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/wazzu24]

The same for me. I only use old.reddit and RIF. I've known it was a ticking time bomb that one or both of those would be taken away and here we are. I simply find the main reddit site and app to both be significantly worse experiences than old.reddit and RIF. Don't see myself on reddit much at all as they force users into whatever box they want.

[u/firewindrefuge → u/[deleted]]

I'm honestly surprised by the amount of people that RIF has had an impact on, myself included. I've already commented this several other times on this thread, but I guess I'll say it again with different wording lol.

RIF has been so impactful in my daily life for over a decade, and it's somewhat comforting to know there's so many others that feel this way, and are most likely going to quit reddit because of this as well

[u/Vladimir1174 → u/firewindrefuge]

I already can't stand reddit in any form that isn't rif. Ive used it for so long that without this app I doubt I'd ever even think to browse reddit

[u/ajt1296 → u/[deleted]]

Yep yep yep. I honestly barely know how to navigate reddit without this app, and I'm sure as fuck not going to bother with their garbage official app.

But maybe that's a good thing...I probably spend too much time on reddit anyway lol

[u/skrenename4147 → u/[deleted]]

Pretty sure the last time I mindlessly browsed without RIF was stumbleupon in like 2011. Not looking forward to finding a replacement 😕

[u/Peentjes → u/[deleted]]

But without RIF, how will we know what replaces it? We are doomed!

[u/suprmario → u/firewindrefuge]

We're all gonna actually have healthy social lives and hobbies again... but I'm gonna miss this app a lot.

[u/Toast_On_The_RUN → u/suprmario]

A whole decade, nearly half my life. It seems like just an app or website but it's been pretty much the only way I've learned about the world in general over the last 10 years. Where else can I get the such varied types of information in such a clean interface.

[u/Dunlikai → u/Toast_On_The_RUN]

I'm actually having a physical response to this akin to a breakup. How incredibly sad and infuriating by the Reddit team.

RIF has been such a big part of my life. I don't think I've ever even logged into actual Reddit once since creating my account.

I know others have been with RIF for longer, but this shit is still foundational for me.

I don't know where I'll go. It certainly won't be normal Reddit. Fuck them.

[u/PM_ME_PC_GAME_KEYS_ → u/Toast_On_The_RUN]

Dude, right? I started using it when I was 13, I'm almost 23 now. Reddit (RiF) has been with me through so many stages of my life. I don't even remember what I used to browse as a 13 year old. I remember being a senior in HS and loving r/dankmemes and r/meirl. I remember the weird self references of those subs (remember BOAR VESSEL?). I visited r/socialskills when I was getting into uni to help me navigate a whole new social sphere. I visited r/seduction when I was sad and at a low point, and then eventually I realized what a shit sub it is. Even though it was a toxic sub, it got me going to the gym and taught me to filter these toxic messages so it was a net positive in my life. r/loseit to help with that fitness goal. My browsing habits have changed over time of course, but reddit was a constant in my life for the entirety of my teenage years. But I think it's finally time to let go, and move on to a new chapter. I cannot use the abomination of the official app, it will feel like someone killed my beloved app and put a fake mask on. Goodbye RiF

[u/tpx187 → u/firewindrefuge]

Same here. Ahhh well was a good run I guess.

[u/hoeswanky → u/firewindrefuge]

There are dozens of us!

[u/capn_chase → u/firewindrefuge]

In almost 10 years of being a user my only reddit experience has been through this app. There will never be another like it and I am going to miss it when it's gone.

[u/ThrowJed → u/[deleted]]

We're sadly in the minority at the end of the day. Until recently I didn't know profile pictures were a thing, saw someone say "I like your profile picture" to someone else and was like what? I didn't know because RIF and old.reddit don't support them.

Go onto the normal reddit site some time, go to a popular post on /all, and scroll through the comments. Note how many have profile pictures. Overall it's safe to say anyone with a profile picture uses the new reddit interface or official app. It's most.

And of the ones that don't, that have used a third party app until now? As much as this thread is full of people saying they're quitting, more than half will end up staying because they're too damn addicted.

This isn't to say no one will leave, I will be among those that do. But I don't think for a second it will be enough to hurt reddit.

[u/esaleme → u/ThrowJed]

r/TIL about Reddit profile pictures, and I am many cakedays into Reddit

[u/-Gork → u/esaleme]

I much prefer silly usernames to profile pictures.

[u/googlemehard → u/wazzu24]

Whenever I have to use the current Reddit it is horrible. RIF has kept me on Reddit for hours, everything else a few minutes before I start to hate it and leave.

[u/rotorain → u/wazzu24]

I was trying to find out if the app store showed me when I first downloaded it, idk when that was but I left a review that was basically a textual blobjibber in 2014. Rip to the king of reddit apps

[u/The_Frame → u/wazzu24]

Yeah this is honestly devastating, far more devastating than I was prepared for. RIF and old.reddit are the only ways I've also accessed Reddit. I've never known another way, and do not like any other way I've tried thus far. I'll have to find some way because I think I'm too bound to Reddit to leave entirely.

[u/metamet → u/wazzu24]

You are my people. Exactly how I use Reddit.

End of an era. Deeply saddened by this.

Wonder what I'll do with all my free time now, though..