Alien Blue, previously an unofficial Reddit client, has been purchased by the firm, giving it control of the most popular point of access on Apple’s iOS platform. It also marks the site's first foray into mobile apps - with it previosuly relying upon third party services.
With the takeover, Reddit has acquired the Alien Blue app, its project assets and its single developer Jase Morrissey from Melbourne.
Alien Blue will keep its name, although it will become the official reader app of Reddit. Furthermore, for the next week, users of the app will be able to upgrade to pro for free.
Jase Morrissey, the mobile software engineer who developed Alien Blue, said: “I'm absolutely thrilled to be joining the very talented reddit crew. I have been working closely with reddit for many years now.
“Now that I'm an official member of the team, I'm hoping to spend even more time doing what I love - building fun and powerful software.”
The purchase was made after the firm raised $50m in its latest fundraiser earlier this month, with Snoop Dogg and Jared Leto make investments.