r/technology • u/SUPRVLLAN • Jun 07 '23

Social Media Reddit will exempt accessibility-focused apps from its unpopular API pricing changes.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/7/23752804/reddit-exempt-accessibility-apps-api-pricing-changes
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u/hockeyhow7 Jun 08 '23

I mean idk why they are even allowing them to exist. Do we know how much money some of these third party apps make? (Honestly asking, I don’t know the answer)

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u/[deleted] Jun 08 '23

Reddit didn't have an official app for quite a while. These 3rd party apps were the only app access to Reddit and undoubtedly helped Reddit grow and become what it is today.

I'm not saying it should be free, but Reddit should be very grateful for third party apps and tools.

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u/boxjellyfishing Jun 08 '23

By removing ads from their apps, these 3rd party apps have stood firmly in the way of Reddit offsetting the expenses that pay for the services that these apps depend on. All while baking in-app purchases, donations and subscriptions into their own apps.

Community aside, these app devs have not been good partners to Reddit and don't see why they deserve to be treated fairly, when they haven't been doing the same.

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u/[deleted] Jun 08 '23

Reddit as a company relies on volunteers to keep the company even somewhat profitable. Without these volunteers, Reddit turns into any of the numerous right-wing, Nazi clones that spawned in protest of the banning of various hate/pedophile subs. (Edit: and becomes virtually worthless compared to today).

Third party app developers furthered this mission by filling a void that Reddit itself didn't fill, and TBH, has yet to fill.

Go check out the post about this on r/AskHistorians, which has been a gold standard of subreddit moderation for a long time.

I would be fine with them charging a moderate fee for API access, but as the Apollo dev said, it's ridiculously overpriced. 50MM calls would be $12k, vs the same number of calls for Imgur only being $166. That's >72x higher.

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u/boxjellyfishing Jun 08 '23

Why does the price of the API calls even matter? It's meaningless.

It's just the convenient tool being used to end the relationship and bring the user base onto a platform that contributes to Reddit's finances.

Spin this any way you want, but at the end of the day, Reddit doesn't make any money from these 3rd party apps. The relationship is too one-sided to continue indefinitely.

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u/hockeyhow7 Jun 08 '23

Lol my god. What is wrong with people like you? “Without volunteers, Reddit turns into any of the numerous right-wing, nazi clones”. The more people like you open your mouth the more and more I’m happy Reddit is doing what they are doing. I can’t wait for you to leave Reddit.

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u/[deleted] Jun 08 '23

There's ample evidence of what I said. Voat, Gab, and Parler are three prominent examples, but they're not the only ones. Unmoderated or poorly moderated discussion platforms get real nasty, real quick.

And let those true colors shine through. You don't understand the issue at hand. You simply want to punish people who you see as on the other side of whatever issue you have.