header rewriting requires declarativeNetRequestWithHostAccess and a Safari/iOS version that supports modifyHeaders.
• Reddit can still infer mobile from viewport width, cookies, or server-side experiments. The extension therefore both spoofs desktop signals and removes mobile/app promo UI.
• Old Reddit markup is stable but it is not an API. CSS selectors should be kept broad enough to tolerate minor class changes.
• The generated .xcodeproj is committed for convenience, but project.yml is the source of truth.

MIT — see LICENSE.