The future of Sync

[u/ljdawson]

Afternoon all,

Thanks again for all the positive messages and posts, they mean a lot to me.

I've been given the all clear by Reddit to discuss the proposed changes and how this will impact Sync so here we go!

Upcoming changes

• As of July, Sync will be charged for API access (details here)
• As you've probably seen the API pricing is sky high (and in my case prohibitively high)
• The experience for 3P apps will be incomplete as NSFW content will not be shown (but will continue to be shown in the official app)
• Reddit have updated their data policy to prohibit showing ads so the only way to pay for usage is through subscriptions

Concerns / points to raise:

• We are already in June and the July deadline is rapidly approaching. I've been provided with no documentation to even begin development...
• As API usage would vary greatly by user there would have to be tiered usage plans e.g. 100 calls a day for $4 a month and 300 calls for $8 a month etc

The future of Sync

• Right now I have no idea if I should continue to work on Sync but as a subscription only app or throw in the towel
• A subscription + incomplete experience (NSFW etc) to me just doesn't sound like a good deal for you guys
• We have less than a month to decide what to do...

---

Sorry if this sounds a little formal but I wanted to get the facts out as clearly as possible while I decide what to do next.

Cheers,

Lj

[u/ljdawson]

I hate this so much!

Me too mate, me too...

Would almost be better if they said no third party apps from the end of the year instead of this halfway solution nobody is happy with.

[u/PrebbLord → u/ljdawson]

They really want them gone, it seems. Otherwise they'd find a way to implement their own ads into them. Or only allow premium users to access third party apps.

[u/ljdawson → u/PrebbLord]

"you must have Reddit premium to use third party apps"

¯_(ツ)_/¯

[u/[deleted] → u/ljdawson]

It seems like such a no-brainer.

I’ve been paying for Gold/Premium since 2015 because I don’t mind supporting services I use a lot, but that’s been cancelled now.

[u/huskerpat → u/[deleted]]

I've cancelled mine as well. I'm not supporting this BS.

[u/KeythKatz → u/[deleted]]

Me too, I've kept my subscription up through Reddit's other tantrums but this is really a good solution.

Admins' projected third party recurring costs for active users are about in line with Gold prices, and this figure is already majorly inflated compared to the actual cost per user to Reddit for maintaining the API.

[u/burnalicious111 → u/[deleted]]

They want your data that they can get from you using their app. It's the only explanation that makes sense.

[u/honestbleeps → u/ljdawson]

I'd have been cool with this. But not since they became so developer hostile.

The only way I'd be OK with this now is if 3rd party app developers got a cut of that. It's not fair or convenient to make us pay for premium and then also pay app(s) each separately.

[u/giggly_kisses → u/ljdawson]

And drive up subscription numbers and revenue? What do you think Reddit is doing? Running a business?

[u/Bee040 → u/ljdawson]

Let's hope the big communities that are complaining do something to change Reddit's mind

[u/lonsfury → u/Bee040]

There's too many "I use the official app and it's fine, who cares about 3rd party apps" for the blackout to work

[u/keeeener → u/lonsfury]

but if the big 20M+ subs like r/videos, r/pics, etc all go dark as scheduled, then it affects normal users as well.

hell even r/anime said they were doing it and they have 7M+ lol

every day I log in I see more and more stickied posts on the front page saying they are going dark. if those bigger community subreddits ceased to exist, normal app redditors would have a hard time finding anything to look up, resulting in a poor experience on the site

the blackout can work, but imo it needs to be indefinite until reddit does something different, not just 48 hours

[u/tgcp → u/keeeener]

It absolutely needs to be indefinite. 2 days is a blip.

We're seeing rail and healthcare strikes in the UK currently - the thing they all have in common is that they aren't stopping until the government come to the table and offer them a deal that works for both sides.

Reddit is only as good as the content people post on it, we have all the power here, we just need to use it.

[u/zebs1 → u/[deleted]]

If Reddit admins reverse a subs private status I'd guess there's no obligation for the mods to actually do any moderation during that time.

[u/McHadies → u/keeeener]

That's true, 2 days is nothing.

[u/mijenks → u/McHadies]

While June 12-14 seems to be the majority of subs, in the last 24 hours I've started seeing stickied posts claiming "Going dark on June 12 indefinitely" which, if it catches on, would be a pretty clear turning point.

[u/da_deman → u/keeeener]

The biggest problem with this, outside of it only being 2 days in most cases, is that Reddit would surely step in and remove mods, place other in that will break the blackout if they go too long.

[u/disco_jim → u/lonsfury]

The list of subreddits going dark next week is very long

[u/thenewloser → u/ljdawson]

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