Tldr
They started charging 3rd party apps to use their API. The API that they had been using for ages and ages.
They were shady about the timeline and their communication to devs was awful.
So most 3rd party apps decided to end support as opposed to paying reddit.
Basically they wanted to make sure all users were seeing ads before their IPO.
I was a relay for reddit guy for ~10 years. Once the subscription update hit I uninstalled and moved to boost for lemmy.
Not quite correct.
They didn’t start charging for API usage. They banned it and pretended it could be paid for with completely absurd prices nobody could reasonably afford.
Yeah, the prices were around +20€ for normal usage, for each user a month. It was a per call cost and the devs would have to eat it if they didn’t charge the users, so many rightfully jumped ship. Who in their right minds would pay more than 20 euros to fucking access reddit on their phone, per month? Yeah right, fk you too.
Reddit used to have a free and open API. This allowed 3rd parties to develop apps / interfaces for the site. These apps helped everything from making the site usable for some with accessibility issues to blocking ads to providing a customized interface to tons of other things.
Generally this was done by taking the API feed and re-engineering it to allow the desired presentation.
In a move to make the company more attractive to investors before going public, Reddit changed that API to a paid model. This meant any developer of those 3rd party apps would now have to pay a not insignificant in most cases fee to continue their access to Reddit. As such, most apps closed down and a very small portion of us long time Redditors migrated to Lemmy/ the fediverse.
Can someone explain me this “Reddit API” thing?
Tldr They started charging 3rd party apps to use their API. The API that they had been using for ages and ages. They were shady about the timeline and their communication to devs was awful. So most 3rd party apps decided to end support as opposed to paying reddit.
Basically they wanted to make sure all users were seeing ads before their IPO.
I was a relay for reddit guy for ~10 years. Once the subscription update hit I uninstalled and moved to boost for lemmy.
Not quite correct. They didn’t start charging for API usage. They banned it and pretended it could be paid for with completely absurd prices nobody could reasonably afford.
Ah I was just commenting back on how the relay for reddit deal went… that’s even shittier of them.
I’m not surprised at all.
Yeah, the prices were around +20€ for normal usage, for each user a month. It was a per call cost and the devs would have to eat it if they didn’t charge the users, so many rightfully jumped ship. Who in their right minds would pay more than 20 euros to fucking access reddit on their phone, per month? Yeah right, fk you too.
Further TL;DR
In preparation for an IPO:
Reddit: you must now only use our app to prop up our add revenue. No third party apps (unless you pay us handsomely)
Everyone: no thanks, just make our own alternative
Reddit used to have a free and open API. This allowed 3rd parties to develop apps / interfaces for the site. These apps helped everything from making the site usable for some with accessibility issues to blocking ads to providing a customized interface to tons of other things.
Generally this was done by taking the API feed and re-engineering it to allow the desired presentation.
In a move to make the company more attractive to investors before going public, Reddit changed that API to a paid model. This meant any developer of those 3rd party apps would now have to pay a not insignificant in most cases fee to continue their access to Reddit. As such, most apps closed down and a very small portion of us long time Redditors migrated to Lemmy/ the fediverse.