A number of prominent subreddits and moderators have expressed their strong opposition to Reddit's new API pricing. The changes have raised concerns over the potential shutdown of numerous third-party applications supporting the platform. As part of the protest, popular subreddits, including r/aww, r/video, r/Futurology, r/LifeHacks, and r/bestof, plan to go dark on June 12. Furthermore, a moderator coordination subreddit has penned an open letter to Reddit, warning that these alterations could severely impact community management capabilities.
In a post published on a new subreddit titled r/Save3rdPartyApps, a 48-hour shutdown period has been announced for a selection of communities. During this time, activity in the affected subreddits will be suspended. The post also states that some communities could cease to exist should the issue not be properly addressed. The official Reddit app has been criticized for its insufficient moderation tools, with the proposed API changes threatening the availability of third-party apps offering necessary functionality for moderators.
The r/ModCoord subreddit's open letter further emphasizes these issues, stating that many moderators depend on third-party applications to manage their communities efficiently. The letter highlights the superior mod tools, customization, streamlined interfaces, and other improvements offered by these apps when compared to the official Reddit app. Losing access to these services would hinder moderation effectiveness, negatively impacting both user and moderator experiences within these communities.
Concerns also arise from Reddit's newly introduced rules announced in April, which ban access to NSFW content via the API. The open letter suggests that this could prevent content-filtering bots from functioning properly.
Apollo, the iOS Reddit client, is developed by Christian Selig who recently claimed it would cost $20 million annually to run the app due to the new pricing changes. In response, a Reddit employee posted in the r/Redditdev community, asserting that fees depend on the app's efficiency and the number of calls per user. The employee suggested that Apollo is less efficient than its competitors, a contention Selig has asked to be clarified.
As the API changes come into effect on July 1, third-party developers are planning their next course of action. For example, Infinity for Reddit's developer has released a paid version to support the app's continuation, while Reddplanet's developer reportedly intends to discontinue the app by month's end.
SensorTower data reveals that since 2021, Apollo has experienced 4 million downloads, while Android clients Boost for Reddit and Infinity for Reddit have reached 430,000 and 280,000 downloads, respectively. Fast-growing no-code platforms like AppMaster can facilitate fast and cost-effective application development, potentially offering a solution to counteract the repercussions of Reddit's API pricing changes.
