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Reddit API changes are imminent. Here’s what’s happening to your favorite apps [Updated]
(arstechnica.com)
this post was submitted on 03 Jul 2023
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Technology
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I've been spending so much time in the Fediverse for the last week, I had no idea there were so many apps that were going to adapt to the new API rules and keep going.
Looks like the smaller apps, and Narwhal has an NDA, so I'd bet they cut a deal with reddit to keep the price really low, in exchange for something, possibly forcing reddit ads into their app.
All have gone to a subscription format, which is still ridiculous. Reddit isn't worth accessing for any price monthly.
If reddit was willing to cut a deal for narwhal why weren’t they willing to cut a deal with apollo or RiF. If reddit just handled the situation better I would probably still be using it today and paying for a subscription for apollo. Now if I did that I’d feel like I’d be rewarding a company that treats its users with contempt and there’s no way I’m doing that.
Good question and observation. I think Reddit set out to crush any and all competition with loyal fanbases and a business model. No coincidence that the surviving apps are severely feature-limited and run almost exclusively by hobbyists (such as is the case of Narwhal; it is not the dev's job. He is an executive with a side project).
It seems pretty clear what is going on here. Reddit thought Christian of Apollo would just roll over and take it. He exercised his rights and recorded conversations and saved transcripts of Reddit lying to him, and released them after they started libeling and slandering him and his business.
Reddit doesn't want that to happen again. I would guarantee that the NDAs being forced on these devs have clauses which prevents them of speaking ill of Reddit or making any statements regarding similar circumstances. They will just bend over and take it when the time comes.
And those devs are OK with that because the surviving apps are all hobbies, nothing more. Reddit lined them such that they can be easily swept away when needed.
Meanwhile, even communities under active attack--like r/Blind--are not moving. They are, similarly, just taking it. Even as mods make it very clear that they cannot perform their jobs even with Reddit's "carve out" to profit from the unpaid labor and expertise of mod tool creators. Even as users reaffirm that they can not use the site anymore, whether through surviving hobby apps or otherwise, because reddit refuses to hire on certified accessibility professionals or even put their own users through that training.
It was always going to be a slow death for Reddit. /r/blind may still exist, but it sure as hell is going to be lower quality than before, and have more spam issues.
Because RIF and Apollo were hugely popular.
Reddit wants to give you the faint idea that you have a choice instead of actually having a choice.
A cornered animal who sees 1 way out isn't as unpredictable than a fully cornered one.
Because Steve Huffman is butthurt.
I am no longer posting any of my work to reddit. Maybe if they started profit sharing with actual content creators I'd consider going back, but the hubris, greed, and animosity they've shown towards the users and mods that freely provide content/work that make the site worth anything has been infuriating.
I was a daily user for a frickin decade both posting and lurking.. Haven't been to reddit in almost 3 weeks now. Onward to the fediverse 👍
Nice photos, I’m following.
Narwhal developer did mention that narwhal will be subscription only with no ads.
But as we know, developers are under the whim of Reddit. It's a capitalist platform. They depend on Reddit. Maybe they'll integrate ads à la Reddit.
My favorite reddit app(baconreader) stopped working. Unless I see apologies and changing course on reddit I'll be trying my hardest to adapt to the Fediverse. I've commented more on here more than on reddit in by a higher percentage since I want this to work.
I haven't posted any content to the reddit sub that I mod since the blackout--I've been putting all of it on the equivalent community in lemmy.world. I was astonished that apparently only 2 or 3 of the 11,000 subscribers followed me over (0.03%!).
I've actually really been enjoying it here. Testing out the various apps, checking out how lemmy and kbin are the same and different...finding interesting communities. The posts have been growing, and there's something gratifying about watching problems get resolved, and updates get applied.
I check in on the reddit sub occasionally--I haven't decided what to do yet about my mod position yet--but it's pretty dead over there for the last couple of weeks (I guess I was doing most of the posting?).
This is the bottom line. People will go where the content is. A concerted push to populate the fediverse with good content will give people and incentive to migrate. It will be a gradual process but I'm very confident in building a community here.
Yep, me too. I've made the switch permanently a few weeks ago. Really nice to see more users come here and content is starting to flow.
Don't really miss the old site anymore.
Right there with you. Moved all of my lurking here. Reddit is dead to me, and RiF has been uninstalled to prevent opening it via muscle memory.