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It is worth getting in a huff over, and I don't think you know much of anything about this issue.

- Mods can't do their jobs without 3rd party apps.
- People who rely on accessibility features are screwed without 3rd party apps.
- Thousands of OnlyFans-type creators are sidelined when NSFW content is blocked by the API. Yeah not a priority to most people but still, why do this.
- Some subreddits are truly amazing, and 3rd party apps with good user experiences make hours of conversation so much easier. People should care about having good-quality apps. The official Reddit app and website are some of the biggest trash out there.

Highlighted by me because I think you're right that I don't know much about it.. just seems all too web-militarized. Like the Twitter incident were people left in droves.

I've spent many hours on reddit, being part of the OSXTweaks subreddit + the macOS, UnixP*** subreddit, and helping people with their various Mac or macOS related issues; suggesting apps to new macOS users and help them navigate macOS.
 
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I am not the biggest fan of reddit, it is very political, and does censor a lot of stuff. Or the users will censor anything they don't agree with in down votes. However I fully support Reddit's decision. Why should free-loaders, like I guess Apollo, make money off of Reddit and strip Reddit of the revenue to run their site? If I was Reddit, I would never have allowed those third party API's from the start, as every one of those clients is missed revenue. Very smart decision from Reddit to ban these. Will this 'go dark' ban people are doing, do anything? Very doubtful. This isn't too much different from Apple not allowing third party payment systems on Apps. Why should Apple host and pay for the infrastructure for companies to sell apps and distribute apps, but get no money to pay for the distribution of said apps?
My understanding is (and I'm just going on comments I've seen) Reddit isn't necessarily banning them, but making the cost so high, 3rd party apps can't afford it. These 3rd party apps might not mind paying a bit for it, but I've heard the Apollo app is basically going from free to $20 million a year or something. Correct me if I have the wrong information. But that's a HUGE difference.
 
This is why I hate public companies. They are gearing up to go public and NEED TO maximize profits.

That is one of the reasons that I have never worked (since finishing college/grad school in '06) at a for-profit company; only 501c3 nonprofits......but that's an argument for a different group.
 
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My understanding is (and I'm just going on comments I've seen) Reddit isn't necessarily banning them, but making the cost so high, 3rd party apps can't afford it. These 3rd party apps might not mind paying a bit for it, but I've heard the Apollo app is basically going from free to $20 million a year or something. Correct me if I have the wrong information. But that's a HUGE difference.
The problem in reality is that these apps were using Reddit's servers for free, stripping ad revenue, and making their own revenue on someone else's content. Search engines blocked this years ago, there use to be tons of meta search servers that did this. While I'm sure some people enjoy using these third party apps, but it doesn't benefit Reddit in any way, so they are charging crazy fees instead. This probably has something to do with the IPO as investors probably wanted a stop to the missed revenue opportunities.
 
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The problem in reality is that these apps were using Reddit's servers for free, stripping ad revenue, and making their own revenue on someone else's content. Search engines blocked this years ago, there use to be tons of meta search servers that did this. While I'm sure some people enjoy using these third party apps, but it doesn't benefit Reddit in any way, so they are charging crazy fees instead. This probably has something to do with the IPO as investors probably wanted a stop to the missed revenue opportunities.
Sounds fair for Reddit to charge *something* for the use of its API, but sounds like they want to charge way too much.
 
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The problem in reality is that these apps were using Reddit's servers for free, stripping ad revenue, and making their own revenue on someone else's content. Search engines blocked this years ago, there use to be tons of meta search servers that did this. While I'm sure some people enjoy using these third party apps, but it doesn't benefit Reddit in any way, so they are charging crazy fees instead. This probably has something to do with the IPO as investors probably wanted a stop to the missed revenue opportunities.
I think it's okay for Reddit to charge a reasonable fee for the use of their API, but the pricing that they introduced and the timeline from announcement to implementation – 30 days – was designed to simply kill third-party apps.

Also, Reddit does receive a benefit from allowing third-party apps:
  • More users who generate content (and who very likely produce a disproportionately high amount of content relative to the third-party app user base size)
  • Free development work. Essential things like advanced moderating tools are created for free by a third party. Reddit doesn't need to hire engineers and spend time doing it themselves
Reddit has obviously weighed its options and determined it not to be worth it, but I also think that the CEO is not a particularly good business decisionmaker and that this is a shortsighted decision.
 
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If they really wanted to stick it to them, the mods would wipe the subs of all the content/information. I know it would tick a lot of people off (could also download it before completely deleting it) but that is the only true way to make the CEO take note. This gives off heavy "If we don't buy gas on X date, it will force the company to lower prices" vibes. A day or two isn't going to impact the CEO in any meaningful way.
 
Reddit should just buy Apollo and implement its features in the official app, including special moderator versions.
Seems like the logical thing to do. But I'm not a fan of the Apollo app.. It's similar to the official Reddit app, whereas it doesn't optimize for a tablet UI such as the iPad.

My 3rd party app of choice is Slide due to it's column support, which benefits the larger screen of an iPad. And those who are against the protest... should understand, that 3rd party apps helped build Reddit to where it is now. It's not as if 3rd party devs set idle by and took advantage of free API access.. but they took time to implement features and designed their app to help view Reddit content in a digestible format.

What I can't quite understand... they have some quality 3rd party devs that build great apps, why not bring them in? Why attempt to cut them off... I wonder what are the decisions that caused them to go this route? It's as if they wanted the entire pie and wasn't willing to share it with anyone... seems like a immature thing to do.

Like taking their ball when a foul call doesn’t go their way.
 
The problem in reality is that these apps were using Reddit's servers for free, stripping ad revenue, and making their own revenue on someone else's content. Search engines blocked this years ago, there use to be tons of meta search servers that did this. While I'm sure some people enjoy using these third party apps, but it doesn't benefit Reddit in any way, so they are charging crazy fees instead. This probably has something to do with the IPO as investors probably wanted a stop to the missed revenue opportunities.
Reddit's whole business model is making money from other people's content. Not just from users, but from the army of unpaid Reddit moderators which all the other big social media sites have as paid employees. It's those unpaid moderators that Reddit needs to keep on-side, which is why ditching the 3rd party apps they use to fill in the (seemingly many) gaps in the official tool set is so foolish.

Killing 3rd party apps makes sense on paper as Reddit wants end to end control of the user interaction with the site, but if I was a potential investor this whole episode would make me nervous about the fragility of Reddit.

I think the time is ripe for a Reddit competitor.
 
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Reddit seems to be down for the count right now... multiple CDN errors and cant even sign in to my account
1686582750813.jpeg

Yep, it's down.


Thread: I was surprised how many search engine results led me to subreddits that were locked down yesterday.
 
I'm all for them charging for API access, but it should either be cheap, tier access or for a set % of profits from the app.
 
I'm all for them charging for API access, but it should either be cheap, tier access or for a set % of profits from the app.
Yep, I think the userbase would have responded a lot better had the prices and time to adapt had been at least somewhat reasonable. As it was, it was a big finger in the face of those of us who made Reddit great.

Amazing to me the posters who support this type of behavior towards customers.
 
Yep, I think the user abase would have responded a lot better had the prices and time to adapt had been at least somewhat reasonable. As it was, it was a big finger in the face of those of us who made Reddit great.

Amazing to me the posters who support this type of behavior towards customers.

This. I would have paid to keep things the way they were. Instead, they dropped this bomb and said pay up instead. No warning, no nothing. Our way or the highway.
 
The problem in reality is that these apps were using Reddit's servers for free, stripping ad revenue, and making their own revenue on someone else's content.
The irony being that Reddit doesn't produce content themselves. The users supply the content, whether it's their own creations or links to third-party resources. Reddit's contribution is a structure for topic organization, a user list for security, and (of course) advertisements, seen and unseen.
 
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Reddit's whole business model is making money from other people's content. Not just from users, but from the army of unpaid Reddit moderators which all the other big social media sites have as paid employees. It's those unpaid moderators that Reddit needs to keep on-side, which is why ditching the 3rd party apps they use to fill in the (seemingly many) gaps in the official tool set is so foolish.

Killing 3rd party apps makes sense on paper as Reddit wants end to end control of the user interaction with the site, but if I was a potential investor this whole episode would make me nervous about the fragility of R
I think the time is ripe for a Reddit competitor.
lol.... you still dont get it... even after it being explained to you by like 400 people here
Explain what? Reddit will remove those mods and make them public again
 
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