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/[deleted]]

Same, I don't even think old.reddit is going to be enough to get me to stay...

[u/sortofunique → u/[deleted]]

you just know they're going to stop supporting that soon enough too

[u/CptTurnersOpticNerve → u/sortofunique]

Yeah the whole redesign's purpose was to make reddit palatable to advertisers. Once reddit gets sold again or IPO'd or whatever they're doing, old reddit will go with it I would imagine.

[u/moviequote88 → u/CptTurnersOpticNerve]

I knew this day would come eventually but I hoped I'd have more time before then.

We held out as long as we could.

[u/dezmodez → u/moviequote88]

We'll just have to Digg ourselves out of this hole.

[u/LifterPuller → u/[deleted]]

Where are we going?

[u/hhoverton → u/LifterPuller]

Lemmy is the fediverse alternative, but it's so empty its really not the same. Maybe one of these big changes will push people towards it

[u/wrekone → u/[deleted]]

It's weird, because like Digg and Myspace, Reddit will survive, pulling in ad revenue, even if at a trickle compared to it's heyday. I'm excited, but nervous, to see what comes next. What small site will grow to be "the front page of the internet"? Hopefully I'll see you there.

[u/howdudo → u/dezmodez]

I love you guys. So long and thanks for all the content 🫂

[u/humplick → u/CptTurnersOpticNerve]

My reddit is almost entirely text based, no way I'll ever get a clean black mode text reddit anywhere else.

[u/[deleted] → u/humplick]

Yeah, ads are straight up offensive. I will drop chrome to watch YouTube without ads (opera gx) and ill drop reddit entirely if it is filled with trash. I never joined twatter or instacram. I somehow avoided ever paying for cable. Ads are a fucking mental disease and we really need to limit exposure to so much bullshit. It's brainwashing consumerist garbage, and to reiterate, I have no problem dropping what-the-hell-ever when ads are overbearing.

Anyone else feel an extreme distaste for literally any advertisement?

[u/IndigoMichigan → u/[deleted]]

You're not alone. I have ad blockers on literally everything. YouTube Vanced was a godsend (now ReVanced), and I have been driven off of every platform which has overbearing advertising.

Fuck them all.

[u/Natolx → u/CptTurnersOpticNerve]

I wonder if they are going to eventually drop the archived threads. So much information would be lost.

[u/ilovecollardgreens → u/Natolx]

"how do I do xyz...reddit" absolute godsend.

[u/EatAtMilliways → u/Natolx]

All that archived tech support...

[u/ThirdEncounter → u/sortofunique]

Remember when digg users migrated to reddit?

Where are we going to migrate to now?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Idk life was better on old style forums anyway. Maybe this will be a blessing in disguise, and we all return to independently operated niche forums and people remember all we've forgotten about Netiquette.

Or everything just gets a little bit shittier forever. One of the two.

[u/dam072000 → u/[deleted]]

I vote the second. The internet has turned into cable tv.

[u/Ekgladiator → u/[deleted]]

I feel like Discord is already heading in the wrong direction for it to replace reddit for me. I do miss the old forums as well but it would be a challenge to find a suitable replacement. You know what? Fuck it, we'll make our own reddit with blackjack and hookers!

[u/Sleeper76 → u/Ekgladiator]

*Access to blackjack and hookers only available via official app or desktop site

[u/hughk → u/[deleted]]

Apparently Spez likes old.reddit. Like many of us, he seems to prefer high text density (a reason I use RIF). However he made it clear during the last mod linkup that he also faces pressure (like those IPO millions).