Apollo was among the most well-known third-party applications to be removed from Reddit. Reddit wanted to charge $12,000 for every 50 million API queries, which would have required Apollo developer Christian Selig to pay them $20 million annually.
Before Apollo was shut down, Selig thanked users in a Reddit post and said: “If [Reddit] wanted something that could work for everyone, they would have simply made an effort to listen, instead of being dishonest, callous, and punitive in pricing.”
Many of the comments on the page state that, with Apollo gone, the commenters will cancel their accounts and stop using Reddit.
Reddit is fun (RIF), the Android version of Apollo, has also been discontinued. Selig’s opinion was shared by RIF in its goodbye post, which blasted Reddit for its “hostile treatment of developers building on their platform.”
Other applications that have been discontinued as a result of Reddit’s API restrictions include Sync for Reddit, which will be transitioning to a potential Reddit competitor called Lemmy, and BaconReader, whose final update for Android users was delivered on June 27.
Apollo and other popular third-party Reddit applications closed
Reddit’s new API limitations have forced numerous popular third-party Reddit apps to close or charge customers. Apollo lost Reddit access. Christian Selig, Apollo’s founder, indicated that the new requirements would cost him $20 million per year to maintain Apollo, which is beyond the app’s subscription revenue. Selig announced the app’s June termination.
BaconReader, another popular Reddit app, closed due to API changes. Both Sync and Reddit have informed subscribers of its impending shutdown. Two third-party clients will keep operating but charge customers for API access.
In the next weeks, the popular Reddit app Relay for Reddit will switch to a subscription model. The developer hopes to keep membership prices low to ensure affordability. Reddit plans to offer subscriptions to cover API access charges, although the timetable is uncertain.
In April, Reddit stated it would charge companies for API access starting July 1. The goal was to monetize Reddit data used to train huge language models for generative AI. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said the data is valuable but shouldn’t be given to the biggest firms for free. This change also affected third-party clients, prompting Reddit communities to complain and go private in mid-June.
Which independent Reddit applications will continue to function?
Many third-party Reddit applications will still work, but they will cost money in order to pay Reddit’s API fees. When the modifications go into effect on July 5, any third-party applications that are still accessible will still be subject to Reddit’s API limitation of NSFW material.
Relay for Reddit will go on with business as usual and continue to be free. A relay will transition to a subscription model in the next weeks, while its creator DBrady noted in a Reddit post that they would make an effort to “hit as low a price point as possible.” As of right now, Relay’s pro edition will be offered without charge by DBRady until a subscription model is introduced.
Additionally remaining and switching to a subscription model is Narwhal for Reddit. The software will operate in the same manner, except without advertisements, and cost between $4 and $7, according to developer Rick Harrison, who verified this in a post. Although there haven’t been any updates on costs, Now for Reddit creator Miloco made a similar statement regarding Now for Reddit and gesture-based Nara for Reddit switching to subscriptions.
Reddit did make the announcement that accessibility-focused applications will be excluded from the new price policy, as was originally reported by The Verge. Users of the Reddit subreddit r/Blind reportedly put together a list of applications that improve Reddit’s accessibility, including screen readers like Reddit for Blind, Luna for Reddit, and Dystopia. Dystopia said in a post that it will go on as a free service.
RedReader was also given an exception for accessibility, despite the fact that moderators of r/Blind have complained that logging in is very difficult. The now-defunct BaconReader and Apollo, which supported the majority of iOS accessibility features, were among the other applications on r/Blind’s list.
Did you hear that Reddit API no longer be free?
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