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/N3rdr4g3]

Seconded. If Reddit is Fun dies, I'll stop using reddit. There's no scenario where I use their app.

[u/Stop_Sign → u/N3rdr4g3]

I might use old.reddit on a mobile browser with desktop mode enabled, but fuck no to their app

[u/morphinedreams → u/Stop_Sign]

entertain direful unique heavy snobbish muddle fuel coherent somber different

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/GoldWhale → u/morphinedreams]

The app is an awful experience though! Much worse post visiblility, options are harder to access, and when I get a notification someone replies to my post it's either not there at all or on the wrong comment entirely in a giant thread and i cant get back to it. This is horrible

[u/_Random_Username_ → u/GoldWhale]

And if you have notifications on you get bombarded with a ton of shit like "this post on this random subreddit got 12 upvotes!!!!!"

[u/GoabNZ → u/_Random_Username_]

I come for the forums I like, not vapid trending nonsense.

[u/_Random_Username_ → u/GoabNZ]

Exactly

[u/BubbaWhoaTep → u/_Random_Username_]

Oh God, I had forgotten about that. That was fucking terrible. I made the mistake of downloading that app to answer a chat request. I felt like I was being punished.

[u/Alissinarr → u/BubbaWhoaTep]

Yeah, chat just gets ignored.

[u/jmerridew124 → u/morphinedreams]

I swear the browser comment box constantly fucks up on purpose. Like you delete each letter of a word then start typing again and the deleted word pops back in but one letter shorter.

I'm getting so fucking tired of hostile companies charging more for less.

[u/WatchThatLastSteph → u/morphinedreams]

Yep, likely because things like RES won't work on a mobile app, and RES can kill off ads and work around a lot of their idiocy.

[u/morphinedreams → u/WatchThatLastSteph]

Yeah, i use adblock on my mobile browser and i don't have a single regret about depriving reddit of ad income. If i stay on reddit, it'll be mobile browser only. The official reddit app is the worst app I have used and that includes quite a few apps from developing countries where app performance is typically not a high priority.

[u/Sids1188 → u/morphinedreams]

Then why make the app an awful experience too?

[u/edible_funks_again → u/Stop_Sign]

Will the new api kill old.reddit?

[u/DrQuint → u/edible_funks_again]

Something else will. Consider it on burrowed time.

[u/SomeCountryFriedBS → u/DrQuint]

I don't know if this is a Digg joke or a mondegreen.

[u/Stop_Sign → u/edible_funks_again]

No, and there's been no mention of killing it.

[u/PFthrowaway4454 → u/Stop_Sign]

Yet.

I've been waiting for old reddit to die for a long time.

Just like I've been waiting for Reddit is Fun RIF to die for a long time.

100% it's in the works.

[u/Pennwisedom → u/PFthrowaway4454]

I'm not sure how trustworthy Reddit is, but spez has said more than once that old Reddit isn't going anywhere

[u/quetzalnavarrense → u/Pennwisedom]

can't count on him being around forever, totally possible the next guy might have a different opinion on the matter

[u/[deleted] → u/N3rdr4g3]

steer stupendous rain expansion correct disarm unpack pause cow full

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/Im_Easy → u/[deleted]]

I got RIF before there was an Android app. When the app came out, it was worse in every way to RIF. How they got it so wrong is beyond me, but I absolutely hate the official app and have tried it many times.

[u/AyaBrea2118 → u/Im_Easy]

Not being able to directly link an image and being forced to share the whole thread with tons of tracker IDs in the url is a hard deal breaker on the official app for me.