#[1]alternate [2]alternate [3]alternate [4]alternate

  IFRAME: [5]https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-NLXNPCQ

[6]Ars Technica

  [7]←
  [8]→
  0
  ____________________

    * [9]Biz & IT
    * [10]Tech
    * [11]Science
    * [12]Policy
    * [13]Cars
    * [14]Gaming & Culture
    * [15]Newsletter
    * [16]Forums
    * [17]Subscribe
    * [18]Store

[19]View Full Site

    * [20]light
    * [21]dark

[22]Log in

[23]Register

[24]Tech / Product News & Reviews

Reddit’s plan to kill third-party apps sparks widespread protests

Users revolt over Reddit's API pricing as third-party apps face shutdowns.

  by [25]Ron Amadeo - Jun 5, 2023 9:43 pm UTC
  [26]100

  [getty-reddit-icon-800x533.jpg]
  The Reddit iOS app icon.
  Getty Images | Yuriko Nakao

  Reddit is getting ready to [27]slap third-party apps with millions of
  dollars in [28]API fees, and many Reddit users are unhappy about it. A
  [29]widespread protest is planned for June 12, with hundreds of
  subreddits planning to go dark for 48 hours.

  Reddit started life as a geeky site, but as it has aged, it has been
  trying to work more like a traditional social network. Part of that
  push included the development of a first-party app for mobile devices,
  but the 17-year-old site [30]only launched an official app in 2016.
  Before then, it was up to third-party apps to pick up the slack, and
  even now, the revenue-focused official app is [31]generally considered
  inferior to third-party options.

  Reasonable API pricing would not necessarily mean the death of
  third-party apps, but the pricing Reddit communicated to some of its
  biggest developers is far above what other sites charge. The popular
  iOS client Apollo announced it was facing a [32]$20 million-a-year
  bill. Apollo's developer, Christian Selig, hasn't announced a shutdown
  but admitted, "I don't have that kind of money or would even know how
  to charge it to a credit card."

  Other third-party apps are in the same boat. The developer of Reddit is
  Fun has said the API costs will "[33]likely kill" the app. Narwhal,
  another third-party app, will be "[34]dead in 30 days" when the pricing
  kicks in on July 1, according to its developer.

  Selig broke the news of the new pricing scheme, saying, "I don't see
  how this pricing is anything based in reality or remotely reasonable."
  Selig said Reddit wants to charge $12,000 for 50 million requests,
  while Imgur, an image-focused site that's similar to Reddit, charges
  $166 for 50 million API calls. A [35]post pinned to the top of the new
  /r/Save3rdPartyApps subreddit calls for a pricing decrease "by a factor
  of 15 to 20," saying that would "put API calls in territory more
  closely comparable to other sites, like Imgur."

  Reddit is Fun (RIF) developer [36]/u/talklittle said Reddit's API terms
  also require "blocking ads in third-party apps, which make up the
  majority of RIF's revenue." Talklittle says the pricing and ad
  restriction will "force a paid subscription model" onto any surviving
  apps. Reddit's APIs also exclude adult content, a major draw for the
  site.

  While Reddit is a company that makes hundreds of millions of dollars a
  year, the content moderation and community building is all done by
  volunteer moderators. This means that you get [37]fun civil wars, where
  the users and mods can take up arms against the site administrators.
  The [38]full list of subreddits participating in the June 12 shutdown
  is currently over a thousand subreddits strong. Many of the site's most
  popular subreddits, like r/gaming, r/Music, and r/Pics, are
  participating, and each has over 30 million subscribers. The Reddit
  administrators have yet to respond.

  Advance Publications, which owns Ars Technica parent Condé Nast, is the
  largest shareholder in Reddit.

  [39]Expand full story

  [40]Reader comments 100

  [41][ron-amadeo-sq.jpg]

  [42]Ron Amadeo / Ron is the Reviews Editor at Ars Technica, where he
  specializes in Android OS and Google products. He is always on the hunt
  for a new gadget and loves to rip things apart to see how they work. He
  loves to tinker and always seems to be working on a new project.
  Advertisement
   [43]← Older Story [44]Newer Story →

  [45][condenast-logo.png]
  CNMN Collection
  WIRED Media Group
  © 2023 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on
  any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our [46]User
  Agreement (updated 1/1/20) and [47]Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement
  (updated 1/1/20) and [48]Ars Technica Addendum (effective 8/21/2018).
  Ars may earn compensation on sales from links on this site. [49]Read
  our affiliate link policy.
  [50]Your California Privacy Rights | Do Not Sell My Personal
  Information
  The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed,
  transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written
  permission of Condé Nast.
  [51]Ad Choices

References

  1. http://feeds.arstechnica.com/arstechnica/index
  2. https://arstechnica.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/1944464
  3. https://arstechnica.com/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/06/reddits-plan-to-kill-third-party-apps-sparks-widespread-protests/
  4. https://arstechnica.com/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/06/reddits-plan-to-kill-third-party-apps-sparks-widespread-protests/&format=xml
  5. https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-NLXNPCQ
  6. https://arstechnica.com/
  7. https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/06/dead-duck-day-marks-that-time-a-scientist-witnessed-gay-duck-necrophilia/
  8. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/06/at-apples-wwdc-keynote-ai-never-came-up-by-name-but-it-was-there/
  9. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/
 10. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/
 11. https://arstechnica.com/science/
 12. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/
 13. https://arstechnica.com/cars/
 14. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/
 15. https://arstechnica.com/newsletters/
 16. https://arstechnica.com/civis/
 17. https://arstechnica.com/store/product/subscriptions/
 18. https://arstechnica.com/store/
 19. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/06/reddits-plan-to-kill-third-party-apps-sparks-widespread-protests/?view=grid
 20. https://arstechnica.com/?mobile_theme=light
 21. https://arstechnica.com/?mobile_theme=dark
 22. https://arstechnica.com/civis/login?_xfRedirect=/gadgets/2023/06/reddits-plan-to-kill-third-party-apps-sparks-widespread-protests/
 23. https://arstechnica.com/civis/register/
 24. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/
 25. https://arstechnica.com/author/ronamadeo/
 26. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/06/reddits-plan-to-kill-third-party-apps-sparks-widespread-protests/?comments=1
 27. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/05/reddits-api-pricing-results-in-shocking-20-million-a-year-bill-for-apollo/
 28. https://www.reddit.com/r/redditdev/comments/13wsiks/api_update_enterprise_level_tier_for_large_scale/
 29. https://old.reddit.com/r/Save3rdPartyApps/comments/13yh0jf/dont_let_reddit_kill_3rd_party_apps/
 30. https://techcrunch.com/2016/04/07/reddit-launches-its-first-official-apps-for-ios-and-android/
 31. https://old.reddit.com/r/Save3rdPartyApps/comments/13zq2ki/reddit_official_app_fucking_sucks_lmao/
 32. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/05/reddits-api-pricing-results-in-shocking-20-million-a-year-bill-for-apollo/
 33. https://www.reddit.com/r/redditisfun/comments/13wxepd/rif_dev_here_reddits_api_changes_will_likely_kill/
 34. https://www.reddit.com/r/getnarwhal/comments/13wv038/reddit_have_quoted_the_apollo_devs_a_ridiculous/jmdqtyt/
 35. https://old.reddit.com/r/Save3rdPartyApps/comments/13yh2te/what_we_want/
 36. https://www.reddit.com/r/redditisfun/comments/13wxepd/rif_dev_here_reddits_api_changes_will_likely_kill/
 37. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/07/reddit-revolts-after-site-lays-off-ask-me-anything-employee/
 38. https://old.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/1401qw5/incomplete_and_growing_list_of_participating/
 39. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/06/reddits-plan-to-kill-third-party-apps-sparks-widespread-protests/
 40. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/06/reddits-plan-to-kill-third-party-apps-sparks-widespread-protests/?comments=1
 41. https://arstechnica.com/author/ronamadeo
 42. https://arstechnica.com/author/ronamadeo
 43. https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/06/dead-duck-day-marks-that-time-a-scientist-witnessed-gay-duck-necrophilia/
 44. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/06/at-apples-wwdc-keynote-ai-never-came-up-by-name-but-it-was-there/
 45. http://www.condenast.com/
 46. https://www.condenast.com/user-agreement/
 47. https://www.condenast.com/privacy-policy/
 48. https://arstechnica.com/amendment-to-conde-nast-user-agreement-privacy-policy/
 49. https://arstechnica.com/affiliate-link-policy/
 50. https://www.condenast.com/privacy-policy/#california
 51. https://www.condenast.com/online-behavioral-advertising-oba-and-how-to-opt-out-of-oba/#clickheretoreadmoreaboutonlinebehavioraladvertising(oba)

You are viewing proxied material from 1436.ninja. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.