Reddit launches its official app

"The front page of the Internet" is finally catching up to the mobile world.

More than 10 years after its launch, the popular yet divisive online forum Reddit launched an official app for iOS and Android on Thursday, part of a series of changes taking place over the past year.

"The app is already the fastest way to browse Reddit, and it will serve as the foundation for many updates to come," Reddit CEO and co-founder Steve Huffman said in a statement.

Unlike the website, which at times resembles a relic of the Internet's past, the mobile app is sleeker and more modern. Alex Le, Reddit's vice president of consumer product, says rolling out an app was among Reddit's top priorities when he started last November.

"The year is 2015, and Reddit’s never really had official apps to give to our users that really deliver on the Reddit experience on mobile devices,"  Le said. "We felt really behind."

Le said the app helps address a key concern when visiting Reddit: knowing where to start. The app will offer a "less overwhelming feeling" of what to explore, he says. The app features a Card Mode, where pieces of content appear in a card filling the screen.

Reddit readers had been relying on mobile Web and third-party apps to explore the site. Two years ago, Reddit acquired Alien Blue, a third-party app Le said was "standing in" as the site's official app.

However, as with many websites, readers' movement to mobile was difficult to overlook. Le says about half of Reddit's users visit the site from a mobile device. "The shift of people accessing the website on mobile went to a number that we couldn’t ignore any more."

Reddit is undergoing a transitional period since last July, when former CEO Ellen Pao resigned from her post following a controversial run at the online forum. Along with the app, Reddit is continuing its push toward cracking down on harassment and making the site more welcoming.

On Wednesday, Reddit unveiled a new, broader blocking feature making it easier for users to eliminate unwanted comments from their view.

"Beyond the launch of the native iOS app, we have a lot of work to do — 2016 is also about building out a strong product team that will help us work on the small and big changes alike," Huffman said. "We’re hiring talented engineers and product managers who share our commitment to make Reddit Inc. the best place to work, and Reddit.com the best place to find community."

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.