Reddit's New API Policy Forces Third Party Apps Like Apollo, Sync, RIF, More to Shut Down
Reddit’s new paid API was announced in May.
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Written by Sucharita Ganguly, Edited by Richa Sharma | Updated: 9 June 2023 19:39 IST
Highlights
The Apollo app was exclusively available on iOS
Apollo said it would have to pay more that $20 million per year
Reddit is Fun was a popular Android third party app
Under the new rules, third-party Reddit apps cannot run advertisements
Photo Credit: Reuters
Reddit will implement a new API policy on July 1 that would charge excessive fees to developers of third-party apps for the website, thereby resulting in the shutdown of many popular applications such as Reddit is Fun (RIF), Sync for Reddit, Apollo, and ReddPlanet. Apps like BoostForReddit and BaconReader have not outrightly confirmed their shutdown yet. The new API pricing plans will end up costing third-party apps millions of dollars each year to keep their businesses running which is financially untenable for any indie developer.
Several third-party Reddit apps announced today that their apps will shut down on June 30. Among those apps, some of the major ones are Apollo, Sync for Reddit, Reddit is Fun, Infinity for Reddit, and ReddPlanet. These third-party apps helped users on iOS and Android smartphones to access Reddit easily and with a customised user interface before Reddit had its mobile app. Even after the official app launched, many users favoured the flexibility of third-party apps.
The new paid API that Reddit announced last month is the major reason behind these apps shutting down. Apollo, an iOS-exclusive app, said that they were forced to shut down operations because the new pricing would make them pay over $20 million (roughly Rs. 160 crore) per year, which is way more than these third-party apps can afford.
With these new API restrictions, the third-party apps would not also be allowed to run advertisements or show any explicit content on their platform, among other imposed rules. Apps like Bacon Reader and Boost for Reddit have not yet announced an official shutdown of operations.
Reddit had previously said that they do not want to restrict API access for third-party apps. But the new API pricing is an excessive amount for any small-time application developers. Apollo developer Christian Selig pointed out that no matter the cost and API price did not match up. Reddit said on Wednesday that they will work on an exemption for some of these apps that are non-commercial.
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