Poll of the Day > Reddit is killing all the third party Reddit apps

(+) Yeah! (+)

Reddit is an enormously popular website, but the official design has always needed some reworking. This is even more true of the mobile experience, which didn't have a mobile app until 2016, and even then, not everyone's a fan of it. The site's popularity rose partly thanks to third-party developers filling in the gaps with pre-existing and better mobile apps. Last month, following in the footsteps of Twitter, Reddit suddenly announced it wanted to charge apps for API access, but how much? Would it pull a Twitter and price everything out of the market?

The most popular Reddit app is the iOS app Apollo, which has been running for eight years now and has millions of downloads. Apollo's developer, Christian Selig, has been in meetings with Reddit regarding the cost of the API, and it sounds like the company is using a recent Twitter tactic. Selig says "50 million requests costs $12,000, a figure far more than I ever could have imagined." Twitter, for the record, is charging $42,000 for 50 million tweets. Selig cites the photo site Imgur as a more reasonable pricing scheme, "I pay Imgur (a site similar to Reddit in user base and media) $166 for the same 50 million API calls." Selig estimates it would cost $20 million a year to keep Apollo running.

Apollo and most other third-party apps use Reddit's data but don't show Reddit's ads, so the proliferation of third-party apps costs Reddit money. It's reasonable to expect some money to change hands here, but how much? Selig links to a CNBC report from 2019 that estimated Reddit earns 30 cents a year per user and says Reddit's API pricing would work out to about $2.50 per user per month or $30 a year, which aligns with Imgur's pricing.

Selig says he is "deeply disappointed in this price" and that "I don't see how this pricing is anything based in reality or remotely reasonable. I hope it goes without saying that I don't have that kind of money or would even know how to charge it to a credit card." This is apparently the pricing everyone is getting, so just like Twitter, Reddit may torpedo its entire third-party app ecosystem. Selig isn't throwing in the towel on Apollo quite yet, though, "This is going to require some thinking," he said.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/05/reddits-api-pricing-results-in-shocking-20-million-a-year-bill-for-apollo/

i guess this is easier than fixing their own trash app

It is a website, that works perfectly fine in Browser, why should I, or anyone, care?

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

It is a website, that works perfectly fine in Browser, why should I, or anyone, care?

You don't care so why should others? Shitty attitude to have in general lol

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

It is a website, that works perfectly fine in Browser, why should I, or anyone, care?

reddit has been trying hard to make people use the app.

they restrict stories, comments and other things to the app just because theyre unrated or controversial (popular) or NSFW, as if viewing them through the app made them safe.

people get around it by going to old Reddit, which theyre bound to kill at some point

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

It is a website, that works perfectly fine in Browser, why should I, or anyone, care?

That's cool that the website satisfies you. Others prefer using a platform that is designed specifically for addressing the inherent limitations that come with accessing a detailed website on their phone. Moderators are especially upset by this decision, because it makes their "job" (if you want to call it that) a lot more difficult.

This is more of an issue for archive sites that archive deleted posts.

Quake-64 posted...

reddit has been trying hard to make people use the app.

they restrict stories, comments and other things to the app just because theyre unrated or controversial (popular) or NSFW, as if viewing them through the app made them safe.

people get around it by going to old Reddit, which theyre bound to kill at some point

Their app is such trash. They want it to be like TikTok (if TikTok sucked at playing videos). I've used Reddit is Fun for years. It's clean and fast. My Reddit usage will drop a lot when it's gone.

Judgmenl posted...

This is more of an issue for archive sites that archive deleted posts.

not really? apollo app developers have said it'd cost them about $20m a year to continue to provide the same level of service they are able to offer now once this change goes through. that completely kills their app.

Jen0125 posted...

You don't care so why should others? Shitty attitude to have in general lol

I am genuinely asking, if I really did not care, I would not ask.

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

I am genuinely asking, if I really did not care, I would not ask.

Saying "If I don't care, why should others?" isn't a genuine question. It's a flippant remark.

It is also not what I posted?

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

It is a website, that works perfectly fine in Browser, why should I, or anyone, care?

Saying "why should I or anyone care" is functionally the same as saying you don't care so why should others because the "website works fine"

I suppose genuine interest might not come across as clearly in text as well as I would hope.

Others care because they don't use the website or the official app due to quality deficiencies that are compensated for in third party apps.

Using reddit in-browser on a phone is already pretty bothersome because they try to push the app so often. I've had posts that I'm working on just get straight-up erased because the page decided to refresh to give me the "this page looks better in the app" popup again. I have every reason to expect that if third-party apps are no longer a viable alternative, they'll double down on making the browser less pleasant to use for the sake of encouraging their app, which is just bothersome. I'm really not a fan of the all-too-common strategy of pushing people to use an app not by making the app more attractive but by making the non-app options less attractive. If you want to harvest my data, make it worth my while.

So basically the thing the official app has going for it, is that it is not actively being made worse by Reddit?

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

It is a website, that works perfectly fine in Browser, why should I, or anyone, care?

It doesn't. The mobile site regularly spawns "See this community in... Reddit App (Open) Browser (Continue)" popups. If one of those hits when you're in the middle of a thread, you'll be reset to the top of the page. If you leave multiple tabs open and then come back later, the popup often causes an inescapable deathloop.

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

So basically the thing the official app has going for it, is that it is not actively being made worse by Reddit?

I've avoided trying it myself because I generally try to avoid any app that is pushed so strongly by the company behind it (they don't push things like that without an ulterior motive that is never beneficial for the consumer. Usually it's easier ad delivery and data collection), but that's roughly my understanding of it. They want people using the app, people aren't using it, so rather than making the app better so people actually want to use it, they're making other options worse.

Android app is a laggy piece of shit and I wish I'd known about the alternatives before I found out today they were being killed

Jen0125 posted...

not really? apollo app developers have said it'd cost them about $20m a year to continue to provide the same level of service they are able to offer now once this change goes through. that completely kills their app.

I don't use phones for anything other than calling so I'll defer to whatever you're saying.

I'm really excited for the paid API to come in because I need a really good reason to ditch that app.

Reddit needs to spend more time getting rid of the OF bots.

Some of the major subs are shutting down for two days in protest. Some are shutting down indefinitely.

Apparently I can't report a spam account from the app

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/2/9/AAQwHjAAEj81.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/3/0/AAQwHjAAEj82.jpg

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/7/0/AAQwHjAAEj9e.jpg

Does this mean we can go back to having actual forums instead of circle jerks, or would any future attempt at making forums copy Reddits cancerous upvote system?

You know, most mobile browsers have the ability to request the desktop version of the site.

There is literally no point in using an app, third party or otherwise.

Not that I really give a shit. I use reddit for Risk of Rain memes and little else

MightBeOverSoon posted...

You know, most mobile browsers have the ability to request the desktop version of the site.

In my experience, that tends to be pretty hit or miss for Reddit. Sometimes it works, sometimes it bugs out, and the desktop UI scaling isn't exactly great for a vertical screen. Most of the time, the mobile version is fine for me except for the constant barrage of "this page looks better in the app," and apparently I could add a custom ublock script to put that popup where it belongs, so I'll probably do that whenever I stop being lazy.

MightBeOverSoon posted...

There is literally no point in using an app, third party or otherwise.

Unless somebody likes the app's UI better than both the desktop and mobile versions of the site.

*chases gamfaqs tumbleweed*

Cruddy_horse posted...

Does this mean we can go back to having actual forums instead of circle jerks, or would any future attempt at making forums copy Reddits cancerous upvote system?

The upvote system is only another mirror. Forums have long been circle jerks that ostracize outlier-type members since millennia before the Internet was even around.

Just noticed they shut down the ROR2 sub

this is officially a travesty now

Maybe it's a confirmation bias but I've seen gamefaqs board activity start to tick back up with the implosion of reddit in the past few weeks.

Give it a few days and all the subs will open up again, internet / reddit addicts will return, and Reddit will print money on IPO and on.

The CEO is right - it will blow over. He seems like a jackass but he will win this battle.