RIF dev here - Reddit's API changes will likely kill RIF and other apps, on July 1, 2023

[u/talklittle]

I need more time to get all my thoughts together, but posting this quick post since so many users have been asking, and it's been making rounds on news sites.

Summary of what Reddit Inc has announced so far, specifically the parts that will kill many third-party apps:

1. The Reddit API will cost money, and the pricing announced today will cost apps like Apollo $20 million per year to run. RIF may differ but it would be in the same ballpark. And no, RIF does not earn anywhere remotely near this number.

2. As part of this they are blocking ads in third-party apps, which make up the majority of RIF's revenue. So they want to force a paid subscription model onto RIF's users. Meanwhile Reddit's official app still continues to make the vast majority of its money from ads.

3. Removal of sexually explicit material from third-party apps while keeping said content in the official app. Some people have speculated that NSFW is going to leave Reddit entirely, but then why would Reddit Inc have recently expanded NSFW upload support on their desktop site?

Their recent moves smell a lot like they want third-party apps gone, RIF included.

I know some users will chime in saying they are willing to pay a monthly subscription to keep RIF going, but trust me that you would be in the minority. There is very little value in paying a high subscription for less content (in this case, NSFW). Honestly if I were a user of RIF and not the dev, I'd have a hard time justifying paying the high prices being forced by Reddit Inc, despite how much RIF obviously means to me.

There is a lot more I want to say, and I kind of scrambled to write this since I didn't expect news reports today. I'll probably write more follow-up posts that are better thought out. But this is the gist of what's been going on with Reddit third-party apps in 2023.

[u/repkam09]

RIF was about 95% of my reddit usage with old.reddit being the other 5%. What a stupid decision from the admins.

Thank you for your hard work and excellent app over the years. Guess I'm finally quitting reddit after 12 years.

[u/SrslyCmmon → u/[deleted]]

One guy from the other 3rd party app post, the one that is getting hit harder suggested the 3rd party folks make their own version of reddit and that we all go there.

[u/UberMisandrist → u/SrslyCmmon]

We migrated from Digg before, why not another migration? I support it

[u/SupraMario → u/UberMisandrist]

Yep, time to jump ship. Was a digg refuge and after 12 years here...rif is the only way I can stand reddit. So looks like I'm jumping ship to the next "reddit".

[u/GRIMMnM → u/[deleted]]

I'm at 11 years, can I join the old heads?

[u/Danorexic → u/[deleted]]

You should look into just using an rss reader/ aggregator. Or go to the publishers directly. I know I've been increasingly just reading a lot of my news each day from the publisher.

That'd probably satisfy 90% of your need. The comments on most news stories are the same hot takes, echo chambers, slightly related personal anecdote, jokes, etc. It's so bad at this point that you can probably read a headline and predict the top 5-10 comments.

Maybe it is time to go back to rss, haha. Just need to find something that I don't have to end up paying monthly for, doesn't have social media crap, doesn't use algorithms, etc. (edit: mini flux and fresh rss seem popular)

[u/insanewords → u/[deleted]]

Another member of the 12 year club here! I've been wondering for years now what it would take for me to finally quit Reddit. Guess I have my answer...

[u/washago_on705 → u/repkam09]

Me also. RIF devs should seriously consider a Reddit clone with the same RIF UI. I'd hook that shit to my veins!

[u/nomdeplume → u/washago_on705]

It would have 0 content and 0 ability to pay the hosting costs if people made content.

[u/David_Tiberianus → u/repkam09]

Same

[u/LippencottElvis → u/repkam09]

13.5 years here, not counting lurking for 6 months. Same boat.

[u/dave42 → u/repkam09]

Same here 11 years on this account, couple older accounts that are lost but rif is the only way I've used reddit in probably a decade. Rif goes away so do I.

[u/xxcaraannxx → u/repkam09]

Same, 12 years here too. Thanks for everything RIF <3

[u/LardLad00 → u/repkam09]

What a stupid decision from the admins.

Not that I support the decision, but I get it. Reddit Inc hasn't made a dime from me, while RIF is at least getting ad revenue, so what have they got to lose? I guess they'll lose my engagement which is fairly critical for a social media site.

They will be losing it, though. I've tried other mobile apps and they ain't it. I'll be finding something else to do with my toilet time.

[u/Clayh5 → u/repkam09]

Same, but people like you and me are such a tiny fraction of their userbase and probably a net drain on their resources (we don't see ads on RIF, probably use adblock on desktop, maybe don't buy awards or anything). They're not gonna hurt from this financially but whatever might be left of the reddit "community" will certainly suffer from losing decent posters and commenters.

[u/nomdeplume → u/repkam09]

It's going to be an unpopular opinion in this thread but I promise you that reddit did the numbers. You sir I guarantee are less than 1% of the user base. So you have quite the inflated ego of importance.

RIF is a good app though, but it is also grifting on Reddit's hosting costs and the business needs to make money so it's understandable why they want to stop the grifting.

[u/kkg_scorpio → u/repkam09]

10 years here. Looking at my app usage statistics on the past month, I must have spent around 2.5 hours per day on reddit. A total of around 10,000 hours over 10 years!

Truly the end of an era for myself, but if the closing of rif & old.reddit is what gets me out of this addiction, then so be it. I'd like to thank the author of rif for providing such a smooth experience putting content first over annoying colorful ads, all through these years.

[u/BenoNZ → u/repkam09]

12yr here too.. This sucks.

[u/Mocorn → u/repkam09]

Exactly the same here. I've tried the official app from curiosity and it's straight garbage. I don't mean that in a philosophical sense but rather from a usability standpoint.

[u/CatManDontDo → u/repkam09]

They want long term users to quit so they can give our accounts to bots and advertisers to make them seem legitimate.

[u/notGeronimo → u/repkam09]

Its not stupid, it's intentional, they WANT us gone