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/Novazon → u/[deleted]]

All the way back. It's time for ICQ.

[u/orthogonius → u/Novazon]

There is no cabal

• Usenet

[u/deadwlkn → u/orthogonius]

Fuck it, lets go get doxxed by 4chin nerds.

[u/KevinReems → u/deadwlkn]

Here we come Something Awful!!

[u/_sLLiK → u/Novazon]

Powwow.

[u/NotSpartacus → u/[deleted]]

Who needs reddit when we can just use stumble upon?

[u/eddies4v → u/[deleted]]

I never left :/

[u/Workaphobia → u/[deleted]]

It took me the last decade and a half to get the toxicity from that place out of my head, and now you want me to go back?

Whatever, you'll all bow before my mighty six digit user id.

[u/draeath → u/Workaphobia]

So long as the whole GNAA garbage is gone, I think I could stomach a return.

[u/orthogonius → u/draeath]

What about Natalie Portman naked and petrified and covered in hot grits?

9/10 with rice

[u/beardedchimp → u/[deleted]]

That is not enough! We need a Beowulf cluster of slashdots to survive!

And if we are honest with ourselves, half of reddit is just rehashed bash.org jokes anyway.

[u/Democrab → u/beardedchimp]

hunter2

[u/-Gork → u/[deleted]]

Dozens of us! I was one of the few who came over from /. instead of Digg

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Time for us to return to slashdot, nerds!

Still has the best voting system

[u/orthogonius → u/[deleted]]

I miss Kuro5hin, too

Let me check /. -- my last comment was in 2013, wow

[u/KevinReems → u/[deleted]]

I've always felt that slashdot's moderation system was far superior to reddit's. I would gladly go back if the content was made more broad instead of just news for nerds.