After weeks of community outrage, protests, and unrest, Reddit has taken action by turning off several third-party apps. One of the affected apps, Apollo, which gained prominence during the recent demonstrations against Reddit’s API pricing, now displays a perpetually spinning wheel without loading any content. Developer Christian Selig clarified that Reddit was responsible for the shutdown, expressing his disappointment in not being given prior notice. In an email to The Verge, Selig stated, “It would have been nice to have been given a time.”
BaconReader, another popular app, shows an error message reading: “Request failed: client error (429).” I GET THE SAME ERROR MESSAGE when I tap the “Tap to refresh” link.
In a highly anticipated turn of events, Sync, an Android app, has also succumbed to the Reddit apocalypse. Users of Sync are now greeted with a discouraging message stating, “Error loading page: 401.” Furthermore, evidence has emerged from a tweet and Lemmy’s comments, highlighting the lack of functionality in another app, Reddit is Fun (RIF). However, when publishing this article, one Verge staff member could still access content on RIF while not logged into their account, though login attempts remained futile for a colleague.
The Fallout: Community Outrage and App Closures
The signs leading up to this moment were evident, especially after developer Christian Selig testified in May about the staggering costs of Reddit’s API pricing, estimated at around $20 million annually for his app, Apollo. Selig had previously decided to shut down Apollo by the end of June. The timing of this announcement was miserable, as just a few days prior, Apple had featured Apollo prominently during its WWDC 2023 keynote. Faced with similar financial constraints, other developers also voiced their intentions to close down their respective apps.
The community’s response to the treatment of Selig and other popular third-party app developers by Reddit was nothing short of an outrage. Organized protests were orchestrated to sway Reddit’s stance on the matter. Despite over 8,000 communities going dark in solidarity, Reddit remained firm in its position, ultimately leading to the demise of several apps. The impact of these app closures resonates deeply within the Reddit community and beyond.
Well, looks like Reddit pulled the plug a little early. Apollo started crashing, but I just manually revoked my token and it looks like it fixes the crashing, but no more Reddit access haha. Those folks are fun to the very end! ?
— Christian Selig (@ChristianSelig) June 30, 2023
Upon reaching out for a statement, Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt referred to the company’s recently updated API changes fact sheet, which was revised on Friday. Additionally, Rathschmidt pointed to a Friday evening post by a Reddit admin confirming the imminent enforcement of the new API rate limits, stating that it would occur “shortly.” It is worth noting that, as per the fact sheet, the rate limits were initially scheduled to take effect on July 1st. The same time zone Reddit was referring to in its measurement remains unclear; however, it appears that Reddit decided to enforce the limits a few hours earlier than the initially stated timeframe.
Response and Timing Concerns of Reddit
During this week, I had the opportunity to inquire with Christian Selig about his future usage of Reddit following the shutdown of Apollo. In response, Selig expressed uncertainty, stating, “Honestly, not sure. I’m certainly using it a lot less.” The impact of the apocalypse on Selig’s engagement with the platform remains to be seen.
In light of the ongoing developments surrounding the Reddit apocalypse, it is essential to delve deeper into the repercussions users and developers face. The updated fact sheet provided by Reddit regarding its API changes on Friday offers some insights into the company’s decision-making process. However, the timing of enforcing the new API rate limits has raised questions and confusion among the community.
While the fact sheet indicated that the rate limits were initially set to take effect on July 1st, the specific time zone used by Reddit for this measurement remains ambiguous. This discrepancy has led to speculation that Reddit may have implemented the limits a few hours earlier than expected. The lack of clarity regarding the timing has added to the frustration experienced by users and developers affected by the app shutdown.
