How to Summarize Reddit Posts on Android
RedditTLDR gives you a one-tap way to get an AI-powered TL;DR of any Reddit post — directly inside the Reddit app, in about 3 seconds, without root access and without any browser extension.
An Android device (8.0+), the official Reddit app, and an Anthropic API key (free to get, costs fractions of a cent per summary at the default Haiku 4.5 rate).
Step 1 — Download the APK
Download RedditTLDR-debug.apk
Go to the Releases page and download the latest APK directly to your Android device. You can also use the direct download link from the Install page.
Step 2 — Allow installing unknown apps
Enable installation from unknown sources
Go to Settings → Apps → Special app access → Install unknown apps. Find the browser or file manager you used to download the APK and enable Allow from this source. This is a one-time step you can disable afterwards.
Step 3 — Install the app
Open and install the APK
Tap the downloaded APK file in your notifications or file manager and follow the prompts to install. Once installed, open RedditTLDR.
Step 4 — Grant Accessibility Service permission
Enable the AccessibilityService
In the RedditTLDR settings screen, tap the Accessibility service row. Android's Accessibility settings open — find RedditTLDR in the list and tap to enable it. Confirm any system prompts. Return to RedditTLDR and tap Refresh to update the status indicator.
After installing a new version of RedditTLDR, you may need to toggle the Accessibility service off and back on in Settings → Accessibility for new capabilities to take effect.
Step 5 — Grant overlay permission
Allow display over other apps
Tap the Display over other apps row in RedditTLDR settings. Enable the permission for RedditTLDR. This is what lets the bubble and summary card appear on top of the Reddit app.
Step 6 — Add your Claude API key
Get a key from Anthropic and paste it in
Sign up at console.anthropic.com and create an API key. Paste it into the API Key field in RedditTLDR and tap Save. Optionally tap Test to confirm it works. Your key is stored encrypted on your device and never sent anywhere except directly to Anthropic's API.
Step 7 — Open Reddit and tap the bubble
Summarize any post with one tap
Open the official Reddit app. A small floating bubble appears at the screen edge — drag it anywhere you like. Navigate to any post you want to summarize and tap the bubble. RedditTLDR will scroll to the top of the post, swipe through the content, capture the text, and display an AI summary card in about 3 seconds.
Customizing your summaries
Open the RedditTLDR settings screen to choose:
- Summary length — Short (1–2 sentences), Medium (TL;DR + 3–4 bullets), or Detailed (5–7 bullets with full context)
- Claude model — Haiku 4.5 (fastest and cheapest, good for most posts), Sonnet 4.6 (balanced quality/speed), or Opus 4.7 (highest quality for complex posts)
Summarizing comments
After the post summary card appears, tap Summarize comments. RedditTLDR uses the same text already captured during scrolling to generate a separate bullet-point summary of the comment discussion — no additional scroll, no extra API call.
Why this approach?
Reddit's official API requires OAuth and has strict rate limits. RedditTLDR instead reads text directly from the accessibility tree — the same mechanism Android uses for screen readers. This means:
- No Reddit account needed
- No OAuth flow or app permissions from Reddit
- Works even if Reddit changes their API policies
- Summarizes exactly what you're looking at on screen
The tradeoff: it only works with the official Reddit app, not third-party clients.
Privacy and security
RedditTLDR handles your data conservatively:
- Your API key is stored using AES-256-GCM encryption (
EncryptedSharedPreferences) - The settings screen uses
FLAG_SECUREso your key never appears in screenshots or the recents screen - No analytics, no crash reporting, no telemetry of any kind
- Nothing is persisted after you close the summary card
- Only traffic is your device → Anthropic's API endpoint
Ready to try it? → Download and install RedditTLDR